History Fridge / SuperMarioBros

* In both Galaxy games, I've often wondered why Thwomps and Whomps kill you instantly when they didn't in 64. Then, it hit me; They did 3 damage to Mario's 8-part health meter in 64, but in the Galaxy games, you only HAVE 3 units of health.

*** Adding onto that, in one of the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' games, Luigi had a cart called the "Green ''Lightning''".

* ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' (the USA version we got) is notable for being the only Mario platformer where the [[GoombaStomp Goomba Stomp]] proves to no significant effect. The events of the game were [[AllJustADream All Just A Dream]]. Being in a world where Mario's [[GoombaStomp trademark attack]] does not hurt enemies makes this more of a nightmare for him, would it not? - MrYoshbert

*** Adding onto that, in one of the ''MarioKart'' games, Luigi had a cart called the "Green ''Lightning''".

* In Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time I always wondered why some Shroob beings would keep the Cobalt Star pieces apart [[spoiler: when we find out it had the Elder Princess Shroob inside. I assumed it was because her sister wanted to be in charge. But I still was bothered by how much the Elder cared for the Younger, would the Younger really have such dislike? Then, while fighting the Elder and noting the repetitive move of blowing up her ships, I realised the Younger wasn't keeping the shards apart- the regular Shroobs were. Why would they restore the monarch that kills you for fetching her a drink when there's a nicer, and perhaps more attractive from their point of view, substitute? The Younger probably never even knew they had collected any shards, they were just feed into their creatures to hide them.]]

* I played Mario 64 for years, probably more than any other game. Quite recently, I was in Snowman's Land and I realized that it was a spoof on "no man's land!" Which makes sense because no man's land is usually a war term describing a dangerous place that nobody wants to occupy, which is exactly what that level is!

* Let's talk about the original SuperMarioBrothers for the NES, shall we? In the first seven castles, if you defeat Bowser with fireballs instead of getting the axe at the end of the bridge, he turns into a {{Mook}} of some kind while he falls into the lava. I always thought that was kind of random. Only just now did I realize that in the first seven castles, ''it's not really Bowser you're fighting''--it's a random Mook magically transformed into Bowser's likeness! Killing that Mook breaks the spell! Not only is the Princess in another castle, so is her kidnapper! How did I miss that all this time? --{{Karalora}}

* This troper loved the story in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', but two things bugged her about it: it was too wordy, and even though Mario and his friends were the "four heroes of legend", [[spoiler: they weren't the ones who ultimately saved the world.]] Sure, they gathered the eight PlotCoupons needed to destroy the final boss, but thanks to [[spoiler: Dimentio's XanatosGambit, that was wasted.]] Then I went back and watched the opening cinematic FramingDevice again, and realized that the game's plot was ''brilliant''. It was introduced by a narrator as a "story of ''love''," so it was really wordy because the whole game was ''a book that was being read'', and Mario and the others ''were not the main characters''. The actual heroes were [[spoiler: Timpani and Blumiere]], so it made more sense for the fulfillment of ''their'' love to ultimately [[spoiler: restore power to the Pure Hearts so Dimentio and the Chaos Heart can finally be destroyed.]] Some love stories [[RomanceTumor destroy plots]]. Sometimes, they save them. -SweetMadness
** Also, the Chaos Heart was created by marrying two people who were never meant to be together (Bowser and Peach) in a forced, formal marriage; a perversion of an act of love and commitment. It was destroyed by reuniting two people never meant to be apart ([[spoiler: Blumiere and Timpani]]) in a spontaneous, heartfelt reciting of vows, the truest expression of love for each other even in the [[HeroicSacrifice face of death]]. -SweetMadness

*** Adding onto that, in one of the MarioKart games, Luigi had a cart called the "Green ''Lightning''".
* From the previous game in the series, ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', one of mook species guarding the X-Nauts' base is called "X-Yux." Using Goombella's "tattle" ability reveals that the name is actually pronounced "Cross Yux." What is the significance of that? Perhaps all of the X's relating to the X-Nauts are actually pronounced "Cross," making the organization the "Cross Nauts." That does include, of course, the [[AIIsACrapshoot sentient computer]] that eventually decided to side with Peach over the X-Nauts. The computer's name? "Tec-XX." Given the pronunciation, that would be "Tec Double-Cross."
** Embarrassingly, the above finally made me realize that thename "X-Nauts" or "cross-naughts" is an IncediblyLamePun related to tic-tac-toe.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', there's a Whack-a-Mole like game where you whack Goombas instead. ''The mole is the one running the game.'' It took this troper years to pick up on the joke.-{{Ryusui}}
* Early in VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG, Mallow mentions that he can't jump. Apparently it runs in the family, as [[spoiler: Nimbus Castle is designed so that no jumping is required to get around it.]] This troper has been playing the game since it came out in 1996, and just noticed that the other day. {{MysticalChicken}}
* Sort of a StealthPun, but it makes too much sense to just be a joke. Almost all of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Superstar Saga]] takes place in the Beanbean Kingdom-- in Japanese, this is the "Mameria Kingdom". "Mame" means "Bean" (predictably), but say 'Mameria' out loud. Given the r/l translation issues, it sounds an awful lot like "Mamalia", from the animal kingdom. The beanish people are humanoid, humans are mammals... [[YourMileageMayVary it makes sense to me, at least...]]

* An example from VideoGame/SuperMario64 that probably borders on StealthPun: In course one, Mario encounters a character called Koopa the Quick who will race him for a [[MacGuffin Power Star]]. At one point he randomly walks off a cliff to take a shortcut to the finish. This seems utterly pointless and random, until you think back to the days of SuperMarioBros. What was the defining character trait of green-shelled Koopas again? Probably unintentional, but still funny in a weird way. -Edofenrir

* For a while, even though he's now my favorite character, I thought the Speedo on Petey Piranha was a pretty silly idea. But then I realized that his first game was VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine, which was on an island, and it suddenly made perfect sense! It then also made me realize why he has a reggae theme for Mario Strikers Charged. - [[Tropers/ZootyCutie ZootyCutie]]
* Have you ever wondered why you fight giant Bowser after you beat Bowser in most games? This troper found an explanation in [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]. Every time Bowser is nearly dead, Mario and Luigi help make him turn giant. I think that it usually works on its own, but Bowser inhaling most of the kingdom probably messed it up. - insanekirby

* Sort of a StealthPun, but it makes too much sense to just be a joke. Almost all of [[MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Superstar Saga]] takes place in the Beanbean Kingdom-- in Japanese, this is the "Mameria Kingdom". "Mame" means "Bean" (predictably), but say 'Mameria' out loud. Given the r/l translation issues, it sounds an awful lot like "Mamalia", from the animal kingdom. The beanish people are humanoid, humans are mammals... [[YourMileageMayVary it makes sense to me, at least...]]

* Have you ever wondered why you fight giant Bowser after you beat Bowser in most games? This troper found an explanation in MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory. Every time Bowser is nearly dead, Mario and Luigi help make him turn giant. I think that it usually works on its own, but Bowser inhaling most of the kingdom probably messed it up. - insanekirby

** Maybe because you didn't read the [[HotelMario enclosed]] [[MemeticMutation instruction]] [[ReadTheFreakingManual book]], where it's stated.

** Maybe because you didn't read the [[MemeticMutation enclosed instruction book]], where it's stated.

** Maybe because you didn't read the enclosed instruction book, where it's stated.
*** To be fair, there's a great many of us who never got those instruction book, especially if we were born a bit later on and thus started playing Nintendo Games second hand.

* Have you ever wondered why you fight giant Bowser after you beat Bowser in most games? This troper found an explanation in MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory. Every time Bowser is nearly dead, Mario and Luigi help make it turn giant. I think that it usually works on its own, but Bowser inhaling most of the kingdom probably messed it up. - insanekirby

* Have you ever wondered why you fight giant Bowser after you beat Bowser in most games? This troper found an explanation in MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory. Every time Bowser is nearly dead, Mario and Luigi help make it turn giant. I think that it usually works on its own, but Bowser inhaling most of the kingdom probably messed it up.

* In ''SuperMarioRPG'', there's a Whack-a-Mole like game where you whack Goombas instead. ''The mole is the one running the game.'' It took this troper years to pick up on the joke.-{{Ryusui}}
* Early in SuperMarioRPG, Mallow mentions that he can't jump. Apparently it runs in the family, as [[spoiler: Nimbus Castle is designed so that no jumping is required to get around it.]] This troper has been playing the game since it came out in 1996, and just noticed that the other day. {{MysticalChicken}}

* This troper loved the story in ''SuperPaperMario'', but two things bugged her about it: it was too wordy, and even though Mario and his friends were the "four heroes of legend", [[spoiler: they weren't the ones who ultimately saved the world.]] Sure, they gathered the eight PlotCoupons needed to destroy the final boss, but thanks to [[spoiler: Dimentio's XanatosGambit, that was wasted.]] Then I went back and watched the opening cinematic FramingDevice again, and realized that the game's plot was ''brilliant''. It was introduced by a narrator as a "story of ''love''," so it was really wordy because the whole game was ''a book that was being read'', and Mario and the others ''were not the main characters''. The actual heroes were [[spoiler: Timpani and Blumiere]], so it made more sense for the fulfillment of ''their'' love to ultimately [[spoiler: restore power to the Pure Hearts so Dimentio and the Chaos Heart can finally be destroyed.]] Some love stories [[RomanceTumor destroy plots]]. Sometimes, they save them. -SweetMadness

* From the previous game in the series, ''PaperMario: The Thousand-Year Door'', one of mook species guarding the X-Nauts' base is called "X-Yux." Using Goombella's "tattle" ability reveals that the name is actually pronounced "Cross Yux." What is the significance of that? Perhaps all of the X's relating to the X-Nauts are actually pronounced "Cross," making the organization the "Cross Nauts." That does include, of course, the [[AIIsACrapshoot sentient computer]] that eventually decided to side with Peach over the X-Nauts. The computer's name? "Tec-XX." Given the pronunciation, that would be "Tec Double-Cross."

* For a while, even though he's now my favorite character, I thought the Speedo on Petey Piranha was a pretty silly idea. But then I realized that his first game was SuperMarioSunshine, which was on an island, and it suddenly made perfect sense! It then also made me realize why he has a reggae theme for Mario Strikers Charged. - [[Tropers/ZootyCutie ZootyCutie]]

* An example from SuperMario64 that probably borders on StealthPun: In course one, Mario encounters a character called Koopa the Quick who will race him for a [[MacGuffin Power Star]]. At one point he randomly walks off a cliff to take a shortcut to the finish. This seems utterly pointless and random, until you think back to the days of SuperMarioBros. What was the defining character trait of green-shelled Koopas again? Probably unintentional, but still funny in a weird way. -Edofenrir

* Remember the mini-game Key-Pa-Way from Mario Party 1? I recently noticed it's a pun a on the game "Keep away".