Star Coin

"You need 5 Star Coins to pass this area. Do you want to spend the Star Coins?"

- Star Coin Sign

Star Coins are collectibles found in the New Super Mario Bros. games as well as Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move and Mario Golf: World Tour. Three Star Coins appear in each level where some are easy to collect, while others require special power-ups such as the Mini Mushroom or the Blue Shell to access. If the player re-enters a level after finishing it, collected Star Coins will show up as translucent to show that it has been collected previously.

In New Super Mario Bros. there are eighty levels, thus there are 240 Star Coins to find in the game. Each Star Coin adds 1,000 points to the player's game score.

They also appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In this game, there are 231 Star Coins. Three Star Coins appear in each of the game's seventy-seven levels much like New Super Mario Bros. Also, collecting one adds 4,000 points to the player's total score, instead of 1,000 like in its predecessor.

In Super Mario 3D Land, they are replaced by Star Medals, which have a slightly different appearance but essentially the same function. Star Medals were then replaced by Green Stars in Super Mario 3D World, still serving the same purpose.

Although Star Coins did not appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, very similar items called Comet Medals appear.

Star Coins appear again in New Super Mario Bros. 2. In this game, there are 219 Star Coins in total and they have similar uses to the Star Coins featured in New Super Mario Bros.. In World Star, Moon Coins appear instead.

Star Coins appear once again in New Super Mario Bros. U, where they hold the same purpose as New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

New Super Mario Bros.

 * Uses:
 * One use is for opening Star Coin Signs leading to Toad Houses or bonus letter levels (e.g. 1-A or 5-B). There are 32 of these signs in the game, each requiring 5 Star Coins to open. After Mario opens the signs, he has an option to save, allowing him to easily save his progress without completing an uncompleted tower or castle before completing the game.
 * Another use is for buying new backgrounds. After completing the game at least once, a blue Toad House will appear north of level 1-1. There are 5 bonus backgrounds for the Touch Screen that cost 20 Star Coins each. The 5th background can be unlocked by opening every Toad House.
 * Once all 240 Star Coins have been collected, a 2nd star will appear next to the save file. There will also be a message on the Touch Screen next to the Star Coin symbol reading "Complete".
 * Spending all the Star Coins not only unlocks the final Touch Screen background, but also leaves a message next to the Star Coin symbol on the top screen in the world map reading "All Spent".

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

 * Uses:
 * One use is for buying Hint Movies at Princess Peach's Castle.
 * Another use is collecting all Star Coins in a world so a level in World 9 (unlocked after beating final boss) is unlocked. It will be the level number corresponding to the world number (e.g. collecting the Star Coins in World 1 will unlock 9-1).
 * The final use for a Star Coin is to cause a star to be displayed on the File Select Screen. If the player collects all twenty-four Star Coins in World 9, he or she will earn a star. Collecting all Star Coins in the game will also result in getting a second star.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

 * Uses:
 * Like in the first New Super Mario Bros., the Star Coins are used to open Star Coin Signs, leading to Toad Houses or secret levels.
 * 90 Star Coins are required to unlock the levels in World Star.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Star Coins once again appear in New Super Mario Bros. U. Their purpose is the same as in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where collecting all the Star Coins in each world unlocks a level in Superstar Road. There are in total 246 Star Coins in the game.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move
Star Coins appear in the minigame Elevation Station in Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move. Collecting one adds 500 points to the player's score.

Mario Golf: World Tour
Star Coins appear in Mario Golf: World Tour and can be used to unlock new courses and playable characters. Players can earn them by directly collecting them and earning par in the Star Coin Collector mode or by clearing Ring Master holes.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Star Coins appear in Mario and Luigi's attack, Super Jump Punch.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Star Coins appear in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition as special Skill Items that raise the Skill levels of all forms of Mario except the 2.0 update forms, and all types of Hammer Bros, Coin Coffers, Thwomps and Whomps. They can be earned by opening up ? Blocks; winning them from the Lucky ? Blocks game at Toad Houses; randomly dropped by Koopa Troopas and Boom Boom; or from Big Thwomps and Big Whomps with a 10+ Combo attack. Other versions of Star Coins exist: Green Star Coins, Grand Star Coins and Grand Green Star Coins.

Trivia

 * In New Super Mario Bros., if the player grabs a Star Coin surrounded by Coins, the Star Coin sound will cancel out the Coin sound and will mute the sound of any other Coins for a few seconds. This also occurs when the Star Coin's collect sound is played; grabbing any Coins when the Star Coin's collect sound plays will cause the collect sound of a Star Coin to cancel out the Coin sound effect.