476
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, if cheats are used to enter cutscenes without any partners, Mario will talk whenever the partners would normally have. However, due to not having any programmed dialogue, all he will say is "No messages.[English]".
477
An officially licensed 2013 Luigi Nintendo 3DS XL cover featured distorted official artwork of Luigi that drastically shortened the length of his neck. Below is a comparison between the source artwork and the version depicted on the cover.
478
A rare misprint run of an officially licensed The Legend of Zelda Triforce light exists that can still be found in circulation. While the regular version of the light has the Legend of Zelda logo at its base (left), the misprint has the Super Mario logo instead (right).
479
As Baby Yoshis have only appeared in Mario games with 2D gameplay, they are always seen only from the side. However, official merchandise allows us to see what Baby Yoshis look like from the front.
480
In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario's unlockable sunglasses do not appear in any reflective surfaces, although his Shine Sprite shirt does. This is the only in-game way to see Mario with the shirt, but without the sunglasses, as he cannot normally wear the shirt separately.
481
The character "Walouie" from Super Bomberman 5 could be a reference to Boshi from Super Mario RPG, which released 2 years earlier, due to a high number of similarities. Details in image.
482
In Super Mario Sunshine, when Mario jumps out of water, droplets fly off his body. This is not merely a graphical effect; they actually dissolve Goop. The droplets can be used to skip most of the Goopy Inferno mission by creating a path from the river through the Lava Goop.
483
Below are the versions of Mario's and Luigi's signatures that are currently closest to being official. Mario's signature was shown in a trailer for Mario Tennis Aces. Luigi's signature was seen on an item in Paper Mario.
484
One of the inserts used by Nintendo Power to remind subscribers of their subscriptions expiring soon used a modified Super Mario 64 render depicting Mario torn in half.
485
In Super Mario Galaxy, whenever Mario is caught in a tornado, his arms begin to twirl extremely quickly. Pausing the game during this reveals that Mario's model gains two extra arms in this animation to create the illusion of them twirling even faster.
486
In Yoshi's Island, when Baby Mario touches a Super Star to become Powerful Mario, Yoshi temporarily becomes an egg (left). A 1995 Yoshi's Island manga proposes the explanation that the star grants Baby Mario Yoshi's abilities so he turns Yoshi into an egg himself (right).
487
In Super Mario Odyssey, the Lake Kingdom is populated by the female-only Lochladies (left). The Art of Super Mario Odyssey book states the original concept for the Seaside Kingdom population was male counterparts to Lochladies called Mermen (right). These were replaced by snails.
488
The eye texture used for Mario and Luigi in Luigi's Mansion 3 provides the most detailed view of their eyes to date. The texture's resolution is higher than all previous depictions of their eyes both in games and in official artwork.
489
I have discovered what I believe is one of the most obscure references in a Mario game: the character Mattel from The Legendary Starfy 4 appears for a single frame in a rare animation at an extremely small resolution in Super Princess Peach. Details in image.
490
In the title screen of Super Mario 64, when the player is grabbing Mario's face, the hand is actually grabbing pink diamonds that act as control points. The diamonds are always present, but their opacity is simply set to 0. Here, the reality of the interaction is made visible.
491
Felt cutouts of Yoshi and Baby Mario from the cover of a Japanese guide for Yoshi's Island.
492
Official artwork of Bowser laughing at a screen depicting logos of Internet video streaming services from a Japanese Wii U informational brochure. Although it may appear that the TV screen has been edited in from different artwork, this is the only existing version of this image.
493
In Super Mario 64, Mario's model only uses textures for five spots on his body: the hat emblem, sideburns, eyes, mustache, and the buttons on his overalls. The rest of the model is colored in by the game's engine and looks like the left image before the textures are applied.
494
The Mushroom City track in Mario Kart: Double Dash contains a "Wario Pharmacy" building. However, the interior visible through the glass depicts tables with wine glasses on them, suggesting that it might not be a legitimate pharmacy.
495
In the intro to Super Mario 3D World, Mario says "Ah, Princess, what a beautiful evening", which is drowned out by the music and fireworks. This footage first plays back the clip as seen in-game, and then again with all sounds except Mario's line muted.
496
In the New Super Mario Bros. U game style of Super Mario Maker 2, clearing a course hoists a flag with the player character's symbol on the flagpole. For an unknown reason, the sprites used for Luigi's flag are half the resolution of all other flags.
497
In Super Mario World, some levels contain bonus rooms where three blocks must be hit in a randomly determined order to get 1-Ups. With a Galoomba, the game can be cheated: any order will always register as correct if the blocks are hit by a Galoomba with a Cape Spin.
498
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Koops normally has four fingers on each hand (left). However, during his Appeal animation, he briefly gains a fifth finger on his right hand (right). Note that his other hand still has only four fingers.
499
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, pressing Down as Luigi while having a photo taken in Beanbean Castle Town makes Luigi roll his eyes. However, there is one frame during this animation where his pupils disappear completely. With precise timing, Luigi's photo can have blank eyes.
500
The Mario Clock DSiWare application has an obscure functionality that activates when the console's battery is nearly dead and the battery indicator starts flashing. To show the urgency of the situation to the user, the entire game world turns red.
Additional obscure Mario content for suppermariobroth.com.
Now on Patreon: patreon.com/suppermariobro…