The Super Mario Bros. Movie is meant to be enjoyed by everyone of all ages. Still, you'll likely enjoy the experience much more if you're familiar with Nintendo and its catalog of games. Even if you've only dabbled in a few rounds of Super Smash Bros., you'll likely catch one of the many references scattered throughout the film.
Video game adaptations like Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog contain a plethora of winks and nods toward their respective series, but The Super Mario Bros. Movie tips its hat at Nintendo's legacy at large. The film has more references than Super Mario Odyssey has Power Moons, and these are the best Easter eggs hidden throughout the adventure.
10 Duck Hunt Restaurant
If you ever owned an NES, it's likely you also had a copy of Duck Hunt lying around. The game — alongside the NES Zapper accessory — was often sold with the console and used light gun technology to let you point at your TV screen to shoot ducks. If you've ever wondered what happened to those ducks you shot, The Super Mario Bros. Movie provides a subtle answer.
As Mario and Luigi walk down the streets of Brooklyn, they pass a French restaurant named "Chasse au Canard." This translates to Duck Hunt in English, and the restaurant also features a large sign with the ducks from the game around the logo. It's a quick but clever reference to one of the most iconic games on the NES.
9 Arwing Model In Mario's Room
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is full of NES-era Easter eggs, but an iconic vehicle from a SNES game also found its way into the film. The Arwing has been an essential tool for Star Fox and his crew since the beginning, and you'll spend most of your time piloting one in most of the games in the series.
After a disheartening meal with his family, Mario retires to his bedroom, giving us a glimpse of the plumber's hobbies and toys. It's not immediately obvious, but there is a model of an Arwing on top of Mario's TV. It's hard to tell if Star Fox exists as a video game or something else in the Mario Cinematic Universe, but it's great that the series got some recognition.
8 Mario Plays Kid Icarus
Mario's room is full of Easter eggs, including posters on his wall that feature the box art for NES games like Golf and Tennis. He also has an NES console plugged into his TV, which should help him unwind after a bad day, but he decides to play one of the most notoriously challenging games on the console instead: Kid Icarus.
Out of all the NES games for Mario to play, Kid Icarus feels like an interesting choice. There are certainly more popular games like Metroid or Excitebike that could have been used, but Kid Icarus may have been chosen to reflect the difficulties Mario faces. The words "I'm Finished" appear on the screen when Mario dies in the game, and you can tell it's how he feels just by looking at him.
7 Mario Kart Vehicle Customization
One of the best scenes in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an action-packed battle between good and evil on the iconic Rainbow Road. The entire sequence is packed with classic Mario Kart mechanics such as drifting, banana peels, and blue shells, but there is a moment right before Mario hits the road that's pulled directly from recent Mario Kart games.
When Mario, Princess Peach, and Toad find out they can make their own vehicles for the upcoming journey, they approach a customization wheel that looks exactly like the one from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Each character spins through a variety of recognizable vehicle options and eventually makes a Kart that perfectly matches their personalities.
6 Bowser's Wedding Outfit
Bowser may come off as a ruthless antagonist capable of destroying anything in his path, but at the end of the day, he's just a lonely guy that wants to rule the world together with Princess Peach. The only problem with his plan is that Princess Peach wants nothing to do with him, so he captures her countless times to force her by his side.
Bowser tries to marry Princess Peach in Super Mario Odyssey while wearing dapper attire, and he wears the same suit at the wedding in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. There are tons of Easter eggs from older Mario games, so it's a nice surprise to see some of his more recent adventures referenced in the film.
5 Diddy, Trixie, And Chunky Kong
Princess Peach and Mario travel to the Kong Kingdom seeking aid for the upcoming battle against Bowser and his army, but that help comes at a price. Mario must first face off against Donkey Kong inside a giant coliseum viewed by thousands of spectators and a few familiar faces.
After Donkey Kong makes his grand entrance and flaunts his muscles to the audience, a supportive cheer is heard from the crowd, and it's revealed that Diddy Kong, Trixie Kong, and the often-forgotten Chunky Kong are sitting together in the bleachers. Cranky Kong quickly tells them to quiet down, but it's a fun surprise seeing members of the extended Kong family show up for the big match.
4 Ludwig Von Koopa Piano
Jack Black is known for both his acting and musical careers, so it shouldn't surprise you to discover that Bowser has a musical number or two in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In one of the character's most vulnerable moments, he plays a ballad called "Peaches" on a piano. If you look at the branding on the instrument, you may recognize a familiar name on it.
It's a very quick Easter egg that you can easily miss, but the name engraved is Ludwig von Koopa, one of the Koopalings. While it would be great to see Roy, Wendy, Lemmy, and the rest of the gang in the movie, it's still a clever reference to Ludwig Koopa and the real-life person that inspired his name and appearance.
3 Punch-Out Pizza
While some games like Duck Hunt and Star Fox only have a single Easter egg hiding in the movie, Punch-Out has an entire building dedicated to the series. Known as Punch-Out Pizzeria, the entire interior of the restaurant is plastered with posters of iconic characters like Bald Bull and Glass Joe.
Punch-Out Pizzeria is the first place we see Mario and Luigi in the movie, and it's a perfect spot for the brothers to begin their journey. Like Little Mac, Mario and Luigi are underdogs in their careers and are underestimated by everyone around them. After training with Princess Peach, Mario goes from zero to hero and takes out Bowser to become the new champion of the Mushroom Kingdom.
2 Luigi's GameCube Ringtone
While the amount of visual Easter eggs in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is often staggering, there are plenty of audio cues that will make your ears perk up when you hear them. One of the best examples is when Luigi receives a phone call, revealing the startup sound from the GameCube as his ringtone.
The sound is incredibly iconic, and Luigi using it as a ringtone makes perfect sense. Luigi always tagged along with his brother on adventures, but the GameCube was the console that launched Luigi's Mansion, the first game to star the man in green as the main character. It's a fantastic nod to both the GameCube console and Luigi's history with it.
1 Charles Martinet
Before any of the cast was announced for The Super Mario Bros. Movie., it felt safe to assume Charles Martinet — the man who has voiced Mario since the 90s — would be involved somehow. While his role remained mysterious, his implementation into the movie was cleverly done and rewarding.
Martinet's voice is first heard by a small man playing an arcade cabinet in Punch-Out Pizzeria. After an ad plays for the Super Mario Bros. plumbing service, he compliments the duo's accents and shouts "wahoo" before they leave. Martinet also voices Mario and Luigi's dad, which is the perfect cameo from the man who has helped bring these characters to life ever since they could speak.