Summary
It’s hard to dispute the influence theMarioseries has had on video games as a whole. From the original game’s simple yet satisfying platforming to the more intricate later entries, you’ll still find new titles paying homage to any number of Mario games to this day.
But while many will take their gameplay cues from Mario in one way or another, you’ll also find plenty that are content to offer tribute via some clever Easter eggs instead. But what are some of the best references to the Mario series in completely unrelated games?
8Super Clinton Bros.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Right after completing one of your firstmissions in Grand Theft Auto 5as Franklin, you’ll find yourself in his house. This is helpful, becuase if you step outside and look at his yard, you’ll see a pair of mushrooms that stand out just a bit too much in the game’s realistic setting to be random.
A spotted mushroom is an easy reference to the Mario games, but there’s just a little more to it. Their colors and sizes correlate to Mario and Luigi themselves, with a short red one and tall green one standing proudly among the weeds. Though odds are that eating the green one will have the exact opposite effect of the iconic fungus it’s paying tribute to.
7Legally Distinct Plumbers
The Simpsons Game
The Simpsons Game forevery seventh generation consoleyou know (and a few you don’t) is already all about references. While the ‘Bartman Begins’ level may not have quite as timely a title anymore, most of the game’s Easter eggs are still pretty well identifiable, including some classic Mario fare.
During the Enter the Cheatrix level, you’ll be playing as Bart and Lisa running through a video game factory. Along with chasing an ape that’s definitely not Donkey Kong, you’ll also see a number of little workers running around clad in red and blue that are definitely not Mario.
6A Ridiculous Pipe
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
In Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time, you occasionally find yourself in Clank’s subconscious, as one does. During one of these excursions later in the game, you encounter the Plumber, a recurring and possibly omnipotent character from the series. He’s working on a familiar-looking fixture.
Fans will quickly identify the big green pipe as a clear reference to the same ubiquitous tubes from the Mario games. The Plumber gets a little on the nose when he notes how ‘ridiculous’ it would be for someone of his profession to jump down strange pipes, but the Easter egg is still appreciated.
5Vivian Is Branching Out
A Hat In Time
Among the several swappable hats you can get in A Hat in Time that add new abilities to your arsenal, you’ll find the Brewer hat. Shaped like a stereotypical witch’s headgear (some things never go out of style), it allows you to throw explosive potions to clear obstacles. But one of its alternate versions is particularly interesting.
you may unlock different appearances for Hat Kid’s attire and hats, including a familiar red and white striped variant for the Brewer hat. Fans of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will immediately recognize the callback to ghost buddy andtrans gaming icon Vivian, who wore a similar hat.
4It’s-A-Him, Mario!
Assassin’s Creed 2
There’s nothing like just the right amount of levity to help ease the pain of a recent tragedy. It helps if that bit of humor is just a little bit weird, as with the introduction of Ezio’s uncle Mario in Assassin’s Creed 2. The poor young man had just lost much of his closest family, so you might not expect what comes next.
As Ezio travels to his family’s villa with his remaining kin, he encounters his uncle Mario Auditore, who helps the bruised and bloody Ezio fend off an ambush. Once the dust settles, he introduces himself with the iconic line you hear every time youboot up Super Mario 64, ‘it’s-a-me, Mario!’
3Hotel Arzette
Arzette: The Jewel Of Faramore
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore took on the impossible task of paying homage to the infamously low-regarded CD-i Legend of Zelda games while also being a genuinely good title on its own. But aside from the countless references to those games, it also expanded its reach a little in the CDi library.
One minigame you encounter a few times tasks you with closing several doors on multiple levels of an area within the time limit. Aside from a different style and controls that work, it’s a dead ringer for the regular gameplay of fellow CD-i stinker Hotel Mario. Maybe they figured that whole game wasn’t worth the same trouble as the Zelda duology, which is fair.
2BraidMan
Braid
The second level of Braid’s fourth world has no intention toward subtlety, as it serves to clearly reference the classic arcade game Donkey Kong in both layout and name. Titled ‘Jumpman’ just like Mario’s original name before leaving his problematic anti-ape days behind him, it’s a pretty refreshing little tribute.
It makes excellent use ofBraid’s time-manipulation puzzle mechanicsin a way that feels fresh for such a familiar-looking level. Now if only Mario had those abilities way back when, arcade goers could have saved hundreds of their parents' quarters.
1Crouching Still Works
Celeste
Chapter 4 of Celeste features a hidden area with a mysterious white block. This references a similar object in Super Mario Bros. 3, where crouching on it for a few seconds allows you to move behind the level’s geometry. Celeste replicates this trick beautifully, letting you climb up on the background platforms after crouching.
While not exactly the deepest of cuts, this Easter egg is a brilliant callback and one that immediately awakens something in those old enough to remember what it’s referencing. You think ‘Surely not, right?’ Then you crouch, fall behind, and suddenly you’re seven years old again.
