The Mushroom (Mario Series)
There are literally thousands of items in videogames that churn through the players inventories, roll across the screen or spin provocatively just out of reach of the highest jumps possible, but none more iconic than the mushroom.
This single piece of vegetation has been around since one of Mario's earliest outings, on the Nintendo Game Boy, and has appeared in some way in every Mario, and many many other Nintendo games since. It has slightly adjusted it's use over time, but initially, when Mario came into contact with it, it would make him increase in size, to become Super Mario, and thus give him one extra hit before he met his maker after coming into contact with the pixelated love handles of a wandering Goomba. Usually found hiding out in a ? box, he would leap up from underneath, punch it with his fist and it would rise out, and begin scrolling to the right, bouncing about until the edge of the screen barriers were passed, usually resulting in it disappearing, although as games got a little more advanced, it was able to survive the abyss and often return back into the safety of Mario's vision again.
It has not always been a boon though, as there were also versions of this odd little fungus that caused our moustached little hero to lose a hit, or die. More commonly seen in the Japanese versions of the games, the Poison Mushroom, purple in colour, and adorned with an angry face was often the bane of those trickier levels, popping up at the worst possible times to trick players, and thus send them down into the blocky abyss below the repeated textures under the plumbers feet.
This single piece of vegetation has been around since one of Mario's earliest outings, on the Nintendo Game Boy, and has appeared in some way in every Mario, and many many other Nintendo games since. It has slightly adjusted it's use over time, but initially, when Mario came into contact with it, it would make him increase in size, to become Super Mario, and thus give him one extra hit before he met his maker after coming into contact with the pixelated love handles of a wandering Goomba. Usually found hiding out in a ? box, he would leap up from underneath, punch it with his fist and it would rise out, and begin scrolling to the right, bouncing about until the edge of the screen barriers were passed, usually resulting in it disappearing, although as games got a little more advanced, it was able to survive the abyss and often return back into the safety of Mario's vision again.
It has not always been a boon though, as there were also versions of this odd little fungus that caused our moustached little hero to lose a hit, or die. More commonly seen in the Japanese versions of the games, the Poison Mushroom, purple in colour, and adorned with an angry face was often the bane of those trickier levels, popping up at the worst possible times to trick players, and thus send them down into the blocky abyss below the repeated textures under the plumbers feet.
Origins
The original Power Up Mushroom is believed to be modelled off a real world fungus called Amanita Muscaria, which is poisonous and is found quite commonly across the world now. One theory behind the funguses travels is because fans of the series have hunted them down and began to grow them domestically, allowing them to send out spores into the surrounding countryside, and infect wildlife there too. Bizarelly enough, the mushroom has hallucinogenic properties, which makes me wonder how many people have consumed one, and suddenly found their world to be a little smaller.
Fans of the fungus originally conceived that the mushroom drew it's relevance from Alice in Wonderland, where she famously consumes a tiny piece of cake, causing her to grow in size instantly, however the games father, Shigeru Miyamoto quashed this theory when explaining that the mushroom is often associated with magical worlds, using Alice in Wonderland as an example, thus the Mushroom Kingdom found it's name. Upon seeing such a simple little power up garnering a huge fanbase, it found it's way into each game that followed.
Fans of the fungus originally conceived that the mushroom drew it's relevance from Alice in Wonderland, where she famously consumes a tiny piece of cake, causing her to grow in size instantly, however the games father, Shigeru Miyamoto quashed this theory when explaining that the mushroom is often associated with magical worlds, using Alice in Wonderland as an example, thus the Mushroom Kingdom found it's name. Upon seeing such a simple little power up garnering a huge fanbase, it found it's way into each game that followed.
Variations
Power Up Mushroom - Causes increased size and allows one additional hit point
Extra Life Mushroom - Awards one extra life
Poisonous Mushroom - Damages for one hit point
Mega Mushroom - Causes massive growth for a short time, allowing destruction of scenery
Mini Mushroom - Causes shrinkage, allowing access to areas normal sized characters could not get to
Turbo Mushroom - Short speed boost in the karting series
Golden Mushroom - Unlimited use of speed boosts for a short time in the karting series
HP Mushrooms (or shrooms) - Used to award 5+ Hit Points in the RPG series and Paper Mario games
Extra Life Mushroom - Awards one extra life
Poisonous Mushroom - Damages for one hit point
Mega Mushroom - Causes massive growth for a short time, allowing destruction of scenery
Mini Mushroom - Causes shrinkage, allowing access to areas normal sized characters could not get to
Turbo Mushroom - Short speed boost in the karting series
Golden Mushroom - Unlimited use of speed boosts for a short time in the karting series
HP Mushrooms (or shrooms) - Used to award 5+ Hit Points in the RPG series and Paper Mario games