All Power-ups in Super Mario Bros. Wonder Explained

Super Mario Bros Wonder sends Mario to a new kingdom, where Bowser has literally taken possession of the king’s castle. Luckily, he’ll have some new abilities to take on the fire-breathing menace. If you’re wondering just what skills you’ll have at your disposal on this new adventure, here are all power-ups in Super Mario Bros Wonder explained.

All the Power-ups You Can Use in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Bros Wonder features some genuinely creative new abilities. One or two are a little disturbing, but I’ll get to that. Here are all the power-ups that have been revealed so far:

Elephant Power-up. Mario can turn into a humanoid elephant, attacking enemies by swinging his trunk and smashing through blocks with ease. His trunk attack can also be used to bounce projectiles back at enemies, which is handy for dealing with flying foes such as Lakitus. He can also run across large gaps and store water in his trunk to spray it out. That latter skill can be used to unlock secrets — for example, watering plants to reveal hidden areas and shortcuts.

The other playable characters can also use this same ability, going through the same transformation. And all of them can ride Yoshi, which is as horrifying as it sounds. That can’t be good for his spine.

Bubble Power-up. This power-up lets Mario and friends blow bubbles that can be used to capture enemies. That might sound familiar if you’re a Bubble Bobble fan, but the difference is you don’t have to be in a hurry to pop them. The moment a bubble touches a low-level enemy, they’ll be turned into a coin. Now I think about that, that’s pretty disturbing too, maybe even worthy of investigation by the SCP Foundation.

You can fire two bubbles at once and they’ll drift towards enemies. They can be used to kill normally invulnerable enemies such as Dry Bones. They also pass through walls, and you can even bounce off them, helping you conquer harder-to-reach areas.

Drill Power-up. This puts a rotating drill on the character’s head. It allows characters to headbutt tough enemies (Spike Koopas and so on) and switches places if you ground pound, letting you drill through tough blocks. You’ll also be able to burrow through the ground to pass under obstacles, and you’ll be immune to enemies while you’re down under. On top of that, you can drill into the ceiling, defying gravity as you burrow left or right.

Fire Flower Power-up. This is the same Fire Flower that Mario players have been collecting from years, debuting in the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES. Once again, it lets you fling fireballs at enemies.

You’ll be able to bank power-ups to take with you and use later, rather than having to use them the moment you pick them up. Those, then are all the power-ups you can use in Super Mario Bros Wonder — or at least the ones that have been revealed so far. And if you’re looking for more on what to expect from the game, make sure to look through our previous coverage.