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All Super Mario Bros. Wonder power-ups, ranked

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is perhaps the Mario franchise’s most colorful and unusual game to date, featuring all manner of dream-like themes and near-endless amounts of creativity. Like any new Mario game, though, it also comes packing some brand-new power-ups alongside a handful of returning classics that everyone knows and loves. All of the power-ups have their unique uses that can help you fend off baddies, reach new areas, or simply create hilarious hijinks, but some are notably more exciting than others.

Here are all of the Super Mario Bros. Wonder power-ups ranked. They’ll all come in handy when you’re tracking down all of the badges, medals, and Special World entrances.

All Super Mario Bros. Wonder power-ups, ranked

6. Super Mushroom

Mario and Peach floating using their hats.
Nintendo / Nintendo

There are few things in gaming as recognizable as the red and white Super Mushroom, which first made its appearance in the original Super Mario Bros. for NES. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, this classic Mario power-up is once again the least exciting yet potentially most important, as it’s fairly plentiful and can grant you an extra hit that just might keep you from dying in tougher areas. However, due to the fact that it lacks any exciting powers and serves only as a bit of additional defense, this one brings up the bottom. But hey, the Super Mushroom still has a very special place in all of our hearts.

5. Super Star

Super Mario Bros Wonder Super Stars
Nintendo

Like the Super Mushroom, the Super Star first debuted in the original Super Mario Bros. way back when, meaning it’s had a lot of years to secure itself as a worldwide icon. As always, this helpful power-up provides you with temporary immunity from damage, allowing you to push through tough parts of a level without much worry at all. Still, while everyone loves a bit of invincibility, we’ve all had decades to appreciate what it’s done for us. Sorry, Super Star, but we just need some new experiences in our lives right now. It’s not you, it’s us.

4. Fire Flower

Size-changing power in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Nintendo / Nintendo

The Fire Flower is the third and final classic power-up that dates back to the original Super Mario Bros. from all those years ago. While you could argue that the ability to fling fireballs is old news – and it is – we’d argue that doing so is unwaveringly cool in perpetuity. It’s not exactly winning any awards for originality anymore, but if you don’t like eliminating foes off your screen with deadly balls of fire, we don’t really know what to tell ya. Stay cool, Fire Flower. Or hot. You know what we mean.

3. Bubble Flower

Bubble Mario
Nintendo

The Bubble Flower makes for a really great time for multiple reasons. For starters, jumping on your blown bubbles can bounce you up to new heights, making it an excellent choice for collectible hunting. But it’s also useful for eliminating your enemies by trapping them in the bubble and watching them disappear, leaving behind a single coin for you to claim as your prize. This mix of power and child-like playfulness makes the Bubble Flower a neat new addition to an already wildly creative game. But while we hate to, erm, burst your bubble, there are still two power-ups that are just a little more exciting.

2. Drill Mushroom

Drill Toad
Nintendo

Have you ever wanted to be able to make Mario and pals burrow underground? Well, now you can by using the immensely creative Drill Mushroom power-up. Grabbing one of these will add a drill to the top of your character’s head and let you slam into the ground to move below your foes and then blast back up to dish out the hurt. You can even jump and drill into the ceiling to pass over gaps or tough areas if you feel so inclined. No matter how you want to use your drill, there’s no denying that it’s among the most useful abilities in the game that can make getting to certain collectibles infinitely easier. But ouch, imagine the headache.

1. Elephant Fruit

The elephant power-up in Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Nintendo / Nintendo

Look, if you’ve followed Super Mario Bros. Wonder at all, the Elephant Fruit making the top of this list shouldn’t be remotely surprising to you. Elephant Mario took the world by storm from the game’s very first announcement, and it’s not exactly hard to see why. Scoring this power-up grants you super strength for breaking blocks with ease and lets you attack your enemies with your trunk. This is all before mentioning that you can water flowers by storing water in your trunk and spraying it out. Visually and mechanically, there’s just no other power-up in Super Mario Bros. Wonder that hits this hard, both literally and figuratively.

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Billy Givens
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can be…
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Much of your time in Super Mario Bros. Wonder's colorful and vibrant levels is spent collecting Flower Coins and finding fun power-ups that can help you take out enemies, but there are some well-hidden secrets to discover, too. Most notably, you'll want to keep an eye out for secret exits that can uncover some really exciting new stuff to enjoy.

There are a total of seven secret exits in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and if you're looking to find each and every one of them, look no further than our list below. Of course, you'll want to play the levels through completely if you're looking to find all badges and medals in the game.
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Wiggly pipe in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Genshin Impact voice actor Kevin Afghani revealed himself as the new voice for both Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Earlier this year, we learned that longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet would be taking a step back from the role and become a Mario Ambassador. At the time, Nintendo said that it would not reveal the voice actor before the game's launch; instead, it encouraged people to check out the game's credits when it dropped. That hasn't stopped people from speculating, though. Many thought it would be frequent Iron Man voice actor Mick Wingert, but Wingert denied that was true. Now, Kevin Afghani has revealed himself as the new voice of Mario and Luigi one week before the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
"Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder," Afghani wrote on Twitter. "Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!" Afghani is best-known as the voice of Arnold in Genshin Impact. This is certainly the most notable game role Afghani has had yet though, and he may be the new name that we associate with the Mario Bros. for years to come.
https://twitter.com/KevinAfghani/status/1712900880218181648
IGN corroborated Afghan's claim, and we've also reached out to Nintendo to confirm that Afghani is the new voice of Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. We will update this article when we get a response. Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 20.

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