History Awesome / SuperMarioBros

!! VideoGame/SuperMarioland

** Yoshi. For an animatronic puppet, it looks like it just stepped out of a time portal to the Jurassic Era.

** That's nothing compared to the opening cutscene of the game. During a game, Donkey Kong hits a ball deep into the outfield. Wario and Waluigi use error items to impede Yoshi's progress of getting the ball back into the infield. Peach throws the ball to Mario, who throws it to Luigi, the third baseman, just as DK is barreling into third. DK sends Luigi flying into a wall. [[spoiler:AND HE HANGS ON TO THE BALL FOR THE OUT!]]

** Worth noting that the plot of both of those games is that Mario's gone missing and it's up to Luigi to find and save him. Heck, even when he had his solo-moment in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, it was because Mario was sick! The one time where he had his own adventure without Mario being sick or kidnapped was in in ''Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door'', but that was just pure text and his heroic accounts were contrasted with more embarrassing versions of the tale. However, there was a true Moment of Awesome in the fluff: Luigi stormed the castle of the Chestnut King to save Princess Eclair in spite of the terrifying description of both the place and the monster. [[spoiler:But the epic battle is stopped by the Princess, who reveals that the Chestnut King is her bewitched lover. Turns out that the person who sent for help, Crepe, was an evil sorcerer that cursed the King [[EvilPlan to get Luigi to reassemble an ancient powerful artifact from a long-gone evil empire which he used to find the Princess.]] Although he beat the fiend, he didn't get the girl.]]
*** That doesn't really detract from how awesome it is, though. ''Luigi's Mansion'' is a great example. Since we see ''just how scared'' Luigi is the entire time he's trying to get through the mansion, it makes it even ''more'' awesome. Yeah, he's trying to save his brother, but that just crosses the Moment of Awesome over with a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. [[spoiler:Particularly the ending, where he finally accomplishes said goal. D'aww.]]

* '''The final boss.''' '''''Big time'''''. At first glance, it appears to be a pretty standard "run under Bowser and hit the switch to drop him into the lava" fight. [[spoiler:Then Kamek reveals himself to have taken Peach's place, and spreads magic around like he usually does. Except this time, it has the effect of making Bowser '''''so large that he knocks Kamek out of the sky as he grows!''''' Indeed, it's possible that this is [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever the second-largest height to which Bowser has ever grown]] (the largest being his Giant Bowser battles in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'').]] And even ''better''? He is '''pissed off ''as HELL''''', as in, '''very, VERY PISSED---''his eyes are even glowing bright red!''''' True, most of the following battle is actually [[spoiler:'' the Mario Bros and company '''running for their lives''' away from Bowser and surviving long enough to hit the switch at the end that defeats him for good'' -- and it would be entirely unremarkable, if it wasn't one of ''the'' most intense platforming sequences in the game, filled with difficult and time-sensitive jumps and enemies prowling around every corner, accompanied by the most intense orchestral pieces in ''any'' platformer. [[FinalExamBoss Practically every obstacle is being thrown against you all at once,]] making it that much more satisfying when you finally hit that final switch.]] And if that doesn't sound good enough, imagine doing it alongside three friends. Now ''that's'' NintendoHard.

* [[spoiler:The Koopa Clown Car Corridor. A sequence in both the World 6 and World Star castles where you must cross a series of conveyor belts suspended over lava. ''While the Koopalings are flying around shooting petrifying eyelasers at you, giggling with each shot''. Not only is it the most challenging sequence in the game up to that point, making it all the sweeter when you beat it, but after all these years, seeing the Koopalings all attack the Bros together in a game for the first time is immensely satisfying. ]]

* The two sports games made by Creator/SquareEnix are pretty much the reason the Mario Sports series deserves at least one Tv Tropes article. For the first one, Mario Hoops 3 On 3, pretty much every playable character gets one when doing a special shot, and when you unlock [[spoiler:[[Franchise/FinalFantasy Ninja, White Mage, and Black Mage]]]], [[RuleOfCool their special shots are none other than]] [[spoiler:some ninjutsu, ''Holy, and '''Meteor''''']] for crying out loud! As for the game's still-made-by-Square SpiritualSuccessor, Mario Sports Mix [[EmbeddedPrecursor (which includes basketball anyway)]], '''[[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQmilcaBcT8 BEHEMOTH BOSS BATTLE.]]]]''' [[RuleOfCool Who cares if it has nothing to do with a sports game, it is exactly as awesome as it sounds.]]

* Mario bluffing Koopa by pretending his shoelace is the meteorite necklace to buy time for Luigi to get to the rock.

** The King turning back into a human.

Mario Brothers have had their share of truly awesome moments, as these examples will attest to.

[[folder:[=RPG=]s]]

!! VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG
* ''Bowser joins you and fights alongside you''.
** You get to fight the toughest boss in the game, Culex, as a BonusBoss. Fans of Franchise/FinalFantasy may recognize [=FF4=]'s boss music, as well as the four elemental crystals iconic to Franchise/FinalFantasy. And after you're done beating that long hard battle, you know the standard victory fare isn't enough. BOOM, he turns into colorful sparks and your party does their victory pose, while you get a load of EXP and coins, and the epic ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' victory music is blaring out of the speakers.
* There's a tiny one which doubles as a subtle [[Heartwarming/VideoGames Heartwarming Moment]]. When you first meet Mallow, his [[spoiler:adoptive]] grandfather's coin's just been stolen, and, though he has been raised as a frog, he cannot jump. 6 stars' (and one recovered coin) worth of adventure later, Mallow's discovered [[spoiler:that he's a prince]], has found [[spoiler:his true mother and father]], and when he needs to jump onto the skybus taking the party to Bowser's Keep.... he does so. With aplomb.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s4mPl2Iu0Y Midas River 100 coin run]]. Enjoy.
* Princess Peach, after being rescued early in the game, sneaks out of the castle to join you and fight alongside you. She starts out primarily as a healer, which is great in itself, but level her up and get her the right equipment and she'll also become an awesome ActionGirl in her own right!

[[/folder]]

* The mattress chase scene has Mario and the Brooklyn girls ride down a giant frozen pipe and use icicles and Mario's tools to trip up their pursuers. It's really enhanced with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1fMdtnwV50 the music]].

* Faced with climbing Koopa's gargantuan tower, Mario and Luigi turn off the hating system to buy time to rescue Daisy, since reptiles are cold-blooded and it would slow them down.

* Yoshi tripping Lena and allowing Daisy to escape.
* Mario and Luigi freezing the tower to buy time, since reptiles are cold-blooded and it would slow them down.
* The elevator scene. Starting with the brothers doning their coveralls and ending with Luigi making the Goombas dance.
* The mattress chase scene was awesome, especially with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1fMdtnwV50 the music]].
* Lena stealing the meteorite back from Mario and Luigi.
* The Thwomp Stompers, jetpack boots that emulate the jump height from the video games.

At this point, everyone in the city sees what Mario has in his hands, and they proceed to FREAK THE FUCK OUT. Cars crash, people trample each other in an effort to run away, and chaos generally ensues. All based around a small black ball wearing plastic Reebok shoes (seriously, the Reebok logo is on the Bob-ombs shoes. I'm not posting a capture of it, you'll have to look for yourself). There isn't a kid alive who saw the movie and didn't want one of these.

* The special effects. This film had to literally ''invent'' new technology to make much of its visual effects look as realistic as they do. Unfortunately, ''Jurassic Park's'' effects were a much more explicit focus, so it gets more attention for its influence on the industry.

* Luigi, the series' {{Deuteragonist}} getting his own game, ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion''. ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing'' was an edutainment game, and therefore doesn't count. What's the end result of this? It ends with Luigi coming out of nowhere [[TookALevelInBadass and reestablishing himself as a hero, just like his brother]]; in fact, he gets so awesome that he gets his own archenemy in the form of King Boo, as he makes the leader of the Boos hate ''him'' more than anyone else in the whole world. This deserves a lot more attention; ''Luigi'', who for ''years'' was treated down by everyone else, left out of adventures, and given no respect by anyone except for [[BigBrotherInstinct Mario]], turns into such an awesome ''hero'', so much that he makes the leader of one of the most well-known species of baddies hate ''him'' more than anyone else in the world. That's right, King Boo is the ''one'' enemy who knows just how ''dangerous'' Luigi can be.

* Luigi, the series' {{Deuteragonist}} getting his own game, ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion''. ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing'' was an edutainment game, and therefore doesn't count.

* ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'' has perhaps one of the ultimate Moments of Awesome in video games, in the form of its final boss. The whole game in general is ''Yoshi's'' MOA; it shows that Yoshi saved Mario as an infant, and so the main hero of the series actually owes everything to Yoshi, but the final boss is still the best part. When you first enter Bowser's castle, it's scary to go through the level, but when you fight Bowser, you find out that he's just an annoying, bratty little kid, whom you can easily defeat. Things looked so simple compared to other Mario games -- and then Kamek comes and supersizes Bowser, the whole castle crumbling as he grows exponentially. The final battle takes place with Yoshi on the pile of rubble, and he is looking out into the background, where the now inconceivably [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever gigantic]] Bowser looms. The monstrosity tromps toward you Godzilla style, occasionally breathing fire and ''roaring so loudly it lifts and throws boulders'' that further smash the rubble, with an epic heavy metal song (a rarity in the Mario series) rocking out as the showdown rages.

** And special mention has to be made for the Princess Peach of the Nintendo Power Comics, who not only escaped her prison cell on her own, but disguised herself as Luigi and ambushed Bowser with bob-ombs, nearly beating him all on her own.

!! VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2
* When you kill Squizzard in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', he explodes, and the Power Star he had flies ''50 feet straight up into the air.''
** Granted, it comes back down, but it's still pretty cool.
* Bowser attempting to devour Rosalina's starship, with her being unable to stop him.
* Bowser Jr.'s final boss fight, the Boomsday Machine, is one of the most thrilling and epic boss fights in the entire series, where you fight the Koopa Prince inside a mechanical tank the larger than some of the planets Mario has been on.
* The final boss, even if it is a bit easy, is this. After defeating Bowser like the other two times you did (which includes ''knocking him into a bottomless pit''), the Grand Star comes down on the platform you confronted Bowser at. Right before you touch it, Bowser pops back up and then ''eats the Grand Star, turning him huge again.'' Then he ''summons a black hole,'' and you fight ''free falling in it'', landing on meteorites and then ''ground pounding them into Bowser.'' Once you knock the final meteorite into him, he ''falls into the black hole in slow motion, and it closes up.'' And all this is topped off by what is arguably the most epic music in Mario history. Holy crap that needed a lot of italics.
** When this is over, Mario lands on a planetoid some ways away, and looks over at the black hole. Suddenly, Princess Peach bursts out of it riding the Grand Star, floating over to Mario in a way that says "I'd bet you'd almost forgotten me, huh?" which at this point, the player probably has. Just a little reminder that despite all the kidnappings, Peach is a PrettyPrincessPowerhouse when the opportunity arises.
* Completing the final final level, [[spoiler:The Grandmaster Galaxy: The Perfect Run,]] counts as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for the ''player''.
** Even better, [[ThrowTheDogABone you can complete this level as]] [[spoiler: [[ButtMonkey LUIGI!]]]]

!! VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy
* The opening sequence could be a moment for Bowser. Ever wondered how he and his kids seem to be able to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnap Princess Peach so easily despite Mario's presence? One word: '''''BLITZKRIEG.'''''[[note]]For those that don't know, a blitzkrieg (German for "lightning strike") is defined as 'a sudden, swift, large-scale offensive warfare intended to win a quick victory.'[[/note]] An attack of this scale had not been witnessed in any prior Mario games, and it was a good way to show the player the kind of action that was to come.
** Another one for Bowser! Following this initial attack, he uses the power of the Grand Stars to get a foothold in almost every corner of the universe. ''Bowser nearly conquers the universe with little to no prep time.'' Mario's not just the ultimate hero, Bowser's the ultimate ''villain'' being able to accomplish ''that'' on the fly.
** Third time's the charm! This game was the first time Bowser's new VA stepped up to bat, Mr. Kenny James. And good lord, did he make a first impression. It's no wonder he's been a mainstay since; he actually makes Bowser sound like a ''monster''. For the game that takes the "Castle and Dragon" plot across the cosmos, fitting that Bowser sounds more menacing than ever before.
** When you think about it, Bowser in general counts. Around this game's time, Bowser suffered ''badly'' from VillainDecay come ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', being seen more as a HarmlessVillain back then. But here, he comes ''roaring'' back as the BigBad of the franchise with his most grandiose plan of all - ''taking over the entire galaxy''. With these motives, he tosses out all of the aforementioned decay ''in one singular game'' - suddenly, the Koopa King seems awesome again, if not even more so than before.
* The Freezeflame Galaxy's purple coin challenge is a particular highlight. You have to scour the entire area for coins, then make a slow danger-filled climb to the very top of the mountain to end up with... 98 coins. To get the final two coins, you have to ''jump off the top of the mountain'' onto a tiny little platform below. One of the most epic-feeling moments in the game.
** What the Toad Captain says while you're up there adds to the awesome:
---> '''Toad Captain''': The summit. It is always the pure essence of challenge that burns in an adventurer's heart. Leaping from here will take all the boldness you possess. You better make sure it's a long jump.
* The final level. The final boss. The final blow. [[spoiler:Mario faces off with Bowser in the ''center of the universe,'' and hits so hard with the final blow that '''''he knocks Bowser into the sun.''''' Even more amazing? [[MadeOfIron Bowser somehow SURVIVES this.]]]]
** And as a result of Mario's actions, ''[[spoiler:the entire universe is destroyed and then recreated. That's right, Mario is the cause of the [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Spiral Nemesis]]!]]''
*** This is only to cause more [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Moments of Awesome]]: [[spoiler:All the Lumas try to stop the end of the universe, cause a new big bang, and reboot the cosmos, dumping everybody back in the Mushroom Kingdom.]]
*** The ending is one of the most epic in any Mario game, and the very end caps it off perfectly. After they wake up in [[spoiler:the new galaxy]], Mario raises his hands and joyfully cries out "Welcome! Welcome, new GALAXY!"
* The moment Mario first used the Red Star.
* You can laud the final battle of ''Galaxy'' all you want, but Buoy Base also deserves special mention. Having Mario fly into an enemy base and just... pummel everything with no hesitation really cements his status as a one man army.
** Or how about what some of the LAUNCH STARS do? For example, blasting right through a BATTLESHIP, which then EXPLODES behind Mario; blasting up from the mouth of a volcano, which erupts as you fly away from it; and probably many more.
* Rosalina deserves some mention here. After you retrieve enough power stars, [[spoiler:she proceeds to transform her space station into comet mode and blasts though the armada surrounding the castle like the ships were nothing but cheap toys.]]
* Nothing for Megaleg? The Grand Star bosses in Super Mario Galaxy aren't exactly varied (Bowser is fought three times, and aside from him, the two other bosses are Bowser Jr and King Kaliente, the latter of whom was already a boss earlier in the game). Megaleg, however, is a HumongousMecha that is larger than the moon it stands on, and to defeat it, Mario has to climb it and then direct Bullet Bills at the cage containing the Grand Star. All accompanied by some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRS0N9wdO34 fantastic boss music.]]

!! VideoGame/SuperMario64
* Mario gets another one in ''Super Mario 64'', in the iconic Bowser fight. In order to beat him, you have to grab him by the tail, swing him around, and throw him into a bomb. The result? A HUGE explosion, and a pwned Bowser.
** Even better with the final battle, as Mario has climbed far into the sky to fight him, and the battle is set to some epic background music. You have to blow Bowser up '''three''' times! Grabbing the star afterwards and flying into the sky with heroic music playing... perfect way to end the game.
** On that note, Bowser's encounters in general. Taking cues from his having [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] a mere generation ago, Bowser ups his game this time; he outright takes over Peach's Castle [[VideoGame/PaperMario64 for the first]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy of many times]] [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU in this series]], steals the source of its power, and puts his hold on pretty much every area of the castle by creating 15 different worlds that you have to explore. And then come the levels where you trek up to Bowser; you go through a gauntlet more similar [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros to]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 the]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 games]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld of]] [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland old]], complete with [[AwesomeMusic/VideoGames "Koopa's Road"]] playing as it builds up to your confrontation, complete with each having a Power Star to boot (2 in the DS remake). At the end of the level you fight the scaly king of the Koopas himself, who across the different battles uses several abilities such as a huge stomp attack, a charge attack, his signature [[BreathWeapon fire breath]], and even teleportation. As stated above, you have to throw him into a bomb to do any damage at all. Then comes "Bowser in the Sky". Pretty much everything is thrown at you this time, and the end has you fighting Bowser with an even ''more'' awesome tune in the background, forcing you to hit him three times to win, and after the second hit he makes the entire ground crumble, revealing a star shape and requiring your aim to be true to even hit the bomb. There's a reason why Mario is the ultimate hero of gaming, especially after this fight.
* There's an oasis in a corner of ShiftingSandLand. What's awesome is the fact that the developers were nice enough to put it there to refill your health at any time, since diving in water and then coming back out refills your health.
* A meta-example, but managing to successfully translate a 2D platforming series into 3D, which had never been done before at the time. Super Mario 64 would go on to leave major marks on the video game industry.
* Each and every time Mario dons the Wing Cap is an awesome moment, soaring through the sky with soaring music playing. There's a reason why it's the game's signature power-up.
* On Bomb-omb Battlefield, using the cannon on the floating island to launch Mario directly into the red-coin star with careful aiming. A flawless victory.

* '''The final boss.''' '''''Big time'''''. At first glance, it appears to be a pretty standard "run under Bowser and hit the switch to drop him into the lava" fight. [[spoiler:Then Kamek reveals himself to have taken Peach's place, and spreads magic around like he usually does. Except this time, it has the effect of making Bowser '''''so large that he knocks Kamek out of the sky as he grows!''''' Indeed, it's possible that this is [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever the second-largest height to which Bowser has ever grown]] (the largest being his Giant Bowser battles in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'').]] And even ''better''? He is '''pissed off ''as HELL''''', as in, '''very, VERY PISSED---''his eyes are even glowing bright red!''''' True, most of the following battle is actually [[spoiler:'' the Mario Bros and company '''running for their lives''' away from Bowser and surviving long enough to hit the switch at the end that defeats him for good'' -- and it would be entirely unremarkable, if it wasn't one of ''the'' most intense platforming sequences in the game, filled with difficult and time-sensitive jumps and enemies prowling around every corner. [[FinalExamBoss Practically every obstacle is being thrown against you all at once,]] making it that much more satisfying when you finally hit that final switch.]] And if that doesn't sound good enough, imagine doing it alongside three friends. Now ''that's'' NintendoHard.