Top 10 Coolest Things About Mario

Mario has been the face of platformers for decades, and his toolkit keeps evolving in ways that make every run feel fresh. Across side scrollers and 3D adventures, he learns new moves, teams up with friends, and uses power ups that redefine what a level can ask you to do. From gravity bending galaxies to acrobatic city jumps, his design focuses on clear rules that players can master and remix. Here are ten standout things he can do across the mainline Super Mario games.

Jump Mastery

Mario’s core jump expands across games, which lets designers build challenges around timing and height control. In ‘Super Mario 64’ he chains normal, double, and triple jumps, plus long jumps and side flips, giving different arc shapes for distance or height. In ‘Super Mario Sunshine’ he adds the hover and rocket boosts through FLUDD, which change mid air options. In ‘Super Mario Odyssey’ he links cap throws with dives and rolls for extended air time and precise landings.

Power Up Arsenal

Power ups define Mario’s temporary abilities, and many return with small twists between games. The Super Mushroom increases size and durability, while the Fire Flower adds ranged fireballs that bounce along the ground. The Super Star grants brief invincibility with faster movement and knockback on contact. Items like the Tanooki Leaf, the Penguin Suit, and the Propeller Mushroom offer mobility options that levels often teach through safe rooms before demanding precision.

Cappy Capture Moves

In ‘Super Mario Odyssey’ Mario throws Cappy to capture enemies and objects, which replaces character specific power ups with ability swaps. Captures like Chain Chomps, Bullet Bills, and Cheep Cheeps change movement rules, opening paths that only those forms can pass. The cap can also be used as a mid air platform, an enemy stun, and a homing attack when held. Moons are often gated behind learning a capture’s full move list, encouraging experimentation in each kingdom.

Gravity Play in Space Adventures

In ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ and its sequel, planetoids have local gravity that pulls Mario toward their surfaces from any angle. This creates wraparound paths, upside down traversal, and puzzles where momentum carries between tiny worlds. The spin move acts as an attack, a switch trigger, and a micro double jump to correct spacing. Launch Stars turn level transitions into directed arcs, which keeps flow between gravity zones smooth and readable.

Yoshi Team Ups

When Yoshi appears in ‘Super Mario World’ and later games, he adds extra movement and utility through the flutter jump and tongue grab. Different colored Yoshis can grant flight bursts, ground stomps, or shell based abilities when combined with Koopa shells. In ‘Super Mario Galaxy 2’ Yoshi gains fruit based powers that stretch tongues to sling across gaps or sprint up steep slopes. Dismounting preserves momentum, which lets advanced routes chain jumps after Yoshi disappears.

Wall Jumps and Parkour

Starting with ‘Super Mario 64’ and expanded in ‘New Super Mario Bros.’ entries, wall jumps let Mario climb vertical shafts and correct missed landings. Designers mark walls with textures or spacing that signal where repeated kicks will work. Combined with slides, triple jumps, and ground pound cancels, these moves create alternate routes that bypass slower platforms. Time attack runs often rely on chaining wall jumps to maintain speed through narrow corridors.

Cat Mario Climbing

In ‘Super Mario 3D World’ the Super Bell transforms Mario into Cat Mario, which changes how you read every surface. Claw swipes give short range attacks that hit multiple times, while a pounce covers distance quickly on flat ground. The climb ability lets you scale walls and flags, so vertical routes open without moving platforms. Level secrets frequently sit just above standard jump reach, rewarding players who keep the form until the end.

Cape and Flight Control

‘Super Mario World’ introduces the Cape Feather, which turns running speed into sustained flight with rhythmic glides. Pulling back and forward on the stick creates lift and descent cycles, allowing long range travel and precision drop ins over obstacles. The move supports hidden areas placed far off screen, teaching players to test boundaries after a long runway. Cape spins also clear close threats, making it both a traversal and crowd control tool.

Ground Pound Precision

The ground pound appears in ‘Super Mario 64’ and becomes a staple for quick vertical corrections and switch activation. Dropping straight down adds downward force, breaking cracked blocks and hitting enemies through protective arcs. In many 3D entries the move cancels horizontal momentum, which helps land on small targets after long jumps. Designers place pound switches in timed puzzles, linking movement mastery to simple cause and effect.

Consistent Feel Across 2D and 3D

Despite engine shifts and camera changes, Mario maintains readable acceleration, friction, and jump response that teachable skills can carry between games. ‘Super Mario Bros.’ builds baseline timing on bricks and pipes, then later entries like ‘New Super Mario Bros. U’ keep similar jump arcs so muscle memory still applies. 3D games such as ‘Super Mario 3D Land’ blend depth with fixed angle stages to ease players into space awareness. This consistency lets levels escalate complexity without re teaching fundamentals every time.

Tell us your favorite Mario move or power up in the comments, and let us know which game showed it off best.