Small Mario

Small Mario, also known as Standard Mario is Mario's weakest form in the platformer games. He doesn't have any special abilities, and it also does not take any power-ups to assume this form, besides taking a Poison Mushroom when the player has Fire Mario or Super Mario. Mario always starts the game off in this form. One hit from any enemy in Small Mario form will cause him to lose a life. If Mario is Super Mario when he is hit, he will return to Small Mario form and be given momentary invulnerability depicted by his flickering sprite. Sometimes this invulnerability can be extended by Mario not moving but he can still die if the time ran out or he fell into the abyss or lava. His actual size depends on the game. Usually, before being able to assume even stronger forms, Small Mario first must become Super Mario by eating a Super Mushroom. There are exceptions, however, such as the green ! Blocks in Super Mario World. In Super Mario Bros., if Mario gets a Fire Flower out of a box, the Fire Flower will only turn him into Super Mario, but this was changed in later games so, for instance, if Mario gets a Fire Flower out a Block but then gets damaged, grabbing the Fire Flower will still turn him into Fire Mario. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the Toads to be saved in the levels become Small Toads after being hit once by enemies.

In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario or Fire Mario can also become Small Mario by touching a Poison Mushroom. Being Small Mario can sometimes be useful; in some games, like Super Mario Land, there are small crevices that can be reached only with Small Mario.

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, there was no Small Mario. Regular Mario was Mario's weakest form. Mario could become Super Mario (actually Fire Mario) by using a Fire Flower, Starman or some other source of power. The concept of Super Mario was dropped for The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, which followed the physics of their respective games more closely.