Super Mario Bros./Awesome


 * The ending cutscene of Mario Super Sluggers. Essentially, the gang throws a party, with Mario and Donkey Kong hitting and pitching Bob-ombs into the air as fireworks. Suddenly, Wario and Waluigi appear, and load a Bullet Bill into the baseball machine. Mario, who is scared witless, is just standing there like a sitting duck. (A standing, sitting duck, mind you.) Donkey Kong can't reach him in time, so who comes to the rescue? Bowser. Some slo-mo shots of him and his bat later, he just bunts the Bullet, sends it flying straight back, where it picks Wario and Waluigi by the shirts, sends them straight upwards,and then explodes into an AWESOME fireworks display! Link here, starting around 3:20.
 * Princess Peach gets one in Super Mario Bros. 2. Instead of being kidnapped, she is one of the main playable characters and kicks ass right alongside Mario and Luigi. Her second comes in Super Princess Peach, where she switches roles with the Mario Bros. and does the rescuing for once.
 * The cartoon Peach got hers when she gained the Starman power and rescued the Mario Bros. and Toad from Bowser's troops in Super Mario Bros Super Show episode "The Trojan Koopa".
 * Super Mario Bros 2 took place in Mario's dreams, though, which means Mario's dream is for Princess Peach to finally fight for herself for once. A dream which, thankfully for them both, came true.
 * Luigi, the series' Ensemble Darkhorse getting his own game, Luigis Mansion. Mario Is Missing was an edutainment game, and therefore doesn't count.
 * Even better, it was a launch game for the Game Cube, going in stores about eight months before Mario's headlining game came out. Especially after Luigi hadn't appeared in any main series games within the Mario canon since Super Mario World, it's refreshing to see a Throw the Dog a Bone moment for the second banana.
 * Worth noting that the plot of both of those games is that Mario's gone missing and it's up to Luigi to find and save him. Heck, even when he had his solo-moment in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, it was because Mario was sick! The one time where he had his own adventure without Mario being sick or kidnapped was in in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, but that was just pure text and his heroic accounts were contrasted with more embarrassing versions of the tale. However, there was a true Moment of Awesome in the fluff: Luigi stormed the castle of the Chestnut King to save Princess Eclair in spite of the terrifying description of both the place and the monster. Although he beat the fiend, he didn't get the girl.
 * That doesn't really detract from how awesome it is, though. Luigi's Mansion is a great example. Since we see just how scared Luigi is the entire time he's trying to get through the mansion, it makes it even more awesome. Yeah, he's trying to save his brother, but that just crosses the Moment of Awesome over with a Heartwarming Moments.
 * As bad as Mario Is Missing is to play, it shows you just how stupid someone would have to be to mess with Mario when Luigi isn't scared half to death. He curb-stomped Bowser and his entire army, which is spread over the whole planet, without even getting hit. Oh, and he also took full advantage of traveling the world by collecting souvenir photos at his leisure...
 * This. Just... This. (Major Spoilers)
 * Particularly for Peach, who manages to fight off being possessed by a demon sorceress to heal you. The main games make her overly ditzy, but she's particularly effective in the RPGs.

Super Mario Bros 3
""One night under heavy doses of narcotics, I was playing Super Mario Brothers 3 and one of my friends thought it would be funny to record what I was saying so I could hear myself later when I was coherent. Here is a transcription of the things I said:
 * The first time Mario takes flight in Super Mario Brothers 3. He eats a powerup called the Super Leaf, grows raccoon ears and a tail, and gains the power to fly. One suspects Miyamoto may have been "powering up" on some super leaves of his own when he came up with this.
 * In a few stages in Super Mario Bros. 3, the sun itself drops out of the sky and tries to kill you! When you first begin the level, the game fools you into thinking that the sun is just part of the background, then BAM!!! it starts trying to dive bomb you throughout the whole rest of the stage! It reappears near the end of the game, in oddly enough, a level that takes place at night. The best part: if you take an invincibility star into the stage or pick up a Koopa shell you can use it to kill the sun (which the strategy guide refers to as "forc[ing] an early sunset").
 * World 5-3 lets you ride around in Kuribo's Shoe, a giant boot that prevents you from taking damage from spikes and lets you kill any enemy in the game with a single stomp. Sadly, it only appears in one level, and hasn't appeared in any of the sequels.

Oh shit! I got the shoe! I'm so invincible! Oh! Eat it, you bitch! You don't understand! I got the damn SHOE! It's the shoe! And look at how cute I am with my stupid plumber head poking out of the wind up sock! I am the cutest invincible shoe rider ever! Mario! Mario! He's in the ULTRA green SHOOEEE!

This went on for about 10 more minutes as I kept bouncing back and forth on the level screaming nonsense about the damn shoe until the time ran out. We sent a copy to my mom. I heard she cried.""

- Seanbaby

"The Angry Video Game Nerd: And then there's the final world; this part doesn't fuck around. It's like "You got to the end! You dare to play? Welcome to Hell!""
 * There is a cameo of it in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * As a matter of fact, Super Mario Bros. 3 in general is just one big Game of Awesome. There were 8 worlds with a total of 90 levels, 5 special suits (not counting mushrooms and stars), a slew of bonus games, a duel mode (if you're playing with a friend), scores of enemies, and an obscene amount of ridiculously well hidden secrets everywhere. On top of that, this game was on the original, 8-bit NES, before 3-D graphics, memory cards, and FMV cutscenes. It still managed to be amazingly successful, selling over 18 million copies, the most of any non-bundled game ever.
 * And with such a long ass game back in the NES days, you might think that the level design might get repetitive and boring, but no: every single level is masterfully made and especially the Army levels in World 8 were truly Nintendo Hard without ever being unfair. There's a reason why Super Mario Bros 3 is regarded as pretty much the best platformer of all time.


 * If you think about it, Mario taking on (and defeating) Bowser's entire military, navy, and air force in World 8 single-handedly is pretty awesome.

Super Mario World

 * Teaming up with Yoshi for the first time. What, don't you think it would be awesome to ride a giant dinosaur around and devour all of your enemies in a single gulp?
 * Special World. It's arguably a Nintendo Hard ROM Hack of itself, and it rewards you for completing That One Level, Tubular. The final Level introduces a special Fruit that increases your Time if Yoshi eats it. Then, at the very end, all the Mooks are gone, and in their place is a giant message that says, written entirely in Coins. Then, the entire Game becomes a Halloween Episode.
 * Upon beating each of the Koopalings' fortresses, a humorous cutscene is shown of Mario destroying the fortress he's just spent hell getting through. Normally he just blows it up, but after beating Larry's fortress (the seventh and final fortress), Mario PICKS THE FORTRESS OUT OF THE GROUND AND DROP-KICKS IT. No wonder we didn't hear from the Koopalings for so long...

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has perhaps one of the ultimate Moments of Awesome in video games, in the form of its final boss. The whole game in general is Yoshi's MOA; it shows that Yoshi saved Mario as an infant, and so the main hero of the series actually owes everything to Yoshi; but the final boss is still the best part. When you first enter Bowser's castle, it's scary to go through the level, but when you fight Bowser, you find out that he's just an annoying, bratty little kid, whom you can easily defeat. Things looked so simple compared to other Mario games -- and then Kamek comes and supersizes Bowser, the whole castle crumbling as he grows exponentially. The final battle takes place with Yoshi on the pile of rubble, and he is looking out into the background, where the now gigantic Bowser looms. The monstrosity tromps toward you Godzilla style, occasionally breathing fire and throwing boulders that further smash the rubble, with an epic heavy metal song (a rarity in the Mario series) rocking out as the showdown rages. When you finally do beat him, if you're a long-time Mario fan, you get an even greater bonus if you sit through the credits. The babies are returned to their parents, and you hear the classic flagpole theme of Mario games, trumpeted up, as you're treated to a picture of the baby Mario Bros. with the caption, "Our heroes are born!"

Super Mario 64

 * Mario gets another one in Super Mario 64, in the iconic Bowser fight. In order to beat him, you have to grab him by the tail, swing him around, and throw him into a bomb. The result? A HUGE explosion, and a pwned Bowser.
 * Even better with the final battle, as Mario has climbed far into the sky to fight him, and the battle being set to some epic background music. Grabbing the star afterwards and flying into the sky with heroic music playing... perfect way to end the game.

Super Mario RPG

 * Bowser joins you and fights alongside you.
 * You get to fight the toughest boss in the game, Culex, as a Bonus Boss. Fans of Final Fantasy may recognize FF4's boss music, as well as the four elemental crystals iconic to Final Fantasy. And after you're done beating that long hard battle, you know the standard victory fare isn't enough. BOOM, He turns into colorful sparks and your party does their victory pose, while you get a load of EXP and coins, and the epic Final Fantasy victory music is blaring out of the speakers.
 * There's a tiny one which doubles as a subtle Heartwarming Moment. When you first meet Mallow, his grandfather's coin's just been stolen, and, though he has been raised as a frog, he cannot jump. 6 stars' (and one recovered coin) worth of adventure later, Mallow's discovered, has found , and when he needs to jump onto the skybus taking the party to Bowser's Keep.... he does so. With aplomb.
 * Midas River 100 coin run. Enjoy.

Paper Mario

 * In the not-quite-Final Battle, Bowser has made himself invincible by using the Star Rod, but Mario undoes the invincibility by using the Star Beam, a power granted to him by the Star Spirits he rescued in the game. When Bowser's taken enough damage, he flees. In the final Final Battle with Bowser, you're on a special energy-booster platform -- the platform's energy boost, combined with the Star Rod, makes ! At this point, Princess Peach (along with just about everybody in the Kingdom) makes a wish for Mario to win, giving just enough power to the Star Spirits to help Mario take down Bowser once and for all.
 * Don't forget the Awesome Music that plays for that final final battle.
 * The opening of the game is a huge Crowning Moment for Bowser. He managed to storm the heavens, become invulnerable, kidnap an entire castle, and almost kill Mario. Holy wow.

Super Mario Sunshine

 * The Sand Bird ride. You run around the Sand Bird, collecting Red Coins, while the Sand Bird wonderfully screeches like a hawk.
 * In Pianta Village, after getting all red coins, and when you're on the gigantic palm tree, you grab a piece of "fluff" (a giant dandelion seed), then it flies all the way to a cloud that has the Shine out in the middle of the sky.
 * Bowser Jr. managing to get Mario framed for polluting Isle Delfino; The Reveal of Shadow Mario's true identity really establishes how cunning Bowser Jr. can be when he puts his mind to stopping Mario.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
""No sister, this time I'm going to punish you.""
 * The scene before the final boss in Paper Mario: TTYD is one for Peach. Peach, This coming from a Mario game.
 * Cortez causes a few of them. Not only does he, but he really brings down the house when After him making me feel so screwed several times, he's got a pretty nice exit (or entrance).
 * If you bring Vivian when you engage the Shadow Sirens for the last time, she says what many consider to be the best line in the game to her abusive sister Beldam.

Super Paper Mario

 * Not only is the star itself absolute 8-bit awesome, but the Mega Koopa involves an enemy picking it up and becoming a gigantic 8-bit Koopa, and running you down.
 * Peach gets one in Super Paper Mario, where she
 * "Crad"... halfway between "crag" and "crud"... that's actually really cool.
 * You're talking to that nice old wizard, and suddenly, shows up out of nowhere and SENDS YOU TO THE PG VERSION OF HELL. No battle, nothing. Just snaps his fingers and pretty much kills your whole party. What's more, he's relying on your ability to overcome that, and has in fact helped you out.
 * More of Super Paper Mario: The Bitlands (save the giant tree), Sammer's Kingdom, and the Brobot fight in space.

Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time

 * Mario and Luigi (and their baby counterparts) infiltrate a Shroob base only to get caught by the Shroobs. They are surrounded and appear to be completely screwed... then, disguised as a Shroob, proceeds to blast the beheezus out of all the Shroobs surrounding the heroes with a stolen Shroob blaster. Awesome.
 * Then, there's the fight against . It just feels so... right to defeat the duo.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
"Bowser: GWAHAHA! Great dark hurricane! Seriously, perfect backdrop for an awesome Final Battle! You really sweat the details! (Pause) Listen up! You're saying the kingdom will vanish? NOT TODAY! THIS KINGDOM IS ALL MINE! SO YOU VANISH!""
 * The plot is one Crowning Moment for Fawful, considering he went from a Dragon from the first to the Big Bad, holding true to his vow of vengeance in M&L2.
 * Not to mention . And
 * Also,
 * This is made especaially awesome if you consider the build up to the fight.
 * Then there's the moment that happens just before that. Bowser is at a platform on top of Peach's castle, facing Something very close to, if not exactly what, follows:
 * Then there's the moment that happens just before that. Bowser is at a platform on top of Peach's castle, facing Something very close to, if not exactly what, follows:


 * And it's all accentuated by the fact that Bowser himself receives one of the best Final Boss songs in the Mario games.
 * The entire game is basically one long Moment of Awesome for Bowser. Even when he picks up Idiot Balls, he manages to make it either awesome or hilarious.
 * Another, more subtle one, is when he is hit by the train. If you pay attention, you'll see that near the end of the track, he nearly stops the train, if it weren't for Rule of Funny putting that rock there. This is the true extent of his strength.
 * Broggy Bonker. Just the plain attack itself. It's already quite funny that the giant angry guard dog you fought and buy items from earlier in the game is beating up bosses, including Dark Bowser. It's freaking awesome when, if you get the attack perfect, about twenty Bitties attack the enemy after it in a line, possibly making the enemy confused. See for yourself at about 2:18 into this video.

New Super Mario Bros (DS)

 * Here's one that takes place during gameplay that's pretty easy not to notice when you're conditioned to hop around from platform to platform, but if you see someone else play, you'll notice just how badass the game can look sometimes. In some of the fortresses and castles, Mario jumps onto a wobbly tightrope with lava below, then jumps from that tightrope over a large gap onto another tightrope.

New Super Mario Bros Wii

 * It's probably fair to say the final battle of New Super Mario Bros Wii is one for several parties involved. At first glance, it appears to be a pretty standard "run under Bowser and hit the switch to drop him into the lava" fight. True, most of the following battle is actually  And if that doesn't sound good enough, imagine doing it alongside three friends. Now that's Nintendo Hard.
 * Before that, there's the entirety of level 8-7. You ride on a fast-paced undead dragon roller coaster, dodging geysers of lava while it periodically screeches. It's a favorite level in the series for many.

Super Mario Galaxy

 * Your Mileage May Vary, but the opening sequence could be a moment for Bowser. Ever wondered how he and his kids seem to be able to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnap Princess Peach so easily despite Mario's presence? One word: BLITZKRIEG. An attack of this scale had not been witnessed in any prior Mario games, and it was a good way to show the player the kind of action that was to come.
 * For some, Super Mario Galaxy as a whole was a crowning moment of awesome in finally putting the obstacle course-style level designs of the 2D games in 3D, but picking one specific moment, the purple coins mission in Battlerock. Having gotten 105 stars, it seemed the game was now going to make you collect 100 coins in each level, which was one of the least enjoyable parts of SM64 and SMS. The first couple of purple coin challenges are an easy introduction and a hunt similar to the previous 3D Marios. Then you get to "the essentially 2D, every single coin in plain sight but requiring precise platforming to reach them all" mission in Battlerock and realize the purple coin challenges are really the equivalent of the special world in Super Mario World, and SMG erases any question of whether it recreated the 2D formula.
 * The Freezeflame Galaxy's purple coin challenge is a particular highlight. You have to scour the entire area for coins, then make a slow danger-filled climb to the very top of the mountain to end up with... 98 coins. To get the final two coins, you have to jump off the top of the mountain onto a tiny little platform below. One of the most epic-feeling moments in the game.
 * The final level. The final boss. The final blow.
 * And as a result of Mario's actions, 
 * This is only to cause more Moments of Awesome:
 * The ending is one of the most epic in any Mario game, and the very end caps it off perfectly. After they wake up in, Mario raises his hands and joyfully cries out "Welcome! Welcome, new GALAXY!"
 * The moment Mario first used the Red Star.
 * You can laud the final battle of Galaxy all you want, but Buoy Base also deserves special mention. Having Mario fly into an enemy base and just... pummel everything with no hesitation really cements his status as a one man army.
 * Or how about what some of the LAUNCH STARS do? For example, blasting right through a BATTLESHIP, which then EXPLODES behind Mario; blasting up from the mouth of a volcano, which erupts as you fly away from it; and probably many more.
 * Rosalina deserves some mention here. After you retrieve enough power stars,

Super Mario Galaxy 2

 * When you kill Squizzard in Super Mario Galaxy 2, he explodes, and the Power Star he had flies 50 feet straight up into the air.
 * Granted, it comes back down, but it's still pretty cool.
 * The final boss, even if it is a bit easy, is this. After defeating Bowser like the other two times you did (which includes knocking him into a bottomless pit), the Grand Star comes down on the platform you confronted Bowser at. Right before you touch it, Bowser pops back up and then eats the Grand Star, turning him huge again. Then he summons a black hole, and you fight free falling in it, landing on meteorites and then ground pounding them into Bowser. Once you knock the final meteorite into him, he falls into the black hole in slow motion, and it closes up. And all this is topped off by what is arguably the most epic music in Mario history. Holy crap that needed a lot of italics.
 * Completing the final final level, counts as a Moment of Awesome for the player.

Other Mario games

 * The two sports games made by Square Enix are pretty much the reason the Mario Sports series deserves at least one Tv Tropes article. For the first one, Mario Hoops 3 On 3, pretty much every playable character gets one when doing a special shot, and when you unlock, their special shots are none other than for crying out loud! As for the game's still-made-by-Square Spiritual Successor, Mario Sports Mix (which includes basketball anyway), three words:  Who cares if it has nothing to do with a sports game, it is exactly as awesome as it sounds.
 * Mario Party DS has the mini game Bowser's Block Party. Bowser has a belt that turns himself into various forms using blocks, and one of them has his face on it. He mainly uses fire attacks throughout the battle. How do Mario and friends beat him? Nothing but kicks and punches (with star power), which is kind of awesome in a way for them.

Adaptations and Other Media

 * The Super Show's crowning moment has to be in King Mario of Cramalot, where Mario obtains Excalibur (which in this series is a plumber's snake), causing him to go into Super Mode. He then gets into a sword fight with Koopa, who is weilding the Golden Plunger from earlier, all while Bad is playing in the background.
 * In SMB 3 the show, we have Luigi SCARING BOOS IN MISADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING as seen here