Like the first film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie brings in some classic power-ups from the Mario franchise at the exact right moment, and for good measure, throws in some surprise power-ups that gamers may not be expecting. That said, not every power-up that shows up in the film actually ends up being useful in the slightest, while some are somehow even more powerful than how they’re used in the video games. Where possible, we’ve used an image from the film to show off the power-up in the movie. Spoilers for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will follow
10) Blimp Fruit
Much like in the games where it appears, having debuted in Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Blimp Fruit does exactly what fans would expect in the feature film. Yoshi picks up the power-up and inflates to balloon-like levels, slowly drifting in the air from Mario and Luigi. Though used as a power-up in the battle between Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr., it offers almost nothing to the fight and instead makes Yoshi a liability. To that end, it’s clearly the weakest power-up in the film.
9) Cape Feather
Despite being a personal favorite due to the flight capabilities that it has and the cool cape it produces, the Cape Feather doesn’t offer much by way of combat or power for Mario. Only appearing in the climactic sequence after they’ve completed construction of Princess Peach’s new castle, Mario uses the feather to earn the ability to fly, soaring up to plant a flag at the top. Cool, and a fun Easter egg, but not a power-up suited for an action scene.
8) Penguin Suit
Though only used by Toad in the film, the Penguin Suit does get its time to shine. While battling Wort’s forces in his casino, he picks up the power-up and uses it to mostly escape pursuit from the Ninjis. There’s not much to its appearance beyond this, but it proves more useful than the previous two power-ups in the film.
7) Fire Flower
Though a staple of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the games themselves, the Fire Flower only has a short appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with Mario and Luigi both utilizing it after entering a mysterious pyramid at the start of the film. Unlike its appearance in the first film, though, the Fire Flower doesn’t do much by way of fighting (despite Luigi throwing countless fireballs at unseen foes in a cave). In truth, the Fire Flower has functional use in its scene, but it isn’t exactly powerful in the way we normally think about it.
6) Ice Flower
After Princess Peach has left the Mushroom Kingdom with Toad to try and rescue Rosalina, Mario and Luigi are put in charge of fixing all the problems. In the montage that follow we see the brothers handling all sorts of issues. One of the lowest stakes instances is a toad who drops their ice cream and begins to cry; to be fair to them, it’s a lot of ice cream. To help, Mario uses the Ice Flower to create more ice cream for the toad, only to freeze his brother in a block of ice with only a fist bump. One assumes that the Ice Flower would have extensive powers available if used in combat, based on this lone scene, but we can’t say for sure.
5) Cloud Flower
At the same time that Yoshi has the Blimp Fruit and becomes largely useless, Luigi grabs the Cloud Flower and all the powers that come with it, including creating clouds to jump on, but also a new use, using those cloud platforms to block attacks. Luigi uses the power-up in the fight with Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr., and though it doesn’t have much offensive capability in the fracas, it has a lot of defensive power.
4) Mushroom
Only briefly used in the new film, Peach uses a mushroom to make her even bigger after winning a fight with the Ninjis. Though she’s thwarted his minions, Wort remains adamant that he won’t give her any information, with the mushroom, though, Peach grows enough in size and strength that she can lift up Wort with just one arm. This brief use of the power-up makes it clear that the Mushroom is not to be taken lightly in the Mario canon.
3) Frog Suit
One would assume that the Frog Suit power-up, hailing from Super Mario Bros. 3, would be as useless on screen as it is in the game, and at the start, it seems like the trend will continue. That said, after Luigi puts on the suit, he leaps high in the air and comes down on a Big Cheep Cheep in a pond that has swallowed a Toad whole. Not only does the kick completely cave in the fish’s face, but also forces it to spit out its meal. It’s a brief moment, but a clear-cut example of how powerful these power-ups can really be.
2) Drill Mushroom
While Yoshi has the blimp fruit and Luigi has the Cloud Flower, Mario gets the ultra-powerful Drill Mushroom. Like in the games, Mario uses it to dig into the ground, tunnel about, and even fly up in the air to deliver a powerful blow during the fight with Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr. It’s far and away the most useful power-up seen on screen at the time it’s shown, that is, until Mario gets his NEXT power-up….
1) Red Star
As the fight with Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr. reaches its peak, the latter villain uses his powerful paintbrush to create a Wonder version of the Ruined Dragon. Though the Red Star in the context of Super Mario Galaxy is a power-up that just offers Mario the ability to fly (no cape, this time, just changes the color of his outfit), in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Red Star is clearly the most powerful item. Not only does Mario use it to fly and quickly make his way into the fight with the Ruined Dragon, but he’s also able to defeat the beast by breaking out of him after being swallowed, rescuing Bowser Jr. in the process, and eliminating the threat. All that makes it the best Mario Power-Up in the film.
