Cameos

Throughout the Mario series, many characters from other series made cameos. The large majority of these cameos are from characters developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Some non-Nintendo characters have appeared as well, such as Sonic.

''Donkey Konga
In Donkey Konga, the main theme of the The Legend of Zelda series is playable.

''Donkey Konga 2
In Donkey Konga 2, Toon Link's face appears on a badge and more music from the The Legend of Zelda series is playable.

''Donkey Kong Country
In the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country, Sabrewulf is stuffed and mounted in Cranky's hut, yet it is still alive as it occasionally blinks.

''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
In Donkey Kong Country 2, Cranky Kong, created a challenge to see who could find the most secret DK coins on Crocodile Isle. As Cranky Kong announces the results, players can see both Sonic's shoes and Earthworm Jim's ray-gun next to a garbage can labeled, "No hopers."

Chief Thunder, a character from the fighting game Killer Instinct, makes his cameo on a poster in Cranky's Cabin.

''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Bazaar mentions Link in his general store.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, both Kirby and Starfy appear on posters for movies. Kirby's poster reads "Kirby's Story", while Starfy's poster shows "Legend of Stafy".

Mario Golf (Game Boy Color)
In Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color, the last club is called "Link's Club" and uses the Triforce as its logo.

Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)
In Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64, the names of various The Legend of Zelda and Star Fox characters appear on the scoreboard.

''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Pikmin made a cameo during the events of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. If certain flower beds were struck by a golf ball, Pikmin would pop out of the flowerbed and attempt to flee. These flower beds can be found in various stages.

In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, the Coin Attack mode can spawn coins in the shape of the Triforce.

''Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door
In one of the trivia games, one of the choices for how to defeat the demon is a "legendary sword". This is a reference to the Master Sword from the The Legend of Zelda series.

A kid in Petalburg claims he loves playing Fire Emblem.

''Super Mario 3D Land
In world 5-2, when Mario/Luigi opens the area that contains the second star medal, the Zelda "I opened up a hidden area" theme is heard.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, the tune the warp whistle plays is also found in The Legend of Zelda. The whirlwind is from the same game. The tune is later found in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, although a bird sweeps Link away, not a whirlwind. It is also played on an ocarina, not a flute. The notes are also a part of the title theme of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

''Super Mario Galaxy
Enemies appear in an airship stage which resemble Deku Scrubs, a The Legend of Zelda enemy. In the Rolling Gizmo Galaxy, a hidden bunch of Star Bits formed in a Rupee shape can be seen.

''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
In the Mario Zone of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins features LEGO-like surfaces. They are not LEGOs, but N&B Blocks, a toy manufactured by Nintendo in the 60s.

''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, if the player looks at Booster's doll, the player can spot a Samus doll.

Link also appears sleeping at the Rose Town Inn every time Mario sleeps there. If Mario tries to talk to him, the Zelda discovery tune plays.

Also, Mario can talk to Samus in the game. When Mario first reaches Land's End, go back to the Mushroom Kingdom castle. In the Guest Room he'll see Samus sleeping, resting for her battle against Mother Brain, the final boss of the Metroid series.

When Mario visited Hinopio's Inn, he saw a model of an Arwing from the Star Fox series, Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon, and Samurai Goroh's Fire Stingray from the F-Zero series.

The secret boss Culex very much resembles the bosses of the Final Fantasy series, also developed by Square.

''Super Paper Mario
In one chapter, for knocking over a vase, Mario must pay his debt in Rubees, a reference to Rupees, the The Legend of Zelda currency (Additionally, Rubees resemble red Rupees). Rupees were also called Rubees in the non-canon The Legend of Zelda games for the unsuccessful Phillips CDi system.

Tippi is similar to Navi from the The Legend of Zelda series, as they both help and are fairies. It is especially notable that Tippi has the ability to identify enemies, much like how Navi did in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

One of the Dorguys has puzzles for the character to solve that are similar to those of the Brain Age series. When solving them, he also states that the players' "brain ages must be very young".

''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
In one episode, Mario and his friends go to another planet. When they are under attack by Bowser's spaceship, the aliens on the planet defeat him by singing the The Legend of Zelda theme.

Originally, the show featured previews of new episodes for the The Legend of Zelda cartoon. These previews ended after the The Legend of Zelda show was canceled, and were omitted entirely during reruns of the show. The previews were retained in the DVD release.

''Yoshi's Story
In Stages 2-3 and 2-4 of Yoshi's Story, the name "Zelda" appears in the newspaper in the background.

''Wario Land II
In Wario Land II, a Crystal Metroid appears as one of the treasures Wario collects.

The Ocarina of Time from The Legend of Zelda series is also one of the treasures Wario collects.

WarioWare series
In the WarioWare games, many of 9-Volt/18-Volt's microgames are based on other Nintendo games.