13 Cool Mario Power-Ups

There are 13 Cool Mario Power-Ups? You bet there are. After all, what is Mario without his power-ups? Heck, he practically invented the term. Over the years, our favorite Italian plumber has flung fire, climbed into giant shoes, created clouds, rode dinosaurs, and even turned into a ghost. Here are 13 Cool Mario Power-Ups.

Tanooki Suit – The Tanooki Suit was so interesting they eventually brought it back in Super Mario 3D Land. It combined all the cool abilities of the power leaf with the ability to turn into an invincible stone statue!

Giant Mushroom – You wouldn’t like Mario when he is giant. GIANT MARIO SMASH! To be fair, the giant mushroom wasn’t all that useful, as Mario couldn’t platform or fit through small spaces when he used it. But, when you managed to find a stage with a long straight path with lots of blocks, it was great to watch Mario go on a rampage.

Frost Flower – Frost flowers are just cooler than fire flowers. Sorry. Fire flowers let you throw fire from your fingertips while frost flowers let you turn into ice, create platforms, skate over water, and throw projectiles of condensed cold.

Cat Suit – This new power-up in Super Mario 3D World allows you to climb up walls in the third dimension in order to take shortcuts. It also makes Miyamoto look like a complete doofus on the E3 stage.

Hammer Suit – The hammer suit let you cosplay as a Hammer Brother and throw hammers in an arc. Oddly enough, these were most effective at killing the same Hammer Brothers you got the suit from.

Cloud Flower – Being able to make your own floating platforms might be one of the most awesome Mario abilities ever. Combining this with running double jumps allowed you to bypass huge areas of a stage in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Metal Hat – This was one of the only Mario power-ups cool enough to get into Super Smash Bros. In Super Mario 64, it was mostly used to traverse underwater levels.

Cape Feather – Another classic. We all remember using our cape as a parachute and rocking back and forth on the d-pad to get the most out of our flight time.

Blue Shell – The blue shell gave Mario all the powers of a Koopa, which meant he was hard to control and bounced off walls. Still, this power-up was a speed runner’s dream as Mario would kill any enemy he came in contact with while he was running.

Fire Flower – It's hard to deny that hurling balls of fire from your fingertips is also pretty cool.

Star Man – We can’t have a Mario power-up list without talking about the classics, and it’s hard to deny that having invincibility is pretty darn awesome.

P Balloon – Gotta love any power-up that turns Mario even fatter than he already is. Maybe the P stands for Porker.

Power Carrot – Remember this? This was how Mario flew in Super Mario Land 2. It would be nice to see it come back in a contemporary Mario game.

Which Mario power-up is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!