Bubbles appear in the Super Mario franchise as floating objects that sometimes have contents within them. Sometimes, bubbles even allow the characters to ride inside of them. Some bubbles also replenish Mario or Luigi's air supply while he is underwater.
Artwork of Mario in a soap bubble from Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
In the Hippo level, the titular Hippo blows soap bubbles,[1] that allow Mario to "swim" in air, allowing him to reach the entrance to the Space Zone. They pop when they touch water or an enemy - in the latter case, a powered-up Mario briefly flashes between his large and small Mario sprites as if he has taken damage, but will not lose his current power-up (e.g., Fire Mario does not become Super Mario).
Breathable bubbles forming after Mario squirts Eely-Mouth's toxic bubbles in Super Mario Sunshine
Bubbles in Super Mario Sunshine can be used by Mario in Noki Bay when he dives to see Eely-Mouth, who spews forth toxic bubbles. If Mario were to squirt the toxic bubbles long enough, they turn into breathable air, filling up Mario's air life meter. During the fight with King Boo, if the slots end with any incorrect combination, King Boo will spew out bubbles that drop water bottles when sprayed, but will also home in on Mario and hurt him if he touches them.
Bubbles in Super Mario Galaxy have two roles. They can be found throughout underwater areas, and refill Mario or Luigi's oxygen meter if he touches one, much like in Super Mario 64. There are also bubbles that can be found on land, which Mario or Luigi can enter and ride around in. The player must use the Wii Remote to aim the bubble in the desired direction, blow it around by pressing , and leave the bubble by pressing . Originally, the bubbles in this game were going to be shaped like cubes.[2]
Luigi in a bubble in World 1-1 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bubbles in New Super Mario Bros. Wii are what players respawn in Multiplayer Mode after losing a life, but can also enter a bubble by pressing (when the Wii Remote is held horizontally) or (when the Nunchuk is attached to the Wii Remote), giving themselves immunity. The player can shake the Wii Remote to move closer to the other players; each character will make pleas for help that can be heard from the Wii Remote's speakers. However, if all players end up in a bubble, or if the remaining player loses a life, those in bubbles lose their power-ups, but don't lose any lives. Players cannot bubble in Coin Battle mode. Coins and items can be found in bubbles floating around some levels, particularly in Free Mode; bubbles with coins appear in the underwater levels, just as in New Super Mario Bros.
Also, in World 7-2, there are water bubbles, called Water Balls. Players can swim in them, and they also slow down Bullet Bills. They move in mid-air that the player can jump in. Once in one, the player can swim through it to continue onward.
Bubbles in Super Mario Galaxy 2 are similar to their appearance in Super Mario Galaxy, but can no longer carry around Mario and Luigi, so they are used only for replenishing Mario or Luigi's air gauge when it gets too low. One minor difference in this game involves the Co-Star Luma being able to physically fetch air bubbles that are far away from the player, and then bring them to the player. Peach is also shown to be trapped inside a Bubble before the final boss.
Bubbles in New Super Mario Bros. 2 function identically as in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They are entered by pressing a special button on the Nintendo 3DS' touch screen. A player in a bubble can approach the other by pressing . If the lead player goes too far off the other player's screen, the other automatically enters a bubble, as opposed to dying, which would have been the case in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[edit]
Artwork of Luigi in a bubble in New Super Mario Bros. U
Bubbles in New Super Mario Bros. U and its Nintendo Switchport function the same as in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Bubble Baby Yoshis are also capable of shooting bubbles from their mouths, which can turn most enemies into Coins, power-ups or 1-Up Mushrooms. When the player gets a power-up from a Bubble Baby Yoshi's bubble, the order in which they appear is as follows: Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Ice Flower, and Super Acorn. Water Balls from New Super Mario Bros. Wii also reappear. In the game's credits sequence, there is a minigame that revolves around collecting coins in bubbles blown by Bubble Baby Yoshis.
Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[edit]
Bubbles in Super Mario 3D World can contain players like in New Super Mario Bros. and its sequels, but a difference is that if only one player is active, they cannot put themselves into a bubble. This marks the first time it can be done in a 3D Super Mario game. In addition, some Super Mushrooms can be found encased in bubbles, while bubbles containing Super Bells can be found above water in Bowser's Fury.
Bubbles in Super Mario Run serve as extra lives for the player, essentially replacing 1-Up Mushrooms. Unlike in previous games, they are not carried over between levels, as each level starts the player off with two bubbles. If the player is hit by an enemy in small form or falls into a pit, they reappear in a bubble and float to the left, allowing them to backtrack to a previous part of the level and retry once they pop the bubble by tapping the screen. If the player loses all of their bubbles and dies, they fail the level and have to restart from the beginning. The player can also manually activate a bubble by tapping the bubble icon at the top left corner of the screen. Extra bubbles can be found in ? Blocks.
Bubbles in Super Mario Odyssey carry Mario to the last stationary platform he was on if he falls into a pit while in Assist Mode, instead of resuming from the last checkpoint, although Mario loses one hit point in the process. When falling off certain areas of the game, such as the concert stage during the New Donk City Festival and the Floating Island in the Luncheon Kingdom, he is placed in a bubble without losing any coins, similar to the transparent sphere from the Comet Observatory in Super Mario Galaxy and the credits in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Large bubbles appear in some underwater parts of the game and replenish Mario's air meter like in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. They appear from Bubblers. When a Checkpoint Flag is touched underwater, it creates a bubble.
Bubbles in Super Mario Maker 2 are what players return inside of in Multiplayer after being defeated, similar to the New Super Mario Bros. games. Additionally, when a player carrying a Key or a completed Clear Condition is defeated in multiplayer, the Key or Clear Condition enters a bubble, allowing other players to grab it.
Bubbles in Super Mario Bros. Wonder can be blown by players while in their Bubble form, and can use them to defeat enemies. Furthermore, these bubbles can also be jumped off of by players.[3]
The role of bubbles from some previous games of reviving defeated players in multiplayer is succeeded by ghosts.
Bubbles in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, its Game Boy Advance remake, and Yoshi's Island DS have a number of roles. They sometimes house 1UPs, but usually appear in the form of morph bubbles. If the player is hit by an enemy, Baby Mario floats away in a Bubble. Bubble Dayzees and Barney Bubbles also spit out Bubbles as their attack method. These Bubbles cannot hurt a Yoshi directly, but are capable of knocking him back. Yoshis can also bounce up high after jumping onto these Bubbles. The Yoshis can also spit these Bubbles themselves upon licking them up, though theirs' defeat enemies instead, and must be restocked by licking up another bubble.
Bubbles in Yoshi's Story appear in every level, and they commonly contain fruits such as apples, bananas, grapes, watermelons, and melons. A Yoshi can pop a bubble by simply throwing an egg at it or by touching it about 15 to 30 times. When the Yoshi bumps into it once, it simply gets knocked around, without popping. Bubbles occasionally just float or move around the area of the level above the ground. In some levels in the game, a bubble contains a Heart Fruit that can actually help the Yoshi. Occasionally, bubbles marked with question marks, known as ? Bubbles, contain surprises.
Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World[edit]
Bubbles in Big Montgomery's Bubble Fort of Yoshi's Woolly World
Bubbles in the Wario Land series first appear in Wario Land II, then reappear in Wario Land 3 and Wario Land 4. In each game, bubbles are found in the underwater segments of various levels. If Wario makes contact with one, he becomes Bubble Wario, being trapped inside and forced to float to the water's surface or until he hits a ceiling. In some areas, they are a helpful tool, allowing Wario to bypass water currents, but when Wario needs to swim down a channel, the bubbles become a nuisance, as they push him back to the surface. In Wario Land II, the boss Awabō is made from a bubble.
A bubble in Paper Mario: Color Splash is used by Mario and Huey to travel while playing Snifit or Whiffit. If Mario fails four main rounds or one bonus round or refuses to take part in the game show, a Big Urchin pops the Bubble, giving him an instant Game Over.
Bubbles in Mario Party: Island Tour are featured in a few capacities, all involving Bowser. Bowser uses a bubble machine to lock the fun of the Mario Party Islands away and construct Bowser's Tower. He creates bubble clones to attack the player in mini-games. At the end of the mode, it is revealed the Bowser they fight is also a bubble clone, with the real Bowser ambushing the player and knocking them off the tower.
Bubbles in Super Mario Party are what allies travel down in when summoned by the player using an Ally Phone or landing on an Ally Space. The bubble pops upon touching the ground.
Air bubbles in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Air bubbles[4] are used in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to recover air while underwater. Generally, air bubbles sprout discretely from sunken diving helmets, and the Kongs can run into them to restore air. In some levels, such as Deep Keep, they also encounter clusters of tiny bubbles gushing out of sea sponge. These rising columns of bubbles have the same effect on the characters.
Baby Luigi in a bubble during his Eagle animation, alongside various items in bubbles as well
Bubbles in Mario Sports Superstars appear in Baby Luigi's Eagle animation in the golf portion of the game, where, alongside Baby Luigi being in a bubble, various items, such as coins, Super Mushrooms, and Fire Flowers can be found in them, possibly referencing their appearances in bubbles in New Super Mario Bros. U.
An image demonstrating the bubble feature in Dr. Mario World.
Bubbles in Dr. Mario World are stage features that first appear in World 2. A bubble will float to the top of the screen until it is obstructed by an object, and it may contain viruses or other objects. An object that can be matched with capsules such as viruses or exploders will require matching with the capsules to pop the bubble, while in other instances including empty bubbles, just making a capsule match near the bubble will pop the bubble. A bubble can also be popped through use of a skill or item. A bubble that is currently floating will not react to anything else in the stage until it lands, except for when pushing the bubble upwards or blocking the bubble from floating upwards with a capsule. Normally, popping a bubble would fill the skill meter by one point, but popping an empty bubble fills the skill meter by two points. The Hammer Bro. assistant will affect the floating speed of the bubble when equipped by slowing down the floating.
Dr. Bowser Jr.'s and Dr. Dolphin's skills involves bubbles. For Dr. Bowser Jr., his stage mode skill pops up to 10 bubbles while his versus mode skill covers up to 10 viruses in the opponent's field in bubbles. For Dr. Dolphin, its stage mode skill pops up to 4 bubbles (3 prior to version 2.2.0), while its versus mode skill covers up to 6 viruses inside bubbles. Although Dr. Dolphin skill involves less bubbles than Dr. Bowser Jr., it is compensated by a lower skill meter to allow for potentially more uses of the skill. Dr. Morton's skill in versus mode also involves bubbles (in addition to ice), in which he will cover some of the viruses inside bubbles. Bubbles may appear in some of the starting layouts in versus mode.
Bubbles in Mario Kart Tour are the special skill of Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina, Lemmy, and the Cheep Cheep, Lemmy, and Fish Bone Mii Racing Suits. When used, they envelop the driver, allowing them to sustain one hit from almost any obstacle without crashing, but popping upon collision. However, colliding with a Clampy as it closes its valves will still cause the driver to spin out while the Bubble remains intact. The Bubble functions similarly to the Bullet Bill in that it pulls the player forwards automatically when activated, though it is slower and does not harm other drivers, and the player can steer a little while using a Bubble. Bubbles automatically pop after being used for a certain period of time. When Bubble+ is active, the Bubble has a faster movement speed than normal. Drivers cannot perform any actions while in a Bubble, but they constantly receive bonus points from it to compensate.
Starting from the version 3.0.0 update, bubbles can be popped earlier by constantly tapping the screen.
Tips & Tricks:Briefly envelops your kart and protects you from damage for a set time. While in the bubble, you will get a speed boost and float in the air. Watch out, because it will vanish upon taking damage!
Driver info:Kick back and relax as this bubble floats you around. But beware the sudden pop!
Driver info (Bubble+):Increases the Bubble's movement speed.
^von Esmarch, Nick, and Cory van Grier (February 21, 2014). Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-804-16252-4. Page 23.
^Nintendo (1992). Super Mario Land 2: 6-tsu no Kinka instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 11.
, and leave the bubble by pressing 
. Originally, the bubbles in this game were going to be shaped like cubes.[2]
(when the Nunchuk is attached to the Wii Remote), giving themselves immunity. The player can shake the Wii Remote to move closer to the other players; each character will make pleas for help that can be heard from the Wii Remote's speakers. However, if all players end up in a bubble, or if the remaining player loses a life, those in bubbles lose their power-ups, but don't lose any lives. Players cannot bubble in Coin Battle mode. Coins and items can be found in bubbles floating around some levels, particularly in Free Mode; bubbles with coins appear in the underwater levels, just as in New Super Mario Bros.
. If the lead player goes too far off the other player's screen, the other automatically enters a bubble, as opposed to dying, which would have been the case in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
