UFO
This article needs Mario Discovery Series improvement. Specifically:
- Include Mario's Time Machine information
- This article is about UFOs in general. For other uses, see UFO (disambiguation).
UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects), also stylized as U.F.O.s and referred to as flying saucers,[1] are the basic means of transportation for aliens. UFOs are high-tech vehicles that can travel large distances in space. There are also many different kinds and shapes. Some look like saucers (hence the name), and others look like squares. A frequently occurring design is the Adamski-type commonly found in Japanese pop-culture.[2]
History[edit]
Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū[edit]
In Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū, a U.F.O. appears in several early backgrounds and is the setting of the fifth stage, seeming to fit within a general extraterrestrial theme.
A U.F.O. in On the Strange Bridge's background (top-right)
A U.F.O. in On the Country Road's background (top)
Stage 5: In the U.F.O.
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario Land[edit]
In Super Mario Land, UFOs appear in Muda Kingdom, where they are seen above Mario in the start of each land level, making it appear that he was beamed down from them. Sunken UFOs are common in the underwater level from this world.
Super Mario Galaxy[edit]
Super Mario Galaxy contains many flying saucers that appear mainly in Battlerock Galaxy and Dreadnought Galaxy. These UFOs have their own gravity, and Mario and Luigi can walk on the top and the bottom. Two crashed UFOs float on the Lava Planet in the Melty Molten Galaxy; one of these can be walked upon. These UFOs seem to be in the possession of the Topman Tribe, due to them commonly being found on or around them. The boss Topmaniac is also fought on a UFO. Additionally, in the intro cutscene, Bowser calls a single gigantic UFO to dig the Peach's Castle surroundings before lifting it. The same UFO appears flying around the Peach's Castle in the cutscene traveling to Bowser's Galaxy Reactor. It is not seen being sucked into the black hole at the end of the game, however. The Starshrooms act much like UFOs, floating while slowly spinning, but are shaped like mushrooms. The Starting Planet of the Dreadnought Galaxy also gets a redesign in Revenge of the Topman Tribe, going from a cone-shaped planet firing lasers at a duplicate of itself in Infiltrating the Dreadnought to resembling a UFO, with a more squashed frustum.
Super Mario 3D Land[edit]
In certain levels of Super Mario 3D Land (such as World 1-3) where a pair of Binoculars are found, the player may be able to use them to spot a white flying saucer flying through the sky, although it eventually flies away.[3]
Super Mario Odyssey[edit]
Within most kingdoms in Super Mario Odyssey, there is a regional bird that compliments the local topography. In lieu of birds, a small UFO[4] appears in the Moon Kingdom after the kingdom's Moon Rock has been struck. Striking it with Cappy makes it release a collectible Power Moon and hover off into the sky. The UFO is tiny, vaguely floral, has one eyed stalk, and contains a single Soirée Bouquet within its body. It closely resembles the giant boss Torkdrift, itself similar to a flying saucer, but it was created by Bowser and consequently does not come from the moon. A relationship between this small UFO and Torkdrift is alluded to in The Art of Super Mario Odyssey but kept deliberately vague.[4] It also occurs alongside other regional birds in the Mushroom Kingdom once Princess Peach and Tiara permanently return.
UFO-like enemies called Yoofoes also appear in the game.
Dr. Mario[edit]
In Dr. Mario, the ending shows a UFO appearing and beaming the viruses up if the player completes level 20 on high-speed.
Mario Party series[edit]
In Mystery Land in Mario Party 2, the player can spend 10 coins to summon an unseen Bob-omb UFO to transport them to another area.
In Mario Party 5, ID UFO presents various different shaped saucers, as the players must identify them.
A UFO appears in Mario Party 6 in the Castaway Bay board at night near the star space. They also appear in the nighttime version of the minigame Freeze Frame. In this minigame, players can take pictures of UFOs, which are worth three points.
In Mario Party Advance, Mr. E helps Fly Guy to call a UFO to the rooftop of Mushroom Condo. Another UFO is buried in the earth in the Gaddget, Soil Sonar.
In the Neon Heights board in Mario Party 7, if a character lands on certain ? spaces, then a UFO will appear and relocate the treasure chests.
In the minigame Saucer Swarm from Mario Party 8, a UFO can be seen at the beginning (releasing a lot of smaller flying UFO-like creatures from underneath it) and at the ending (abducting the characters that lost).
A UFO may also appear on the top screen in the minigame Rotisserie Rampage in Mario Party DS.
In the minigame Launch Break from Mario Party 9, a UFO can be briefly seen flying in the outer space. It has a cylindrical shape, and a yellow star placed on the top.
In the minigame Sphere Mongers from Super Mario Party, each player rides a UFO that has a magnet underneath it.
In the minigame Unfriendly Flying Object from Super Mario Party Jamboree, one player drops spiked slabs from a UFO, while the other 3 players try to dodge them.
WarioWare series[edit]
UFOs make a few appearances in microgames in the WarioWare games. Some examples include: Repellion and UFO Assist (WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!); Alien Abduction (WarioWare: Twisted!); Wario PI and Unintelligent Life (WarioWare: Smooth Moves); and Nasalblaster (WarioWare: D.I.Y.). In Game & Wario, UFOs must be shot down in Dribble & Spitz's minigame, Taxi. Additionally, Orbulon has his own personal UFO called the Oinker, designed after a pig.
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
The stage Fourside that appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee features a giant UFO that occasionally shows up on screen. Players can jump on top of it, although it is very slippery, and will disappear over a period of time. The UFO then reappears after some time, and players can yet again fight on top of it. On the Smashville stage that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Gulliver's UFO appears at random times in the background of the stage, having no effect on the match.
Yoshi's Crafted World[edit]
Various kinds of UFOs appear in Yoshi's Crafted World. In the level Go-Go Yoshi, UFOs made from plastic cups and hanging from wires are worth the highest score of points when punched away. UFOs made of cardboard and piloted by Shy Guys appear throughout the flip side of Altitude Adjustment. Most of them are red, three are golden and required for a request from the Blockafeller in Sky-High Heights, and one is blue and larger than the others with colored stars and an antenna on it and ridden by the Poochy Pups. The golden and blue UFOs appear as costumes in Sky-High Heights. Plastic UFOs of a different design appear in the level Ride the Stars, where the pink one (referred to as a "stylish UFO") is wearing a red bow. There are also large UFOs that serve as swinging platforms Yoshi can cross by paths of green tape.
Princess Peach: Showtime![edit]
- Main article: Enban gata UFO
Multiple types of UFOs appear in Princess Peach: Showtime! The largest UFO serves as the boss of Mighty Mission: Alien Invasion and Mighty Mission: The Rescue while smaller UFOs appear in those levels as well as in Mighty Rehearsal to attempt to kidnap nearby Theets.
Mario Kart World[edit]
UFOs appear in Mario Kart World, where they can be seen flying over the world in Free Roam. They have a tractor beam coming from below, which they use to abduct objects. If the player gets abducted by a UFO, they can temporarily take control of it, unless it is already controlled by a player. In the latter case, the abducted player will simply be brought back by Lakitu.
Following the release of the Ver. 1.3.0 update, abducting one of the NPCs (either as drivers or obstacles) that also appear as drivers will result in the player being turned into that character upon exiting the UFO. If the player does not have them yet, they will unlock the character as a driver. While the Kamek particle effect does appear when the transformation takes place, it is functionally a total character change and will not go away with time; additionally, if playing as one of the 24 standard drivers, they will return to driving around the world on their own as soon as the transformation takes effect. The transformation will not affect the color or design of the vehicle until the player re-selects their character and vehicle. This feature is disabled entirely if the player has the Dash Food setting to "Don't transform", allowing the player to keep playing as their original character.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie[edit]
This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released film. When the film is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the film was first released.
A UFO, referred to as Bowser Jr.'s Spaceship[5] or Bowser Jr's[sic] Airship,[6] appears several times in in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It first appears to capture Rosalina and a Luma from the Comet Observatory, then later, like in Super Mario Galaxy, it uses lasers to carve the earth around Peach's Castle to lift it from the surface,[7] though the context for this is changed to Bowser Jr. trying to rescue Bowser from imprisonment. After Megaleg slams against and destroys the tractor beam generator, it drops the castle to the Honeyhive Galaxy, and later rescues Bowser from imprisonment by the Honey Queen. It then delivers Bowser and Bowser Jr. to Planet Bowser in the Space Junk Galaxy, and also destroys Fox's Arwing when he flies the heroes to that galaxy.
Profiles[edit]
Nintendo Today![edit]
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Collectible Cards[edit]
- Collectible Card :
- English:
A massive flying saucer serving as the primary ship of Bowser Jr., which is used to steal Princess Peach's castle in an effort to free Bowser. - Other languages:
- Japanese:
クッパJr.の主要な乗り物として機能する巨大な宇宙船。ピーチ城を略奪してクッパを解放するために使われた。 - Chinese (Traditional):
這艘巨大的飛碟是庫巴Jr. 的主要飛行船。為了解救庫巴，它被用於奪走碧姬公主的城堡。 - Dutch:
Deze enorme vliegende schotel is Bowser Jr.'s belangrijkste ruimteschip. Hij gebruikt het om het kasteel van prinses Peach te stelen om Bowser te bevrijden. - French (Europe):
Cet immense vaisseau fait office de véhicule principal de Bowser Jr., qui s'en sert pour voler le château de Peach afin de libérer Bowser. - German:
Eine riesige fliegende Untertasse dient als primäres Schiff für Bowser Jr., das er nutzt, um Prinzessin Peachs Schloss zu übernehmen und Bowser zu befreien. - Italian:
Un enorme disco volante che funge da nave principale di Bowser Junior, usato per sottrarre il castello della Principessa Peach nel tentativo di liberare Bowser. - Korean:
거대한 원반 모양의 비행선은 쿠파주니어의 함선으로, 쿠파를 구하기 위해 피치공주의 성을 훔치는 데 사용된다. - Portuguese (Brazil):
Um disco voador enorme que é a nave principal do Bowser Jr., utilizado para abduzir o castelo da princesa Peach numa tentativa de libertar o Bowser. - Spanish (Latin America):
Un enorme platillo volador que sirve como la nave principal de Bowser Jr., empleada para robar el castillo de la princesa Peach en un intento por liberar a Bowser. - Spanish (Europe):
Esta especie de enorme platillo volante es la principal nave de Bowsy, quien se sirve de ella para apoderarse del Castillo de Peach en su intento por dejar en libertad a Bowser.
- Japanese:
- English:
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | UFO | - | [8][9][10] | |
Yūfō |
UFO | Mario Party 5 | [11] | |
| Chinese | 飞碟 Fēidié |
UFO | [9] | |
| Chinese (Simplified) | UFO | - | [10] | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | UFO | - | [10] | |
| Dutch | Ufo | - | [10] | |
| French | OVNI | Acronym of objet volant non identifié ("unidentified flying object") | [8][9] | |
| Ovni | [10][12] | |||
| German | UFO | - | [13][9] | |
| Untertasse | Saucer | Mario Party 8 | [14] | |
| Italian | UFO | - | [11][14][15][10][16] | |
| Ufo | Mario Party Advance | [8] | ||
| U.F.O. | WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! | [9] | ||
| Disco volante | Flying saucer; lit. "flying disk", disco for short | Super Mario Galaxy | [17] | |
| Korean | UFO Yuepeuo |
UFO | [10] | |
| Portuguese | Disco voador | Flying saucer; lit. "flying disk" | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Collectible Cards | [18] |
| Spanish | OVNI | Acronym of objeto volador no identificado ("unidentified flying object") | [11][8][9] | |
| Platillo | Saucer | Mario Party 8, Super Mario Party | [14][10] |
- Small UFO
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 小型のUFO Kogata no Yūfō |
Small UFO | [19] | |
| Italian | Piccolo UFO | Small UFO | [20] |
- Bowser Jr.'s Spaceship
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French (European) | Vaisseau de Bowser Jr. | Bowser Jr.'s ship | [18] | |
| Italian | Navicella di Bowser Junior | Bowser Junior's spaceship | [18] | |
| Portuguese | Nave do Bowser Jr. | Bowser Jr.'s Ship | [18] | |
| Spanish (Latin American) | La nave de Bowser Jr. | Bowser Jr.'s ship | [18] |
Gallery[edit]
Small UFO from Super Mario Odyssey
The stylish UFO from Yoshi's Crafted World
A smaller UFO from Princess Peach: Showtime!
A UFO from Mario Kart World
Bowser Jr.'s Spaceship on one of the posters for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Bowser Jr.'s Spaceship on the final poster for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
References[edit]
- ^ "You mean, like, little green apes in flying saucers?" – Donkey Kong. "Watch the Skies". Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ Robinson, Nick. Why do Japanese UFOs look so different?. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
- ^ The UFO as seen in World 1-3
- ^ a b Sakai, Kazuya, kikai, Rachel Roberts, and Jenny Blenk, editors (2019). "Wooded Kingdom" in The Art of Super Mario Odyssey (First English Edition). Milwaukie: Dark Horse Books. Page 149.
- ^ The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Collectible Cards
- ^ @supermariomovie (March 20, 2026). Jump into all new worlds in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, only in theaters April 1. Get tickets now.. X. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
- ^ Nintendo of America (March 9, 2026). The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – Final Trailer. YouTube. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
- ^ a b c d In-game name from "Hey, UFO!" in Mario Party Advance.
- ^ a b c d e f In-game name from "UFO Assist" in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!.
- ^ a b c d e f g h In-game name from "Sphere Mongers" in Super Mario Party.
- ^ a b c In-game name from "ID UFO" in Mario Party 5.
- ^ In-game name from "Unfriendly Flying Object" in the Canadian French version of Super Mario Party Jamboree.
- ^ File:Ufos.jpg
- ^ a b c In-game name from "Saucer Swarm" in Mario Party 8.
- ^ «Mi pare di aver visto qualche UFO dall'aereo nel rovescio del gioco. Ce ne sono di vari colori!» – Blockafeller in Sky-High Heights (29 Mar. 2019). Yoshi's Crafted World by Good-Feel. Nintendo (Italian).
- ^ Come aggiornare Mario Kart World (Ver. 1.4.0 (Distribuita il 3 dicembre 2025). Italian. Retrieved 19 Jan. 2025 from Nintendo.it.
- ^ Black, Fletcher (2007). Super Mario Galaxy - la Guida Ufficiale (Premiere Edition). Roseville: Prima Games (Italian). ISBN 978-1-906064-03-7. Page 104.
- ^ a b c d e The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Collectible Cards
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya, and kikai, editors (2018). 『スーバーマリオ オデッセイ 公式設定資料集』. Tokyo: ambit (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-19-864696-7. Page 149.
- ^ Walsh, Doug, and Joe Epstein (2017). Super Mario Odyssey. Guida strategica ufficiale (Italian Edition). Terni: Multiplayer Edizioni, Prima Games (Italian). ISBN 9788866312789. Page 214.
