The Ten Best Mario Retro Nods and General Fan Service

With over 20 years of history behind it, the Super Mario Bros series has a long tradition of making references to it's past, or even it's fanbase. From the RPGs which have one of these moments near enough once per game, to the subtle nods and comebacks found in the main platform game series, this list compromises some of the coolest throwbacks to Mario history that the series has to offer.

1. Super Mario Bros (Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga)

The first real interesting retro nod in the Mario and Luigi series, there is a section in Bowser's Castle which is pretty much a complete reference to the castle levels of Super Mario Bros 1.

From a small room entered by Mini Mario, you climbed up all the steps and went across the ledges until you went off to the right, where you began a suspicious Super Mario Bros 1 like castle level remake. You had to dodge Podoboos, avoid falling in lava, dodge Roto Discs and ride a platform while jumping spikes. Eventually though, in a classic set piece, you came across a familiar bridge, with a cardboard cut out of Bowser hanging on string and an axe to the right. The axe gets hit, Bowser falls and burns up in the lava, and you go down a pipe where Toad or Princess Peach would normally be.



Not that this is the only time such stuff happens though. Paper Mario 2 did this with sections involving Bowser going through these kinds of levels and becoming giant while eating meat. Super Paper Mario was basically about these kinds of level.

2. Airship Fortress (Mario Kart DS)

Before the current games in the Mario series, where airships seem to have made a full return, this Mario Kart DS track got a lot of praise for being one giant shout out to Super Mario Bros 3. From one of the first appearances of a Super Mario Bros 3 airship in modern Mario games, to the dodging Bullet Bills, Rocky Wrenches and Jet Engines in an environment almost taken straight from said game, this course is a fan favourite for being very much remniscient of the classics.

Not to mention, you get blasted out a cannon into a tower. Or that the place looks like a complete and utter war zone.

3. Mushroomy Kingdom (Super Smash Bros Brawl)

Super Mario Bros level 1 remakes are not a particularly new idea any more. But in an example of Super Smash Bros going beyond just copying the style of the existing Mario games, Brawl's Mushroomy Kingdom level is a remake of the first two levels in Super Mario Bros... after about twenty years of being abandoned.

Abandoned here as in... the green, lush environment has decayed to a brown, desolate waste land, albeit one recognisable via the classic elements, ? blocks, flag and castle. The sky is murky, and various classic Mario themes are played in the background, to even greater effect when a desert theme is the one used.

No enemies or warp zones referenced here though, so it's not too highly scored, and quite honestly, the Super Mario Bros level 1-1 remake theme is getting more than a tad overused now.

4. Mario turns Eight Bit (Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door)

Truth be told, this is not a new idea. Super Mario RPG did this in Booster's Tower, I think, as did Paper Mario 1 in Boo's Mansion. But this time around, it's a bit more than just a different set of graphics for Mario, in that it affects every single partner you've got with you (as in, all the playable characters from this game in glorious NES graphics), and I think it even changes things like the menus, at least for one room.

5. Mario Songs (Luigi's Mansion and Super Mario Galaxy)

A bit of a joint award here, because both had sections where classic Mario songs would play in the background. The former had a ghost (Melody Piantissima) which played classic Mario songs in a name that tune type mini game, the latter you play classic Mario songs by collecting music notes in order. The latter even remade the Bowser's Road/Bowser in the Dark World song from Super Mario 64 for it's Bowser levels...

6. The Koopalings Return (Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga)

In no doubt one of the most epic moments in the Mario series, this game brought back some of the fanbase's most favourite bosses after about 12 years of not being in a Mario game, all at the same time, and in the most unexpected place... the final dungeon of the game.

Considering they fought relatively like they did in the original platformers, then you just have to consider this some of the best (non sexual) fan service even possible from Nintendo as a company.

7. Bowser's Memory ML (Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story)

Is there anyway for a single battle to make more references to Mario history than this? Doubtable, this boss battle is practically the epitome of retro. You're against copies of Mario and Luigi, who look like strange retro pixel characters in a square style. They're apparently Bowser's memories of the Super Mario Bros from the times he fought them in the past.

But it's their attacks which make this a fun retro shout out. Mario grows giant and breaks bricks to attack with, then gets shrunk down by equally weird shaped Koopa biting him. Mario turns invincible with the Starman and charges at Mario and Luigi, with coins indicating if he'll change direction or jump. Luigi throws hammers. Luigi gets chased by a Boo past the two brothers in random order. For that matter, Luigi even runs off screen every now and then like a coward, and the duo heal and revive each other with Mushrooms and 1 Up Mushrooms.

There is no doubt that this is probably one of the funniest parodies or nods to Super Mario Bros 1 that you can ever find, and even after the battle, the character you speak to takes the form of Princess Peach...



8. The Extra Tracks (Mario Kart Super Circuit)

While Mario Kart DS and Wii have remade versions of the tracks from the past Mario Kart games in a set of retro cups, Mario Kart Super Circuit, for all it's flaws went one better.

It remade basically the entire game of Super Mario Kart as a bonus. In return for the work of beating the game and getting star rankings, you unlocked entire cups of tracks from Super Mario Kart, eventually having every single track in the game as playable in normal racing, GP, vs and time trial. Retro cups from Mario Kart DS and Wii with their 'selection' of tracks? Pah, that's nothing when you get the equivalent of a whole game's worth of levels unlocked, and your track total reaches about 40 tracks, more than any other Mario Kart game to date.

Why is this not top though? Well, put bluntly, the physics engine in Mario Kart Super Circuit was not particularly the greatest, which took a good chunk of the entertainment and replay value out of this. It's good anyway.

9. Fort Francis and the Bitlands (Super Paper Mario)

While the previous nods to the actual games are great, there's an even greater joy when Nintendo actually mocks the fanbase itself, of which this chapter in Super Paper Mario does to the greatest degree.

You see, this is basically a parody of the 'hardcore' video gamer stereotype, or at least the Nintendo fanboy. Francis, is a nerd character who is a boss in the game, and Fort Francis is already located in the Bitlands, a place done up in retro pixel style graphics. In the fortress however, you see references to Nintendo absolutely everywhere. You have Nintendo consoles to the degree of even the Virtual Boy on the shelves. There are pictures of characters from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door. Mentions are made to Starship X Naut and the Blubbening, which use characters from Paper Mario games as their lead stars. There are dolls of characters from Mario games. Heck, he even apparently wants a Magnus Von Grapple action figure, an Excess Express train set and a DVD about Rawk Hawk.

For that matter, you have the questions on the doors, which are practically spot on references to video game nerd quotes on video game forums. A few below:



Kudos Nintendo. You have pretty much summed up the fan base on internet forums perfectly with those quotes.

10. Half the Content in New Super Mario Bros Wii (New Super Mario Bros Wii)

How is it possible an entire game is possibly the best retro redux in the article? Easy, if the game is like New Super Mario Bros Wii seems to be. It's pretty much a remix of Super Mario Bros 3 and World with all new levels and gimmicks. You have the Koopalings returning with Bowser Jr. Airships return. The Koopa Clown Car returns. Kamek returns and makes boss battles harder like in Yoshi's Island.

To be serious though, the sheer amount of win in this game is huge. Enemies from all the past games seem to be back. Throw blocks are back. Yoshi is back in a 2D Mario game. The final boss will apparently be a parody of one of the final bosses in a past Mario game. There's even Super Mario Bros 3 music remixes, which cements this game as essential for all fans of the nostalgic.