The three
Super Mario Bros. cartoons were ahead of their time, and the amount of connections they would have to official Nintendo installments is simply astounding.
- Toad and Princess Toadstool are shown using power-ups like the Fire Flower and Starman decades before they got to use them in the games. One episode of Super Mario Bros 3 starts out with all four heroes wearing Frog Suits as they swim underwater.
- Toad's "froggy" voice (provided by John Stocker) would be a character trait and direction that would make its way into the games.
- The Koopas using magic wands make its way into Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Mario himself goes to hell before he dies.
- The Super Show frequently used covers of famous songs during the first three quarters of its lifespan, with Michael Jackson being a recurring target, having "Bad" be used in "King Mario of Cramalot" and "Thriller" used in "Count Koopula". Just a mere 5 years later, guess who would actually collab with MJ to compose their third game's soundtrack?
- The fact that Mario is played by wrestling icon Lou Albano becomes funny after the canon Mario actually became a wrestler for a while.
- "If you're not watching The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, you're gonna turn into a Goomba!"
- The series was originally syndicated by Viacom, when it was merely a company composed of MTV Networks (a group of cable networksnote Which they had acquired after the partnership between Warner Cable and American Express (Warner-AmEx) was dissolved.) and a syndication arm. 31 years later, Paramount Pictures, owned by the current incarnation ViacomCBS, released a film adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog, a rival character to Mario that Sega would create two years after the Super Show! aired (and also had a few cartoons by the same producer of the Super Show!, DIC Entertainment). That means Viacom, along with DiC, will be involved in producing separate works with both franchises.
- King Koopa's appearance and his constant changing of personas and costumes makes him feel like a prototype of King K. Rool.
- The theme song has the line, "We're not like the others, who get all the fame," which is rather funny considering that Mario is known as the most famous video game character of all time.
- Bowser is not only in charge of his own minions, but also in charge of some of the Mario 2 enemies like Shy Guys, Snifits, Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, and Ninjis. All five of these would eventually become part of Bowser's Koopa Troop in the games.
- "The Bird! The Bird!":
- The beginning of "Rolling Down the River" features Mario, the red-clad, headstrong older brother, distracting Koopa's minions by gambling with them. Despite Luigi's concerns, he has a continuous winning streak until his impulsiveness causes the whole thing to backfire horribly on them. They then need to ask an old man for help, pick up some magic charms along the way and make their way back to Koopa and fight him. Sound familiar? The episode even has Mario complaining that Luigi worries too much.
- "The Great Gladiator Gig" has the bros trying to escape Koopa's minions by riding away on a horse cart. One of the goons tries to stop them by tossing two green shells at them, which don't do much other than bounce back and forth against the walls.
- The episodes "Stars in Their Eyes" and "Star Koopa" are all about the Mario Bros. venturing into space to save both the Princess and the galaxy from Bowser. In Mario Party 2, in Space Land, Bowser takes on the alias of "Black Hole Bowser" and tries to do the same thing.
- In "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario", Mario has to use his detective skills to find Herlock Solmes. Somehow, Herlock's surname has become one letter away from being the Herlock Sholmes who would help the young Japanese detective apprentice Ryunosuke Naruhodo in solving cases in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.
- "Jungle Fever" features Shy Guys dressed like jungle natives and wielding spears.
- "The Fire of Hercufleas" has so much of this with Hercules — from Hercufleas looking almost-exactly like the Disney version of Zeus, to one of Koopa's Mooks explicitly saying he's a "zero" instead of a "hero." Likewise, both versions of Hercules temporarily lose their strength and eventually manage to regain it.
- "Count Koopula" features a piranha plant who can spit out fire, which had not appeared in any of the games yet (in North America), but would appear in Super Mario Bros. 3, which had been out in Japan for a year.
- The episode "Pirates Of Koopa" has Bowser take on the persona of a villainous pirate named Blackbeard Koopa. Come Mario Party 2, on the Pirate Land board Bowser becomes a pirate with the alias of "Captain Bowser".
- "Two Plumbers and a Baby" featured Baby Bowser and Baby Peach.
- Bowser trying to marry Peach in "Do You, Princess Toadstool, Take this Koopa...?" would make its way into the games. The very plot also makes its way into the movie, right down to Peach only agreeing to save her people.
- As would some of the costumes Mario wears in some episodes including at least a cowboy costumenote Which had previously appeared in at least one piece of official artwork, but might be best remembered for appearing in Mario Party 2. and even a chef's outfitnote Which would later be seen in Yoshi's Cookie, albeit in a different style..
- In "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service", Koopfinger, instead of the typical Bond villain lapcat, is seen petting a small, blue hedgehog (Porcupo from Mario 2). The jokes practically write themselves.
- Hooded Robin is an avian expy of Robin Hood who fires a bow and arrow straight from his talons. Seems like Game Freak ended up taking some notes...
- "Mario Meets Koop-Zilla":
- Mario's fight with King Koopa has him grabbing Koopa by the tail and throwing him away. And then came Super Mario 64.
- The episode also features a fight between a giant Mario and a giant Bowser. Several decades later, the Nintendo Switch port of Super Mario 3D World would feature a very similar fight in the Bowser's Fury expansion.
- In "Mario Meets Koopzilla" and "Mario and the Beanstalk", Koopa would end up growing to gigantic proportions. This tactic would end up finding its way into the game series several times.
- Bowser in his Santa Claus outfit from "Koopa Klaus" would make its way into Mario Kart Tour.
- "The Unzappables" introduced the idea of magical hats-as-power ups, a 1920's-style Metropolis (à la Metro Kingdom) and even features a stand-in for a Talkatoo; all before Super Mario Odyssey was even a working concept.
- "The Mark of Zero" features Mario and Luigi gliding with a cape two years before they could in the games.
- When fighting Koopa's goons, Mario decides to show off and do some impressive acrobatic flips whilst Luigi goes for the safe and boring approach of taking the stairs. They keep up this dynamic when approaching the final battle with King Boo in Luigi's Mansion 3.
- "The Ten Koopmandments" has Mario and the gang getting attacked by a Goomba Mummy.
- "The Trojan Koopa" introduced the concept of the Princess rescuing Mario, Luigi, and Toad. It also introduced the idea of a Trojan Bowser.
- The episode "Plummers Academy" features background characters who look similar to Wario and Waluigi
◊note Although the faux-Waluigi is wearing Wario-esque colors and doesn't have a mustache. The Wario-looking one is even the only one wearing short sleeves, much like Wario himself. Another one looks like SMG4's Author Avatar, albeit with a white hat. - From "Robo Koopa", Dr. Nerdnick is a Bungling Inventor with white hair and eye-hiding glasses who speaks fluent gibberish, and one of his inventions would end up being a weapon used by King Koopa. 12 years after his debut, and Professor E. Gadd would almost seem like an Expy of Nerdnick, down to one of his inventions being used as Bowser Jr.'s main weapon.
- The plot of Luigi's Mansion starts with Luigi having fallen for a scam involving him having won a mansion in a contest he never entered. "Mama Mia Mario" featured him pulling that same trick on his own mother, faking a call saying she won the lottery in order to get her to leave.
- One of the live-action sketches is called "9001: A Mario Odyssey". Heh heh heh...
- In the live action segment "Cher's Poochie", Cher says "You must have me confused with Sonny." But it's kinda muffled and she slurs it, so it sounds like she says "Sonic". Only about a year later, Sonic the Hedgehog would make his debut and be a rival of Mario's for the next decade, making this line all the funnier, since Luigi had slammed the door on her at first.
- In one of the live action segments, where Mario and Luigi are charged with the task of fixing up Inspector Gadget, they refer to each other as Dr. Mario and Dr. Luigi. Dr. Mario would come out a year later, and Dr. Luigi would come out in 25 years.
- In "Fortune Teller", Mario and Luigi are visibly disappointed that the giveaway's grand prize is milk and cookies with, of all people, Scott Baio. Considering that the first ever celebrity guest on the Super Show was Nicole Eggert back in "Neatness Counts", their reaction is retroactively now rather appropriate.
- From the live action skit "No Way to Treat a Queenie": "Well, since I am the queen, you see, I really must use the royal 'we'". Elizabeth II actually had a "Royal Wii", one that is gold-plated.
- The live-action segment "Slime Busters" features a guest appearance by Ernie Hudson, whose Ghostbuster character was infamously overshadowed by the other three, as a Ghostbuster pastiche and had Luigi get possessed. Now there's a whole series where Luigi captures ghosts, intended to help Luigi live outside of his brother's shadow. It also features a green ectoplasmic goo creature vaguely in Luigi's likeness, albeit a lot less benevolent.
- The live-action segment "Glasnuts" revolves around Mikhail Gorbachev (portrayed by Martin C. Gardner) visiting the Mario brothers on a diplomatic mission from the Soviet Union, where he has the plumbers teach him how to make pizza. At the end of the segment, he likes the result so much that he decides to open a pizza place in Russia. Nearly a decade after the episode's airing, the real Gorbachev infamously starred in an advertisement for Pizza Hut, in which he visits an establishment in Russia and witnesses a politically divided crowd uniting in appreciation for how his policies allowed the franchise to arrive in the country.
- Hop's hairstyle is a bit different from his game counterpart, Iggy's, mohawk. However, it's surprisingly similar to the hairstyle Iggy got when the Koopalings got redesigned in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
- Tracey Moore and Harvey Atkin would work together only a few years later on The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police with Tracey's character being a red haired girl and Harvey's being a humanoid animal, just like Toadstool and Bowser.
- In the first episode, Koopa accidentally turns Mario into a giant. This was later turned into a game mechanic.
- When Mario is attempting to transport the White House back to America in "Reptiles In The Rose Garden". When he sends it on top of the Washington Monument instead, he says "Maybe I should have read the instructions."
- In "Reign Storm", Kooky invents a robotic clone of Princess Toadstool to deceive the Mario Bros. and turn over the Mushroom Kingdom to Bowser. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga features Princess Peach robots designed for a similar purpose (Cackletta using Peach's voice to awaken the Beanstar).
- "Toddler Terrors of Time Travel:"
- The Mario Bros. and Bowser were all turned into toddlers before Yoshi's Island.
- A chase scene with strollers predicts an average Mario Kart 8 match.
- "The Beauty of Kootie":
- The episode's plot is quite similar to Peachette and its subsequent meme Bowsette.
- That same episode has Kootie Pie tricking Mario into falling in love with her. Years later, Paper Mario: Color Splash would reveal that Wendy thinks Mario is "kinda cute".
- "Misadventures in Babysitting":
- When a Boom Boom charges at the bros, they defeat it by using a team-up attack involving Luigi giving Mario a boosted jump, not unlike the bros-attacks in Mario And Luigi Super Star Saga.
- Later, some Boos sneak up on Luigi and he scares them away by making a scary face. Since Luigi's fear of ghosts has been one of his main character traits since Luigi's Mansion, this can come off as a Bait-and-Switch Out-of-Character Moment.
- "Never Koop a Koopa":
- "Dadzilla":
- Kootie Pie and Big Mouth suspect themselves to be adopted, 22 years before Miyamoto confirmed the Koopalings aren't Bowser's kids.
- Dadzilla is a robot being used for a Hollywood Not Zilla movie. Eight years later, the first American Godzilla movie was made.
- "Tag Team Trouble"
- The climax of "Do The Koopa" involves King Koopa trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom with the Doomdancer Music Box by forcing everyone into an eternal dance. Bowser's ultimate plan in Super Mario Bros. Wonder is to use the Wonder Flowers' magic to take over the world via an everlasting rock concert.
- "Kootie Pie Rocks":
- Milli Vanilli claims they can't sing without their band, and their attempt to wing it sends the audience away screaming; they fessed up to their lip-syncing scandal earlier than thought. The two also throw shade at The Beatles. Suffice to say that little stroke of hubris lost its sting rather quickly.
- Re-issues of the series up the authenticity by replacing all licensed music with a generic instrumental track, now they really are just moving their mouths.
- Mario Party 4 would come up with a better pun than Koopa: "Blame It On the Crane."
- Luigi refers to the tuxes he, Mario, and Toad are wearing as "these dumb penguin suits!"
- "Up, Up and a Koopa" won't be the only time The Princess will be saving Mario and Luigi.
- In “7 Continents for 7 Koopas”, Kootie Pie turns all the pictures in the Louvre into pictures of herself, and one of the paintings she inserts herself in is Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Years later, Paper Mario: Color Splash shows Wendy coming out of a shell and posing in a way very similar to “The Birth of Venus”.
- "Mush-Rumors":
- The entire Mushroom Kingdom thought they were under an alien attack. Then came the Shroobs.
- The running gag of the human family thinking the Mushroom Kingdom is actually one big amusement park gains a new dimension now that Super Nintendo World is a thing.
- "The Venice Menace" features a Venetian gondolier speaking in heavily accented Gratuitous Italian. Luigi, who has already gained more of an Italian accent in this show compared to the previous one, loves it. Years later, both the bros would take on iconic stereotypical Italian accents after being voiced by Charles Martinet.
- In "Super Koopa", we see King Koopa using the game's power-ups, including the Raccoon Suit. Over twenty years later, the False Bowsers in Super Mario 3D Land are depicted with raccoon tails, and in Super Mario 3D World, Bowser uses power-ups against Mario and friends.
- One of the lyrics of the theme song is "you gotta move fast," similar to Sonic's "gotta go fast" years later.
- A Tyrannosaurus rex appears in the intro and some episodes, decades before Super Mario Odyssey made this dinosaur canon.
- Yoshi likes eating fireballs, which wasn't possible in the games for a decade and a half.
- The show's most recurring animation error was having the emblem on Luigi's hat have a black back instead of a white one. Cue the Mr. L jokes.
- "The Wheel Thing" centers around Mario and friends building cars and street rules. Some joke that it's Mario Kart's origin story.
- "Ghosts 'R' Us:" Wizenheimer is basically a prototype Kamek, with two of them being evil magikoopas sharing similar appearances and being major antagonists in their respective stories.
- "The Night Before Cave Christmas" is a Christmas Episode involving Mario playing the role of Santa Claus and Yoshi as his reindeer. An idea Nintendo would use in their own promotional material and appears as a wearable costume in Super Mario Odyssey. Also in Super Mario Maker 2, the Super Mario World-style gets its own snow theme, complete with a Snowy Sleigh Bells remix of the Overworld theme.
- "Gopher Bash:"
- Cheatsy's "I hate those plumbers!" predates Robotnik's "I hate that hedgehog!" by two years.
- "Big Yoshi" makes his first appearance in the finale.
- "Rock TV:"
- "Mama Luigi:"
- In the Super Mario Bros. Super Show episode ''King Mario of Cramalot, Luigi tried to get out of lowering a drawbridge by saying he's going to have a baby. The finale of Super Mario World features Luigi being called 'Mama' by the newborn Yoshi.
- Luigi bashes a ? Block and the coins inside of it fall down all together at the same time. He was later given this ability in Super Mario Advance 2.
