Flying Squirrel Mario

Flying Squirrel Mario is a form introduced in the Wii U game New Super Mario Bros. U. When he grabs a Super Acorn, Mario can lightly glide above ground or long chasms, and can also temporarily cling to vertical surfaces that are safe to touch.

While Mario is in his Flying Squirrel posture, he gets red puffy overalls, a grayish shirt and shoes, and a big red cap with two squirrel ears on it and a beige brim. On his back, he has a pair of grey membranes and a tail. This appearance seems to be based off of Raccoon Mario. Flying Squirrel Luigi has these changes, too, but wears green cap and overalls. The Flying Squirrel Toads have a cap colored according to their emblem color, with two bright stripes and squirrel ears. They also get a red handkerchief around their neck, gloves, squirrel-like fur, yellow or blue pants, grayish shoes, flying membranes, and a tail. Toads lose their vests becoming Flying Squirrel Toads.

This form is evidently based on flying squirrels, real life mammals that are capable of gliding between trees. Waddlewings, creatures that debuted in New Super Mario Bros. U just like the Flying Squirrel form, are inspired from these animals too.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U
As stated earlier, Mario's Flying Squirrel form, along with the Super Acorn which is its associated power-up, made its initial appearance in New Super Mario Bros. U. While costumed like a flying squirrel, Mario can glide in a similar way to Raccoon Mario or Bunny Mario from past games of the series by holding down the jump button. He can also stick to walls, blocks and pipes like Waddlewings do, but start sliding downwards on the respective wall after a few seconds. The Flying Squirrel form allows the player to Spin Jump higher than normal. The heroes are also able to propel themselves upwards while gliding, which makes them soar up into the air, though they can no longer glide after doing this and will continue to slowly fall. This move is accomplished by shaking the Wii U GamePad, or by pressing or, which also have to be pressed in order to perform Spin Jumps.

While gliding, players can collect long rows of coins and pass large pits that are otherwise hard to get over. Turning around while gliding will cause the player to descend significantly. Propelling upwards like described above can help for a moment, but the heroes are forced to interrupt their gliding, and will instead fall featherly while standing straight. In order to continue gliding before touching the ground, the heroes must stomp on enemies and hold down the jump button, which is useful in some of the challenges in the game, specifically those where the objective is to get as many 1-Ups as possible from stomping on enemies consquently.

The Flying Squirrel form is back in New Super Luigi U, although Nabbit, who is a playable character, does not attribute it to himself upon collecting a Super Acorn.

An updated but rarer variant of the Flying Squirrel form is available in both games. The P Flying Squirrel form can be acquired from touching a P-Acorn; it physically glitters and allows gliding even after propelling upwards. The P Acorn can only be acquired by catching Nabbit or finding one on the map.

Super Mario Maker
In Super Mario Maker, after the version 1.20 update, if the player repeatedly taps / knocks a Warp Door, Weird Mario, found in a random position or wearing a certain costume, comes out of that door before going back. Exclusively to the New Super Mario Bros. U style, one of the costumes he wears is the Flying Squirrel one. This brief appearance of this costume does not affect gameplay in any way.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
A trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U represents Flying Squirrel Mario gliding. The trophy's in-game description can be read below. This particular form of Mario does not make any other apparition in the game.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
This form is also present for both Mario and Luigi in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. Flying Squirrel Mario has a high heart point rating of 5 out of 6, and his recover rating is also high, reaching four points out of six. In spite of these characteristics, his attack power is moderate, and receives a rating of 3 out of 6. Flying Squirrel Mario can reach level 99, which is maximum for any character in general. His main attribute is Wood, while Fire stands as his secondary attribute. Every ten turns, Flying Squirrel Mario can use the "Air Glide" skill, which changes all Light Orbs on-screen into Wood Orbs. Likewise, he has a leader skill called "Acorn Power" that doubles the attack and recover ratings of any Wood-attributed team mate. Meanwhile, Flying Squirrel Luigi, although he shares some of his traits with his brother, features a handful of distinctions; firstly, each of his attributes is Wood. He has a 4 out of 6 rating for both his HP and recovering power, and a 5 out of 6 rating for his attack performance. His maximum level is 99; his Leader skill is called "Acorn Miracle" and it doubles the attack and HP ratings of all Wood-type team mates. Lastly, Flying Squirrel Luigi's main skill is "Air Smash", which functions just like his brother's main skill.

Trivia

 * The color scheme of Mario's Flying Squirrel form resembles his color scheme from Super Mario Bros.. Also, Luigi's Flying Squirrel color scheme resembles his color from Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.
 * Blue and Yellow Toad have their caps in a design similar to Rose Town Toads'.