Putting On My Writer Suit

Greetings, 4CR! I’m Kyatt – artist, cat enthusiast, creator of Burn The Internet, Team Rocket sympathizer, and most relevant to this site, gamer. While it may be a cliché, the first video game I ever played was Super Mario Bros., and I’ve been a fan of the series ever since. In fact, Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of my favorite games ever, partially because of all the different power-up suits you can collect and use. Considering that 4CR’s icon prior to the redesign was a sprite of Frog Mario, I felt it relevant that my first article be a list of my 5 favorite Mario suits, in no particular order.

Hammer Suit (Super Mario Bros. 3): I always loved the Hammer Suit; not only does it make Mario look like a badass, but by wearing it, he essentially steals the power of one of Bowser’s strongest underlings, not unlike Mega Man. When you’re Hammer Mario, you’re fireproof, and you’re always discovering new things that those hammers can kill! For some reason, they can even kill ghosts – surely they are more than mere blocks of metal tied to sticks.

Bee Suit (Super Mario Galaxy): For the sake of full disclosure, let it be known that I’m a little obsessed with bees. There’s a Vesipquen on my Pokémon Diamond team, a Beedrill on my Pokémon SoulSilver team, and I draw a webcomic about a robot that’s powered by bees (Beeserker… last plug, I swear). Obvious bias aside, Bee Mario has some neat abilities. Not only can he hover much like he could in Super Mario Sunshine, but he can also climb walls and that queen bee’s abdomen, the latter resulting in indisputably the most awkward star Mario will ever obtain.

Tanooki Suit (Super Mario Bros. 3): Granted, the Hammer Suit can kill almost anything, but it doesn’t let you fly, and what’s the point of playing Super Mario Bros. 3 if you can’t fly? Tanooki Mario may not be able to throw apparently inter-dimensional hammers, but he can still pack a punch; he has all the powers of Raccoon Mario, plus, taking a page out of Japanese mythology, can transform into an invincible statue that literally falls like a stone, using its otherworldly powers to destroy any enemy that happens to be underneath it, including ghosts and Thwomps. It can even kill those spinning disco balls, which not even hammers can do.

Rock Suit (Super Mario Galaxy 2): Super Mario Galaxy 2 has some interesting new items, but this is the only one that allows you to transform into Golem from Pokémon and use Rollout on anything you see fit.

Blue Koopa Shell (New Super Mario Bros.): While New Super Mario Bros. was celebrated as Mario’s return to classic 2D gameplay after almost a decade of absence, it was really easy; in fact, one of the game’s few actual challenges the game offers involves putting on an abandoned Blue Koopa Shell and zipping through levels in it, mowing down enemies, jumping at incredible speeds, and bouncing off of walls in a disorienting manner. I was a bit saddened when I heard that the item didn’t make its way to the Wii’s sequel, but I suppose that it’s hard to keep all the players on screen if one of them can make it half way across a level in seconds.

Well, that’s my list. If your favorite Mario suit isn’t on it, feel free to correct me in the comments. I’m willing to change my mind about some of these, as long as you promise not to mention that damn Spring Suit.