Paah

Many musical tracks in the New Super Mario Bros. series incorporate a form of, mostly in the form of "bah" vocals. Interspersed within a level's music track, these sounds, when heard, cause objects and enemies on-screen to perform a brief action simultaneously. In certain level types, "bah" vocals are superseded by other sounds with the same function: underwater levels use a brief tinkling effect, while tower levels use a percussive sound. New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the only game in the series to incorporate "bah" vocals in the music of tower levels; the game also adds multiple similar vocals to the main theme and the athletic theme, otherwise reused from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as an accompaniment to the original notes, although only the "bah"'s that were originally part of the music have an effect on level elements. While the Super Mario Maker games recycle a number of tracks from New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U, enemies in these games do not react to the music.

The table below lists the reactions of various elements in the New Super Mario Bros. games to these sounds. Many of these reactions are aesthetic, but a few of them can have a small effect on gameplay.