Mario is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture.
He even has his own national holiday; Mario Day, which occurs on March 10th.
He’s recognized for his famous red hat, blue overalls, bushy mustache and his big
round nose.
But often, in his games, he takes on other aesthetic iterations that alter and boost
your gameplay.
Yup, we’re talking transformations.
And with the introduction of Super Mario Odyessy, Mario’s transformations have taken it up
a notch thanks to the transformative power of cappy.
So today, we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 Mario Transformations, looking
at some of the classics via power ups, but also taking a look at some of the newer transformations
that cappy enables.
So let’s jump in!
10 A chunk of Meat Starting off our list with a chuckle, let’s
take a look at this transformation that recently made it’s debut in Super Mario Odyssey,
known simply as Meat.
It’s the only capture target in the game that is captured once, and can never be captured
again post-game.
So in other words, enjoy your time as a chunk of meat before it’s gone for good.
The meat is used as a way to transport Mario via a Cookatiel, who grabs the meat with it’s
talons and drops it into a huge bowl of stupendous stew on top of Mount Volbono.
Once you arrive, this allows Mario to reach the mission’s multi moon.
9 Tanooki Mario The Tanooki Mario transformation is arguably
one of the cutest Mario transformations.
Similar to the Super Leaf power up, Tanooki Mario allows you to jump up and fly or glide
in the air by swinging your tail.
But where it differs from the Super Leaf power up is that it allows you to turn into a statue
for a few seconds, which makes you invincible, although you can’t move.
If you turn into the statue while above an enemy, you’ll squash them, which works against
some normally invincible foes.
Also, fun fact, this power up was inspired by the Japanese tanuki, which is a raccoon
dog that according to mythology has mischievous behavior and shape shifting powers.
8 Moe-Eye Just like the Moai!
The Easter Island heads.
While some players may have found them annoying thanks to the Invisible Maze Moon, in terms
of novelty, they’re pretty darn great.
Normally a shy creature that runs from Mario, once under your control, they have a few useful
tricks that you can take advantage of, the most useful being that when it’s sunglasses
are on, you can see invisible platforms, coins and hidden blocks.
Also, you can hear them humming the first few notes to the Super Mario Bros theme, which
was a nice little touch.
7 Cape Mario Thanks to the cape feather, in super Mario
World, you could fly around.
While there was quite the steep learning curve at first (the controls were a bit backwards)
once you got the hang of it, Cape Mario was game changing.
You could dive bomb, you could cause earthquakes, and it made your spin jumps even stronger.
It was pretty similar to Raccoon Mario, which was originally supposed to appear in the game
but got axed.
Cape Mario was much more simplistic, and while it hasn’t really managed to stand the test
of time, it did make several solid appearances in Super Mario Advance 4 and the Super Mario
Maker.
6 Pokio Pokio is one of the trickier Mario transformations,
but rewarding because of it.
Debuting in Super Mario Odyssesy, it’s a slow needle nosed bird which is pretty balanced
compared to some of the other transformations in the game.
It’s attack is a sword lance with its nose.
It can flick incoming bombs away, including aiming those bombs at destructible blocks.
It can also use its nose like a climbing ice axe on walls.
Overall, it’s a transformation that provides more of a challenge rather than one that lets
you totally dominate.
5 Goomba Goombas have long been the bane of many Mario
fan’s gameplay; having a Goomba be the cause of your death is irritating at the least.
But Odyssesy gives us a change in perception when it comes to the Goomba, thanks to Cappy.
Instead of an annoying enemy, you now have a stacking tool.
Combined with other Goombas, you can created Goomba towers in order to reach high places,
which even becomes part of a puzzle during the game.
In addition to that, the Goomba, unlike our previous number, makes other activities easier,
like crossing ice covered areas without slipping.
Versitale little guys, they are.
4 Bowser The Bowser transformation is great for SO
many reasons.
First off, it’s Bowser, and you control him.
That’s brilliant.
Second, his transformation serves one purpose; you get to act the way that Bowser does, meaning
all you do is destroy things.
It’s pretty fun.
The final boss battle’s ending also features a really great throwback to previous encounters
with Bowser in the franchise.
Once you defeat him and toss cappy on his head, the merging of Mario and Bowser depicts
quite the blast from the past, and you even get to run as Bowser through some 2D gameplay.
3 Fire Mario First appearing in Super Mario Bros in 1985,
this is a power up transformation you can obtain by getting your hands on a fire flower.
Fireflowers are one of the longest running power ups in the series, and it’s one that
allows him to hurl fire balls, although in The Super Mario Bros Show, it also gave him
super strength, speed and flight in additional to fire.
When the transformation first appeared, Mario had white overalls, a white hat, and a red
shirt, with an orange coloration, but in later games, that would be reversed, with Mario
wearing red overalls, and a white shirt, although his hat remained white.
2 The T-Rex Does this need an explanation?
The T-Rex cappy transformation was teased back at the game’s announcement trailer
reveal at E3 2017, and ever since, fans have been IN LOVE with the idea of turning into
a T-Rex.
It’s even better in the game, too.
Indigenous to the Cascade Kingdom and the Deep Woods of the Wooded Kingdom, T-Rexes
are an enemy in the game, but as soon as you toss cappy at one, you can control it.
But you have a limited amount of time, since it requires a lot of energy from Cappy to
keep such a large creature under control.
1 Invincible Mario Invincible Mario may not be as cool as the
T-Rex of Fire Mario, but it’s often regarded as his most iconic transformations.
It’s one of the most common power ups in the series, it’s often considered the strongest
out of his power ups since it can take out enemies who are normally invincible in the
series PLUS non enemy objects like spiked balls, and it also makes Mario significantly
faster.
It’s a power up that first appeared in Super Mario Bros, and has been a staple in the franchise
ever since, with other characters being able to get the power up in games like Mario Kart.
There we have it friends!
Which is your favourite Mario transformation or power up?
Give us a shout in those comments below and let us know!
Wanna see more Mario transformations?
Hit that like button, and maybe we’ll do a part two!
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