Cape Feather

The Cape Feather, or simply Feather,  is a power-up that transforms Mario and Luigi into Cape Mario and Cape Luigi, respectively. It first appeared in Super Mario World.

Super Mario World / Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
The Cape Feather first appeared in Super Mario World in Donut Plains 1. When Mario or Luigi grabs one, it turns them into Caped Mario/Luigi. As Caped Mario or Caped Luigi, the player can glide through the air, similar to the Super Leaf's effect in Super Mario Bros. 3. If the player runs at full speed before jumping to take off, they can control the flight with. Pressing backward will slow Mario's speed and make him ascend, and tapping it repeatedly will allow Mario to continue flying, possibly to the end of the level; pressing forwards speeds up Mario and has him descend rapidly, ending in a POW-like attack if allowed to touch down. The player can also attack enemies by spinning the cape by pressing.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Additionally, the Cape Feather is available as an additional item in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. By scanning in the appropriate card on the e-Reader, the player can upload a Cape Feather into their inventory to use in the game. Caped Mario plays just like he does in Super Mario World, including being able to defeat enemies like Dry Bones. Cape Feathers are also found on the ground in the World-e levels Sea to Sky and Caped Escape and are required to finish the level in both cases.

Super Mario 64 DS
The Cape Feather, along with other power-ups from Super Mario World, makes a cameo appearance in the Mario Slot and Super Mario Slot minigames of Super Mario 64 DS. If the player lined up three Cape Feathers in a row, they would receive five times the number of coins they bet.

In the main game, the feather that transforms Mario into the similarly-controlled Wing Mario resembles the Cape Feather.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS / Super Mario Maker 2
The Cape Feather and Cape Mario return in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario Maker 2, but only in the Super Mario World style, acting the same way they did in that game. Toad and Toadette have access to the Cape Feather in Super Mario Maker 2, becoming Cape Toad and Cape Toadette respectively. In Super Mario Maker 2, Cape Feathers in the nighttime ground theme swing further while falling.

Super Mario World television series
The Cape Feather also appears in the Super Mario World TV show, where it is used in episodes such as "King Scoopa Koopa" and "The Night Before Cave Christmas." Mario is the only character to be seen using the cape in the series.

Super Mario Kart
The Feather is also found used in Super Mario Kart for the SNES as an item a driver can obtain from ? Panels throughout each race course (except the Mario Circuit and Donut Plains courses). The Feather grants the user the ability to perform a Spin Jump roughly twice as high as a regular driver can. This can be useful for jumping over barriers, as a quick and easy shortcut, and for jumping over enemy projectiles.

Additionally, while it did not appear in the final game, in a pre-release version of Mario Kart 64, the Feather appeared to be one of the items.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
The Feather returns in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe where it only appears in Battle Mode. Working like a normal trick, it can be used to jump over obstacles, exit gliding, and/or get more height from tricks, though the player does not gain more height if the item is used while airborne. If the user of the Feather collides with an opponent while using it or upon landing, then they can steal a balloon, three coins, or the Shine Sprite (depending on the mode) from that opponent.

Nintendo Puzzle Collection
In Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Cape Feathers make a very brief appearance in Yoshi no Cookie, appearing on flags held by Blooper audience members at the beginning of a Versus Mode match.

Super Mario World

 * Wii U Virtual Console manual bio: "Collect to turn into Caped Mario."

Super Mario Kart

 * Wii Virtual Console manual bio: "Jump very high over enemies and obstacles."

Trivia

 * In Mario Kart 8, the course Sunshine Airport contains feather pens on desks that have the exact same design as the Cape Feather. These same feather pens also appear at the ticket booth desks in Super Bell Subway.
 * In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Wingo has a Cape Feather on his turban, though the details are red rather than orange.
 * The Feather has had the longest absence of all items in the Mario Kart franchise, spanning almost 25 years.