Illumination hit it out of the park with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It is everything a great video game film adaptation should be, with a killer soundtrack, fantastic voice acting cast, phenomenal story pacing and more references than you can shake a pokey at.
We’ll discuss some of the easy-to-overlook references hidden throughout the film here, so if you haven’t seen the movie, consider this your spoiler warning. You can read our review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie here.
Punch-Out
After the movie’s initial opening to introduce the plot, the location shifts to the “real world,” where we meet our heroes in the Punch-Out Pizzaria. The Brooklyn-based pizza joint is named after Nintendo’s 1987 NES title Punch-Out and contains smaller references within the scene. If you study the walls behind the main characters, you might be able to spot photos of Doc Louis, Little Mac and even Glass Joe who are all from Punch-Out themselves.
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Charles Martinet
Speaking of the pizzeria, a familiar face (or should we say voice) hangs around in the background of this scene. Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario since 1990, can be spotted from his iconic “wahoo!” as his character plays Jumpman on an arcade cabinet in the background. Martinet also voices Mario and Luigi’s father in the film, which I think is poetic.
Luigi’s Phone
One of the biggest hits of nostalgia by far was Luigi’s ringtone. When the brothers get a call from their first customer, the iconic GameCube start-up sound plays as their ringer. Keen eyes will also spot caller ID notifications in the Mii style from the Wii era.
World 1-1
After some car trouble, Mario and Luigi are forced to run to a nearby apartment to make it to a job on time. When taking a shortcut through a building site, the camera angle changes to imitate the side-scrolling perspective of the early games. This itself is a nice nod, but the layout of the work site is the real genius. The location of the objects mimics the placement of the bricks and boxes for World 1-1 in Super Mario Bros., complete with a flagpole slide and everything.
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Mario’s Bedroom
I wish we had gotten an extended look at Mario’s bedroom because it was packed with references that I could spot in just the short time we could see it. The easiest one to spot is Mario playing Kid Icarus on the NES, but there are a few more minor details. There was also a sculpture of the Arwing from Starfox sitting on top of the TV, an F-Zero poster and an Ice Climbers poster.
Pauline
Newer Mario Bros. fans might not know, but the reporter we see talking about the flood (in her iconic red dress) is none other than Mario’s first girlfriend, Pauline. She’s gotten several cameos over the years, including being promoted from side chick to Mayor in Super Mario Odyessy. Also, the fact this song wasn’t included in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is absolutely criminal.
Super Mario 64 Castle
Super Mario 64 was my very first Mario game, so I immediately picked out the iconic castle in the distance of the Mushroom Kingdom in all the high-definition glory my childhood self dreamed of. The most important aspect of the recreation is, of course, the stained glass window portrait of Princess Peach.
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Luigi’s Mansion
A few Luigi’s Mansion references are tucked into the scene where Luigi is first dropped into the badlands. You can briefly hear the motif from the gameplay in the background as Luigi walks through the dark forest with his trusty flashlight in hand. As Luigi creeps through the forest, you can hear him call for Mario, the only word he says in Luigi’s Mansion.
Mario Kart Double Dash
I loved the idea of the Kong Kingdom building the karts for the movie universe. This aspect gives the Kongs the tactical one-up they need to be a major force in the balance of the battle. While the karts don’t last long after the ambush on Rainbow Road, it did open up an opportunity to reference the Gamecube’s fan-favorite racing title, Mario Kart Double Dash. I literally squealed in the theatre when the characters doubled up and used the second rider to throw weapons. Real kart racers also noted the drift bonuses the riders were raking up on the course. 
Baby Characters
During the film’s runtime, we see several instances of the characters as babies. This might seem odd for newcomers to the series, but seasoned fans will know that the infant-sized stars are references to past game titles. Gamers met baby Mario and Luigi in 1995 for Yoshi’s Island, and baby Peach appeared on the scene 10 years later in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time.
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How many of these hidden references did you spot during your screening? Did we miss anything you spotted? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
This article was originally published on 4/12/23.
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