Mario Facts and Secrets

Mario's Original Name

Originally, Mario's name was Jumpman. He was called this because in his original appearances in games (in some of the Donkey Kong games), he played a character that had to jump over Donkey Kong's barrells.

Mario's Red Hat, Moustache and Overalls

Back in the day Nintendo was constrained by hardware. When creating Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto made him look the way he does because of hardware limitations of the time. He was given a moustache to seperate his nose from his face, overalls so arm movements were visible, and a hat because hair was hard to draw.

Mario Vine Teleporter Trick

In some cases, mainly on Super Mario Brothers 1 (and possible Super Mario Bros. 2), when a vine is located to the far left of the screen, and only a millimeter or so of the vine is on screen, you can sometimes touch the vine and be transported to the opposite side of the screen!

Get Mario Going Faster

When standing still, you can accelerate from zero speed faster if you jump a small jump backwards and steer to the opposite direction Mario is facing. Give it a shot when starting a level when trying to beat your best times at a level!

How to Kill Mario Enemies From Below

Most people believe that you have to be on top of an enemy to kill them, but that's not true. The way the programming works allows you to do it from any side. The only problem is that you have to be falling and going in a downward direction, but when you are, you're able to hit even the bottom of an enemy (when you think you're dropping too soon to hit the enemy safely, you might not be! Just time it right and you'll get it!).

Get Inside the Enemies Head... Or Body!

If you time it right, you are able to safely walk on (not next to or above... but ON) an enemy. This occurs when an enemy such as a winged Koopa is hit, because for a second after the hit, the Kooopa is prevented from hurting you. In this short amount of time, if you jump into the same position as the Koopa, you should be able to walk with it without being hurt!

Mario Sliding on One Foot

This is a well-known trick which requires the fiery Mario. When you start a level or exit from a pipe, hold B and jump, and continue holding B. When you move, Mario will slide instead of running, for some time. This trick is trivial to do on the real console.

If you need more tricks, you might want to check out this Super Mario Brothers Tricks Website.