Thanks to Super Smash Bros., it's become pretty commonplace for various Nintendo characters to mingle with each other. Mario will say hi to Captain Falcon, Samus will punch Bowser in the face, Peach and Zelda will swap kidnapping stories, etc. The whole Nintendo universe is now one big interconnected family - but it wasn't always that way. While Easter eggs would occasionally pop up, it used to be pretty rare to see a hint of another Nintendo property within a game.

But for some reason, The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening is laden with references to the Super Mario series. Some of them can barely be called Easter eggs because they're so blatantly out in the open. Here's the various ways that our favorite red-shirted plumber invaded the world of our favorite green tunic wearing hero.

RELATED: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - How Does It Connect To A Link To The Past?

Chain-Chomp

This is probably the most obvious one, as it was front and center in the trailer for the Link's Awakening remake. Everyone's favorite living dog-like metal ball with teeth is probably the most noteworthy Mario reference in the entire game. Later on, if you play your cards right, this Chomp (named Bow-Wow) will even follow you around like man's best friend. Now that's a good boy.

Goombas

via Reddit

Having Link face off against what is probably the most iconic Mario enemy - besides maybe the Koopa - is just plain disorienting. It's like having Solid Snake fight the Covenant, or Kratos fight the Rabbids (actually we'd totally play that last one). You can even jump on their heads to defeat them, which is really weird because up to this point we had assumed Link wasn't even aware that jumping was possible.

Yoshi

It seems like not even the imaginary land of Koholint is free from Nintendo branded merchandise. If you manage to succeed at a crane game, you can win yourself a genuine Yoshi doll. That's how you can tell this is a fantasy world, because in a real carnival game you'd probably have to play 16 times before they even considered giving you the Yoshi doll.

Princess Peach?

So at some point during a quest you get a picture of what is very obviously Princess Peach, but it's signed "Christine". She even has the same crown and dress! What's she trying to pull here? Is this some kind of secret long-distance tryst behind Mario's back? For shame.

Wart

You remember Wart right? The villain of Super Mario Bros. 2? Well even though Nintendo has basically exiled him to the land of forgotten video game characters, he managed to make an appearance in a random Zelda game. It actually does make a lot of sense, since both Super Mario Bros. 2, and Link's Awakening take place in dream worlds. So perhaps the implication here is that Wart is some kind of dream monster who can only attack our heroes while they sleep? Is Wart the Freddy Krueger of Nintendo?

Luigi?

Here's one that might be a stretch, but we're pretty sure the Cucco Keeper is just Luigi without a hat on. It does seem like something he would do, as raising a bunch of chickens is probably much more relaxing than vacuuming ghosts. Also, why do some of the cuccos look like him? That raises far too many questions...

A Ton Of Enemies

via Kotaku

Yes there's Goombas and Chain Chomps, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The island of Koholint throws an entire smorgasbord of Mario enemies at Link, including Piranha Plants, Bomb-Ombs, Cheep Cheeps, Thwomps, Bloobers, Pokeys, and those weird little fireball things that jump out of the lava.

There's even Shy Guys, which are also straight out of Super Mario Bros. 2, which is starting to make us think that every Nintendo character shares the same dream world. Does Samus Aran dream about Mouser? Have The Ice Climbers ever met the Wind Fish? Maybe Star Fox Adventures was just one giant dream inside the head of Fox McCloud.

Or at least we hope so because that game sucked.

 Mario?!

Ok, this one may be the stretchiest stretch of all, but we're pretty dang sure that Tarin is just Mario in disguise. Yes, Link's Awakening's Mario references go so deep, that they may even include the plumber himself.

He's got the same moustache, the same tussled hair style, the same bulbous nose, etc. The only difference is that he actually says more than "wahoo!" and "let's a go!", but this is a dream so anything is possible. He's also obsessed with mushrooms that look exactly like the ones that Mario usually ingests. To top it all off, at one point he even turns into a raccoon, which - while not the exact same - is extremely similar to his Tanooki suit appearance. This is almost certainly a full on Mario and Link crossover episode, and they didn't even need to fight on Final Destination or go go-karting for it to happen.

PREVIOUSLY: Where Link Is Sailing To At The Start Of Link's Awakening

Oh, There's Also Kirby

Via: Nintendo Life

Yeah this isn't a Mario reference, but Kirby's in the game too, and for some reason he's trying to kill you. Which totally works, because we're pretty sure everyone has had that nightmare at least once.

NEXT: Yamcha Is Dragon Ball's Most Underestimated Character