Hammer

"HEY! Are YOU lookin' at me? My hammer and I don't like you! Now ya got my hammer angry! Ya shouldn't have done that!"

- Hammer Bro

Hammers are items commonly used as weapons throughout the Mario franchise. They first appear in Donkey Kong, in which they are used to smash barrels and enemies. Hammers are usually thrown by the Hammer Bros and other enemies. However, Mario and Luigi have been known to effectively wield hammers in combat. The item has appeared in every single Mario RPG to date, and in the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games, hammer attacks are used as a counterpart to jump attacks. Some enemies cannot be damaged by jump attacks (usually due to having a spiky top), requiring the Mario Bros. to use their hammers instead.

Donkey Kong
The Donkey Kong arcade game features Hammers, also referred to as Invincible Hammers, which Mario can, for a short time, use to destroy the barrels thrown by Donkey Kong, Fireballs created from flaming Oil Drums, and the cement tubs in 50m. Mario is not invincible when using Hammers, however. If attacked from the back or from below, he will still lose a life; obstacles can also still hurt Mario if the Hammer does not make contact with them. Mario also cannot climb or jump while wielding a Hammer. Hammers in this game can be found usually in the corners, and some can be reached only by jumping.

In Donkey Kong for the Game Boy, Hammers make a reappearance. They can be used to defeat all enemies in the game. Super Hammers can even break brick walls. In this game, Mario can throw Hammers upwards. At several points in the game, the player has to throw the Hammer upwards, then quickly climb the ladder onto the next platform above to pick it up again. If the Hammer touches a floor, it disappears instantly.

Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi would have featured Pauline using a hammer, but the game went unreleased.

Wrecking Crew series
Hammers are used by Mario and Luigi in the arcade game VS. Wrecking Crew to demolish objects on screen or to competitively knock each other to the bottom of the stage. The NES version, Wrecking Crew, introduced the antagonistic hammer-wielding Foreman Spike and the powerful Golden Hammer which can destroy objects with a single hit.

In Wrecking Crew '98, players use hammers to destroy panels that are then sent to their opponent.

The Wrecking Crew minigame in WarioWare: Twisted! has Mario hit bombs with his hammer to blow away attacking Eggplant Men in a top-down perspective. The Wrecking Crew minigame in WarioWare Gold is similar to the bonus stages of the NES version in which Mario competes with Foreman Spike by smashing walls to find hidden coins.

Super Mario series
In the Super Mario series, hammers are mainly seen thrown by Hammer Bros. to hit Mario; in Super Mario Bros. 3, the Mario Bros. can throw these hammers themselves by gaining a Hammer Suit. They are extremely powerful, defeating most foes, including Thwomps, Boos, Lava Bubbles, Boom Boom and Bowser, in one to three hits.

Hammers are also used in Super Mario Bros. 3 as a map screen item to destroy boulders preventing access to hidden areas. Usually, a Hammer just allows Mario to produce a quicker route, but in some cases, it is the only way to access a part of a map. In Desert Land, a hammer can be used in the upper right corner to open up an area that contains a Toad House with a Frog Suit, and a Fire Bro battle containing the last Recorder. In Water Land, a rock near World 3-5 blocks off a boardwalk with a canoe which can take Mario or Luigi to several Toad Houses and Spade Panels.

Bowser himself throws hammers in his battles in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and New Super Mario Bros. 2; in Super Mario Bros., the fakes in Worlds 6 and 7 also do so.

Hammers also appear very rarely in Super Mario World. They are thrown by Amazing Flyin' Hammer Brothers, and Mario also uses one to destroy Lemmy Koopa's Castle in Vanilla Dome. In Super Mario Bros. Special, Hammers appear as items and are used like in Donkey Kong.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U, Yoshi can eat a Hammer Bro's hammers and spit them out to defeat enemies.

In New Super Mario Bros. U, Morton Koopa Jr. uses a magical hammer in his battle to send Big Pokey segments to Mario.

In Super Mario Run, hammers are used to clear Thwomps in Kingdom Builder, similar to their map screen use in Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario Odyssey lets Mario throw hammers once again, this time by capturing a Hammer Bro.

In Super Mario Maker 2, the unlockable Super Mario 3D World style-exclusive Super Hammer turns Mario into Builder Mario, which lets him swing a hammer to break Hard Blocks and defeat enemies; the hammer attack is nearly as strong as the Hammer Suit's hammers.

Club Nintendo
Mario repeatedly used a Hammer in the German Club Nintendo comics. In the 1994 comic "Super Mario: Verloren in der Zeit", he smashes his alarm clock (due to his dream in which there was an alarm clock-looking Time Machine). Later, in the 1995 comic "Mario's Picross", Mario makes a more effective use of a Hammer when he smashes the wall in a pyramid, after reaching a dead end. While in the first comic the tool looks a lot like a regular Hammer, it resembles a Super Hammer in the latter.

Mario & Wario
In Mario & Wario, during the bonus minigames after most stage areas, Wanda the fairy will hold a hammer rather than her usual wand and be able to whack Wario's plane for coins. She can collect forty coins before he flees.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario's first and weakest weapon is called the hammer. After Mario beat the Hammer Bros. blocking the exit of Mushroom Way, Mario receives a Hammer apparently dropped by them with the Hammer Bros. insignia on it. The plumber uses this weapon to attack enemies, at least until he finds the NokNok Shell. When equipped, the weapon adds ten attack points to Mario's attack rating. When Mario uses it with the Timed Hit, he swings it up and down twice, similar to the old style. Later on in the game, he finds more advanced Hammers: the Super Hammer, Masher and the Ultra Hammer, along with another hammer with an added effect of giving a Lucky Bonus Flower if Mario defeats an enemy with a Timed Hit with the hammer equipped.

Mario Party
In the Mario Party minigame Bash 'n' Cash, the three players attacking the first player in the Bowser Suit use Hammers.

Mario Party 3
In Mario Party 3, Toad uses a hammer as his weapon when he is a partner.

Hammers are also used in other minigames from Mario Party to Mario Party 3.

Mario Party 4
In Mario Party 4, a type of hammer called the MiniMega Hammer appears as an item. It provides the same affect as a Mini Mushroom or Mega Mushroom on its target, depending on timing.

Mario Party 9
Hammers reappear in Mario Party 9 in the minigame Spike Strike, where players have to defeat the giant Spike by using hammers. There is also one golden hammer for each round. If a character uses it, that character will earn three points, while iron ones are worth one.

Mario Party: Island Tour
In Mario Party: Island Tour, Bowser uses his hammer in the Bowser Challenge at Bowser's Peculiar Peak when players reach him.

Mario Party 10
In Mario Party 10, Hammers resembling their sprite from the original Donkey Kong game are engraved on two blocks in the north-western corner of the Donkey Kong Board. They are shown around a sprite of an Oil Drum.

Super Smash Bros. series
The Hammer from Donkey Kong is a powerful item in the Super Smash Bros. series. The player swings the Hammer back and forth repeatedly, and strikes anything upward in its path. The character cannot double jump with it. Very rarely, in Super Smash Bros. Melee onwards, the head of the Hammer can fall off, and the character swings the Hammer's handle back and forth, leaving them completely vulnerable. However, the head acts as an item, and has the same power as the regular thrown item. When the Hammer is used, the Hammer theme from the NES version of Donkey Kong plays. The original arcade music is used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the visual effect that appears when a hammer collides with an enemy or obstacle in the original game can be seen when an opponent is hit. A much stronger variant originating from Wrecking Crew, the Golden Hammer, also appears as an item from Super Smash Bros. Brawl onward.

When King Dedede grabs a Hammer, he will swing both the item and his own hammer, though only the Hammer item deals damage. Pit and Dark Pit swing the Hammer with only two frames of animation, referencing their animations when using a hammer in their original games (though Dark Pit's is due to being an Echo Fighter of Pit). This also applies to Mr. Game & Watch, although it is because of the way he moves.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, a Hammer is given to Mario by Goompa when they were trying to break a block that was preventing them from returning to Goomba Village. It got lost in the bushes and Mario had to find it beforehand. Jr. Troopa is the first enemy Mario battles with the hammer. Spy Guys also have Hammers, and these hammer attacks can cause Mario to lose one of his Action commands for about four or five turns.

In this game, Mario receives not only the Hammer, but the Super Hammer and Ultra Hammer as he progresses through the adventure. The Super Hammer is found in Dry Dry Ruins, and the Ultra Hammer is found in Mt. Lavalava.

In battle, Jump attacks can not work on every single enemy, so the Hammer is introduced as an alternative. The player should tilt the left until three beeps are heard. On the final beep, letting go of the Control Stick deals extra damage. It works on fire, spiked, and high defense enemies and is always stacked damage, but it cannot reach airborne or ceiling-bound targets. With a special badge, Hammer Throw, it can be used on all enemies.

Outside of battle, the Hammer can be used to knock items out of trees, break certain Blocks. The type of block Mario can break depended on what type of Hammer he had. Yellow blocks can be broken by any Hammer, stone blocks by the Super Hammer and Ultra Hammer, and metal blocks by only the Ultra Hammer.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Hammer is a default weapon and it is degraded again into a normal Hammer. Once again, the first Hammer is wooden. In this game, the Super Hammer is given by Podler in Glitzville, who in turn received it from Jolene, and the Ultra Hammer is found in Rogueport, but Mario must use Spring Jump to get it.

In battle, the hammer works like it did in Paper Mario. However, small yellow blocks can be broken by any Hammer, big yellow blocks by the Super Hammer and Ultra Hammer, and stone blocks (big and small) by only the Ultra Hammer. Metal blocks cannot be broken by any Hammer. The move Spin Hammer is introduced in this game as the way to destroy big blocks.

Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, with the help of the Pixl Cudge, every character can attack with a Hammer if the character is on the ground. Also in this game, Dark Mario can use a hammer to attack the player.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, multiple Hammer stickers can be found throughout the game. While Mario can still use his hammer within the overworld, there are a variety of Hammer stickers found in the game, including:


 * Hammer (usable in the overworld as well)
 * Eekhammer (strikes enemies five times with increasing damage)
 * Slaphammer (hits an enemy to the background)
 * Baahammer (puts enemies to sleep upon usage like the Sleepy Sheep)
 * Hurlhammer (throws the hammer like a Hammer Bro that can reach flying enemies)
 * Burnhammer (burns enemies upon usage like the Fire Flower, but with more damage)
 * Chillhammer (freezes enemies upon usage like the Ice Flower, but with more damage)

There are several different variations of the listed hammers; Worn-out (Hammer only), Shiny (not Baahammer, Burnhammer or Chillhammer), Flashy (not Baahammer, Burnhammer or Chillhammer), Big Shiny or Megaflash variants.

Concerning the overworld hammer, Mario obtains this at the beginning of the game, after recovering from Bowser's attack on Decalburg. In World 3-7, Rustle Burrow, Mario loses his overworld hammer; as such, he is unable to use Hammer stickers in battle.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Mario, after apparently having lost his original hammer on the voyage to Prism Island due to Toad accidentally throwing it overboard, finds another hammer on top of a crate in Port Prisma at the beginning of the game. After Huey grants Mario the power of paint, however, it becomes the Paint Hammer.

In battle, the normal Hammer, Eekhammer, Hurlhammer, and Burnhammer (called Blazehammer in this game) return as cards. Additionally, the KO Hammer debuts in this game, working as the Super Hammer move in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door did. Similar to the previous game, hammer cards come in Worn-out (Hammer only), Big (not Worn-out Hammer nor Blazehammer), and Huge (not Worn-out Hammer nor Blazehammer) variations. They also come in multiples, allowing multiple uses of one attack with the same card: x2 (normal and Big Hammers and Eekhammers), x3 (normal and Worn-out Hammers, Eekhammer, and Hurlhammer), and x5 (Worn-out Hammer only).

Morton also uses a giant hammer in battle, which can also burst into flames, but can be put out using the fire extinguisher Thing Card. Also, a Claw Hammer Thing can be found in the Super Mario Bros. 3 section of the Green Energy Plant (initially looking as it did that game), which deals far more damage to enemies.

Paper Mario: The Origami King
The hammer returns in Paper Mario: The Origami King, once again being used as an alternative to Mario's Boots. In the overworld, it can be used to rescue folded-up Toads and retrieve confetti from the environment, which can then be used to fill in holes. In battle, the default hammer is a permanent attack that Mario always has access to, unlike in the previous two games, while variants of it (such as the returning Shiny variant) can be purchased and used as alternatives, which break after enough uses.

It is unknown at what point in the game Mario unlocks his hammer.

Mario & Luigi series
The Hammer is used by the Mario Bros. in every Mario & Luigi game to date. Unlike the Paper Mario series battle system, each Hammer upgrade doesn't affect in-battle damage and attack power.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and its remake, Hammers are crafted (and later upgraded to Super Hammers and, ultimately, Ultra Hammers, like in the Paper Mario series, though in the original game they are no stronger in battle, and in the remake they are a little bit stronger) by the Hammerhead Bros. out of Hoohoo Blocks. Normal hammers are used to smash tan-colored rocks (heavily-cracked grey rocks in the remake) in Mario and Luigi's path, though the upgraded hammers can destroy grey- and black-colored rocks (slightly-cracked grey rocks and light brown rocks in the remake) respectively. They are also used to activate special buttons and switches. If the player hits an enemy with a First Strike using the hammer in the overworld, its party will be stunned at beginning of the battle (in the remake, doing this may lower their speed instead).

In battle, Mario or Luigi can do more damage by pressing their respective button when the hammer shakes; this attack has a chance of stunning the victim. Hammers are also used to counterattack certain foes' attacks like a Sharpea's attack or the hammers Rookie throws. If the hammer is held for too long, its hammerhead will fall off; this mechanic was removed from the remake. Also, during the last two boss fights with Popple, he can steal a brother's hammer and use it against them; this also prevents them from using any attacks involving hammers (with the exception of Fire Bros. and Advanced Thunder Bros.) for a few turns or when they take it back from Popple in the remake. The Boos in Bowser's Castle can also disable Solo Hammer Actions as well with their attacks.

After Cork and Cask teach them the advanced method of using their hammers, they can use more overworld and battle abilities. If Mario uses it behind Luigi, he buries Luigi; if Luigi uses it behind Mario, he shrinks Mario. However, if the rear brother hits the lead brother over the head with the hammer prior to learning these moves, the latter will get angry at the former. The Mario Bros. also gain the Chopper Bros. and Knockback Bros. Bros. Attacks in battle after learning these moves.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time


In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, two hammers are given to Baby Mario and Baby Luigi by the Hammer Bros. in the Vim Factory. These hammers can be used to tunnel underground to dig under walls and fences, dig up beans, and hit switches etc. In battle, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi can use their hammers to attack enemies. The hammer can be used overworld to potentially stun enemies for a First Strike. Like in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the hammer will break if the player guards for too long. Unlike the other Mario RPGs, these hammers serve their purpose for the entire game and are never upgraded.

The action command for the hammer is the same; the player should press the button when the hammer shakes. If the babies are carried by the Mario Bros. during battle, the player must press the adult bro's button to lift up the baby, then press the respective baby button, dealing more damage.

During the fight with the two Bowsers in Thwomp Caverns, Baby Bowser is shown with a hammer, which he uses to knock Bowser into the bros when he is with him, and to launch fireballs into them when Baby Bowser is alone.

At the end of the game, the Babies give the Bros their hammers before leaving back to the past in the time machine.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey


In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Mario and Luigi gain a pair of hammers much earlier than in the previous Mario & Luigi games, finding them in Trash Pit, the first area inside Bowser's body. Later, Luigi learns how to turn Mario into Mini-Mario by using his hammer in Pump Works to free Toadsworth, and even later the bros learn how to use the Drill Bros. technique in the Energy Hold. The minigame in the Arm Center involves the use of the hammers in order to hit orbs at a muscle in Bowser's arm.

In battle, hammers are used quite differently in offensive. Mario or Luigi must press their button at the very last moment before the hammerhead falls. Doing so gives the player an "Excellent". The hammerhead falls if the player guards for too long in the original game; in the remake, the hammer can be used to guard for an infinite amount of time. Hammers are also used during the Mighty Meteor Special Attack to hit a meteor at enemies.


 * Description
 * "Hammers found in the Trash Pit. Use 'em to whack and break stuff!"

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, a Brock in Mushrise Park lost his hammers that he was supposed to use to smash rocks for his boss, Brickle, and ordered new ones. When Mario and Luigi found the lost hammers, he lets the Bros. keep them. Also, after this point in the game, the player can go to shops and buy hammers like the Run-Down Hammer and the So-So Hammer.

Later on in Dozing Sands, they also learn the Mole Mario and Mini-Mario moves when they help some miners fight off some Sandoons.

In battle in the Real World, the hammer attack stays relative to how it was in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Unlike the other games, though, Mario and Luigi can hold their hammers indefinitely when counter-attacking. In the Dream World, the hammer attack is amplified in power as after Mario hammers the ground with his hammer, a group of Luiginoids appear and smash the ground in unison with their own hammers, sending out a wave that damages the enemies at the front the most, and the ones at the back the least. During Giant Battles, the hammer is split into two forms of attack, those being the Hammer Chop and Hammer Uppercut techniques, each requiring a slightly different action command to execute successfully.

Earthwake, the third giant boss turns into a hammer sometimes and swings itself several times, which Giant Luigi must counter with his own hammer. Pi'illodium, a late-game boss also takes the shape of a hammer and counts down from a mere four to a generous six as an attack to smash Mario and Luigi. The final boss of the game, Dreamy Bowser uses a giant hammer as one of his many attacks to try and crush Mario and Luigi.


 * Descriptions
 * Mario - "Press the A Button when the hammer flashes! Time it well for an Excellent."
 * Luigi - "Press the B Button when the hammer flashes! Time it well for an Excellent."

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario and Luigi have their hammers from the start, as does Paper Mario. The three of them learn the Trio Move Trio Hammer after they find themselves hindered by large, cracked gray blocks in their path in Doop Doop Dunes after being knocked back by a Big Pokey and Paper Tower Power Pokey. It is executed by pressing, , and in succession. This results in Luigi slamming his hammer into Mario's and Paper Mario slamming his into Luigi's, the combined force creating massive shockwaves that can break the aforementioned gray blocks, flip objects over, and momentarily stun enemies on the field.

In battle, Mario and Luigi use their hammers the same way they did in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and the Real World of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Paper Mario, however, attacks multiple enemies, depending on how many copies he has of himself. Each copy raises its hammer one at a time in rapid succession, and the player must press right as the last clone's hammer is raised for an "Excellent".

A special kind of Hammer known as the Trio Attack Hammer is given to Paper Mario once all Paper Toads have been saved in Sunbeam Plains. In battle, Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi use this hammer to paperize all enemies on-screen before performing one of the five Trio Attacks selected.

During their trek through Doop Doop Dunes, Nabbit swipes all three of their hammers. The trio have to chase him down to retrieve them before they can proceed.

During the Papercraft Kamek battle, Papercraft Luigi can use his hammer to attack spiky papercraft enemies using his jump attack, as dashing into those kind of enemies will damage the papercraft.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong series
Hammers appear in Mario vs. Donkey Kong and work the same way as in the Game Boy Donkey Kong, functioning as a temporary power-up. They are found above the ground, and Mario is able to grab them by jumping. After acquiring a Hammer, he starts banging it on the ground repeatedly, destroying any enemy encountered on the path. However, as in previous games, Mario is unable to jump while carrying the Hammer. He will throw the Hammers up in the air whenever he begins climbing a Ladder or falls from a great height, with the Hammer rising and falling down slowly in mid-air to allow the character to pick it up again. This period of time when the Hammer is not in use is actually included in the time it takes until it despawns. When in use, the Hammer's characteristic tune from the original Donkey Kong game also plays.

In the rest of the series, Hammers only come in pairs and are wielded by Minis in a similar fashion, swinging them on the ground as they march. They can be used to destroy enemies and fragile Rocks. Just as in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, the Hammers eventually wear off after a while of being used and respawn where they were originally found. Also like in the previous game, Minis will throw the Hammers upward when they start climbing a Ladder or a Blue Lift, so that they can catch and continue using them shortly after. However, the time the Hammers spend in mid-air no longer adds to their lasting time, and when picked up again, their time limit resets.

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, the Minis start glowing red when the Hammers are about to wear off. While carrying Hammers, Minis do not become dizzy after they fall from a height between seven and eleven blocks as they normally do; however, they will break at a height of eleven blocks or more regardless if they wield Hammers or not.

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, hammers appear as enemy projectiles once more. The Army Hammer Bro throws slightly larger hammers than those of his brethren in his battle, and Bowser uses hammers in both phases of his fight; in the first phase, he throws hammers and tosses giant ones with the Gloom vibe, and in the second phase, he can summon a dispersing ring of hammers around his head to hit Peach.

DK: Jungle Climber
The Hammer in DK: Jungle Climber looks somewhat like a Barrel. It is one of Diddy Kong's items that can be used to assist Donkey Kong. The Hammer can be used to smash barrels, rocks, and other solid elements that Donkey Kong cannot break in his own. This item can only be used for a limited time before Diddy Kong drops it.

Mario Tennis series
In Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo GameCube and Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the Game Boy Advance, Mario and Luigi use a Hammer in their respective Offensive Power Shots, the Iron Hammer and the Squeaky Mallet.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
The Hammer appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP as one of Mario and Luigi's special items. Upon being used, Mario or Luigi will swing the Hammer for about 5 seconds, dealing damage to any racers that draw near. The Hammer features a unique design in these games, sporting the color and logo of the Mario brother that is wielding it. Other characters also have their own unique hammers as special items, such as Toad using the Mushroom Hammer, Donkey Kong using the 10T Hammer, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man using the Quack Hammer sporting the color and logo of whoever is wielding it, and Blinky using the Monster's Hammer.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
The Hammer along with the other variants return in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 as special items to their respective wielders from the previous installment.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
The Hammer also appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, though it is a common throw-forward item with the Mario design only returning. The 10T Hammer also returns as a common throw-forward item.

Mario Kart Arcade GP VR
The Hammer reappears again as a usable item in Mario Kart Arcade GP VR. It can be swung in front of the racer by making a downwards motion with an arm, and disappears after being held for a period of time. Other racers will spin out if they touch another racer's Hammer. The Mario design of the Hammer from the previous Mario Kart Arcade GP games originally appeared in the trailer for this game, but is replaced with the "squeaky hammer" design in the final game.

Mario Kart Tour
In Mario Kart Tour, the Hammer appears as Hammer Bro and Builder Mario's special item. Introduced in the "Vs. Mega" bonus challenge during the Baby Rosalina Tour, the user can throw a spread of five hammers forward or three hammers backward, which can make opponents crash when a hit is made. If thrown forward, hammers can home into opponents like a Red Shell, although this only happens if the opponent is close enough to the driver who throws the hammers. The hammers only bounce twice and vanish after hitting the ground the third time. During a Hammer Frenzy, hammers can be thrown two at a time in either direction for several seconds. When Hammer Bro was introduced as an unlockable character in the Hammer Bro Tour, a bug prevented the Hammers from appearing in normal item rolls, limiting Hammers to the rare Hammer Frenzy. This was fixed when the Yoshi Tour started. Hammer Bro also wields his hammer while doing certain Jump Boost animations.

Donkey Kong

 * Wii U Virtual Console manual: "Sends Mario into a hammering frenzy. Hit barrels or fireballs with the hammer to destroy them."

Super Mario Bros. 3

 * Wii Virtual Console manual: "This item can be used to break the rocks that block certain paths on the map screen."
 * 3DS Virtual Console manual: "Allows Mario to break through barriers blocking his way."

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

 * Instruction manual (overworld): "When you get the hammer, swing it to break things in front of you, hit switches, and perform similar actions."
 * Instruction manual (battle): "When you raise your hammer and build up power, if you time your attack correctly, you can inflict heavier damage."

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

 * Instruction manual (overworld): "Use the hammer to break things or hit switches in front of you."
 * Instruction manual (battle): "Press the action button when the hammer shines to deal big damage."

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

 * Instruction manual (overworld): "Swing your hammer to destroy rocks and blocks or hit switches and enemies."
 * Instruction manual (battle): "If you press the action button just as the character readies his hammer, the attack will become more powerful."
 * Instruction manual (Paper Mario): "Your copies will ready their hammers one after another. If you press once they're all ready to attack, they'll deal more damage."
 * "This will attack multiple enemies at the same time!"