Brick Block

A Brick Block is a block that has made an appearance in nearly every Mario platformer to date. As its name implies, Brick Blocks are blocks made of bricks. Their first appearance is in Super Mario Bros..

In all Mario platformer games, Mario or Luigi can only break this block as Super Mario (or Super Luigi) or another form of Super Mario, such as Fire Mario. By jumping into it from beneath (or ground pounding in some games), the Brick Block shatters, giving the player ten points (fifty in Super Mario Bros.). If Small Mario hits the block, it just bounces up slightly. Either way, an enemy walking on the brick will be injured. However, if Brick Blocks contain an item, the item is released, regardless of Mario's status, and the Brick Block turns into a Used Block.

Brick Blocks can contain:
 * Power-Up
 * Coin
 * Starman
 * A Vine
 * 1-Up Mushroom
 * Top Ramen (Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!)

In Super Mario Sunshine, Brick Blocks appear again, in the secret levels. However, they are otherwise no different from their earlier counterparts. Starting in New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Brick Blocks can also be Ground Pounded to break them.

Brick Blocks replace crates in Super Mario 64 DS. In this game, the large ones are broken by a punch, the small ones are broken by throwing, and the huge ones are only broken by Wario's punch. Yoshi cannot break any Brick Block.

Brick Blocks appear in the game Super Mario Galaxy along with ? Blocks.

Brick Blocks also appear in other games, such as the Paper Mario games.

In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games in the event Dream Snowball Fight, Brick Blocks are used as walls to guard any characters behind them from opponents' snowballs.

Brick Blocks reappear in the Nintendo 3DS Mario game, Super Mario 3D Land. They will later reappear in the upcoming game New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Trivia

 * Brick Blocks are absent in Super Mario World. Instead, they are replaced by the similar Rotating Blocks.
 * Brick Blocks appear in the 2010 version of Nintendo Monopoly, assuming the role of Community Chest spaces and cards. In this game, they are referred to simply as "Blocks". In the 2006 version, Coin Blocks filled the role instead.
 * When downloading a Virtual Console or WiiWare game from the Wii Shop Channel, Mario, Luigi, or both will hit two Brick Blocks and one Coin Block while the game is being downloaded.
 * According to the Super Mario Bros. instruction book, when the Koopas first invaded the Mushroom Kingdom, they turned its people into blocks.