Mario Leaps Toward a Question Block

About this drawing

Mario question block jumps are how most players first learned to explore his world. Since 1985, Mario has run through levels lined with bricks and golden blocks marked with a question mark, each one hiding a surprise.

To find out what is inside, he jumps and bumps the block from below. Sometimes a coin pops out. Other times it is a power-up like the Super Mushroom, a red mushroom with white spots that makes Mario grow bigger and lets him smash bricks and survive an extra hit.

Blocks can also hold fire flowers for throwing fireballs or stars that make him invincible for a few seconds. Learning which blocks to hit, and when, is half the fun of every level.

The very first stage of the original game introduced nearly all of these pieces at once: question blocks, bricks, mushrooms, hills and a Goomba walking straight toward you. Designers still praise that level because it teaches players everything they need without a single written instruction. His cap and mustache come from those early days too, chosen partly because simple pixels could not show hair or a mouth clearly.

• mario
• question block
• mushroom
• video games