Small Mario Findings

Chuck Quizmo from Paper Mario is a worm, as confirmed by his original Japanese name ハテナ虫 (Question Worm, using a general word that means "bug" but also includes worms). This may be immediately apparent to some players, while his cartoonish design and striped color scheme may suggest he is simply an unidentified fantasy creature to others.

To underscore his worm nature, an easily overlooked detail is that the three animated symbols that appear out of his hat (the question mark, correct and incorrect symbols) appear to be worm-themed, being pink, shiny and wriggling.

The final boss battle against Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine has notoriously bad collision on the crumbling platform parts that begin to fall down when Mario performs a Ground Pound on the markings around the arena, causing many players to fall through the cracks between the parts as they attempt to get back to the main platform.

However, on particularly unfortunate occasions, the collision can cause Mario to die immediately upon performing the Ground Pound, as seen in the footage. The cracks always form in the same locations; if Mario happens to be precisely aligned with one of them, he will fall through the microscopic seam without the player having any chance to do anything about it.

Source: DrSiXfInGeRs

Officially licensed 1986 Super Mario Bros. scratch-off game featuring original illustrations, from Japan.

Source: j-vintage-toys

Print ad announcing the launch of Nintendo products in Brazil via official distributor Playtronic, featuring Mario with a Brazilian flag.

Source: bro3256

The first design of the official Mario page for Nintendo of America (at mario.nintendo.com) when it launched in 2004.

Source: Nelsonic

Officially licensed 2026 set of Luma plush bag tags for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Source: blacktangent

In Super Mario World, defeating a Galoomba (left) (known as Goombas at the time of the game's release) or a Koopa Troopa (right) with Cape Mario's diving attack will display a small unintended graphic that is very easy to miss due to how small it is.

These graphics are actually the game attempting to display a dedicated "squished Galoomba" or "squished Koopa Troopa" sprite, which existed at one point during development but were later overwritten by other, unrelated graphics that happen to be small enough to be easily overlooked.

The bottom image shows the sprites as they once existed, recovered from development files.

Officially licensed 1999 Mario Golf keychain of Bowser, from Japan.

Source: hideyuki_0102

Early concept art for the Luncheon Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey, seen in the Art of Super Mario Odyssey book. Note the design of the buildings to resemble cabinets and other furniture that would be seen in a kitchen; this concept was not used in the finished game where the architecture of the kingdom is simply in a Roman temple style instead.

Mewtroid, known as "Nekoroid" in Japan, is a minigame that first appeared in WarioWare: Twisted, whereby the aim is to control a cat with a cannon arm in the style of Samus Aran from Metroid (named Sameow) to defeat bugs. The minigame also received remakes and sequels in future WarioWare titles.

Interestingly, Mewtroid was also available for download for the Play-Yan media player for the Game Boy Advance SP, where the minigame itself was identical, but it featured a new title screen with unique artwork of Sameow that was never used in any actual WarioWare games.

Source: RHG1951

Officially licensed 2019 Super Mario Bros. castle level-themed insulated bottles.

Source: 1, 2

In Super Mario RPG, when Mario reaches Rose Town for the first time, it is under attack by arrows from Bowyer, which cause NPCs to become frozen in place when they are hit. There are various scripted events of NPCs being hit by the arrows on the first visit to the town.

One of them is a yellow Toad woman walking out from behind the house to the right of the entrance, and immediately being hit by an arrow. Interestingly, she does not appear simply by approaching the house, and instead requires Mario to pass through an invisible activation area.

As such, by going around that area, Mario can reach her while she is still behind the house, which is seen in the footage by disabling the background layer of the roof. Unfortunately, she does not have any collision or dialogue during this, and can only be interacted with once the cutscene completes and she is hit by the arrow.

Source: LitesJZ

Officially licensed 1986 Super Mario/Legend of Zelda waist bag.

Source: TheUltiMarioFan

Extremely rare 1992 promotional pin for a Swiss cross-promotion event between Mario and Lusso Eldorado, a brand of ice cream.

Source: coincollectorscove

Pre-release screenshot from Mario Party 9 showing a minigame that does not exist in the final game, seemingly revolving around two players needing to catch Bowser Jr. in a large 2D room inspired by the bonus rooms from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

In the finished game, the minigame "Zoom Room" revolves around a similar concept of two players needing to catch Bowser Jr., except taking place in a 3D maze instead of a 2D screen.

Source: RHG1951

Large store display for photo-ops at Nintendo New York for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.

Source: VGArtAndTidbits

Officially licensed 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 T-shirt depicting Mario skateboarding.

Source: daddydaughterresale