Brick Block

From the Super Mario Wiki

A Brick Block as seen in New Super Mario Bros. artwork.

A Brick Block is a block that has made an appearance in nearly every Mario platformer to date. As its name implies, Brick Blocks are blocks made of bricks. Their first appearance was in Super Mario Bros.

Mario, standing under a brick block in Super Mario Bros. 3.

In all side-scrolling games, Mario or Luigi could only break this block as Super Mario (or Super Luigi) or another form of Super Mario, such as Fire Mario. By jumping into it from beneath, the Brick Block would shatter, giving the player ten points. If Small Mario hit the block, it would just bounce up slightly. Either way, an enemy walking on the brick will be injured. However, if Brick Blocks contain an item, the item would be released, regardless of Mario's status, and the Brick Block would turn into a Used Block. More items could come out from these than from regular ? Blocks in the original games.
These Brick Blocks can contain:

Super Mushroom/Fire Flower – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.
Super Mushroom/Super Leaf – Super Mario Bros. 3
1 Coin – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.
Multiple Coins – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.
Starman – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.
Vine – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.
1-up Mushroom – Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros.

Brick Blocks were absent in Super Mario World. They were replaced by the similar Turning Blocks.

A Brick Block in Super Mario Galaxy.

In the Mario Party series, these bricks would rarely appear. If a character landed on any space, there is a very small chance that a brick will appear over his or her face. If it does appear, the character must jump and hit the brick a couple times. If lucky enough, the character would get a Star, or usually just a few coins, and in Mario Party DS,it might also have a Ztar or an item.

In Super Mario Sunshine Brick Blocks appeared again, only this time filled with sand. However, they are otherwise no different from their earlier counterparts. Starting in New Super Mario Bros., Brick Blocks could also be Ground Pounded to break them.

Brick Blocks appear in the game Super Mario Galaxy along with the ? Blocks.

Blocks