Mushroom

Mushrooms are a common item found in nearly every Mario game to date. Different types of mushrooms have different effects. Even the Toad people are a type of humanoid mushrooms. The idea for mushrooms were inspired by the mushroom that Alice eats in "Alice in Wonderland", one side to make her larger, and the other smaller--this is a reference to the effects felt when a person is blooming on psilobycin mushrooms. The Poison Mushroom found in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels is also a reference to this; it is possibly a reference to a "bad trip." The most famous Mushrooms are called Super Mushrooms

Mario & Wario
In Mario & Wario, if a blind character gets a Mushroom on the floor, the item magically gives the player more time to complete the level the player is on. Unfortunately, it only appears in certain levels that need more time.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, a basic Mushroom recovers 30 HP for one party member. This mushroom had a red and white cap with an orange stem (and no face). However, Mushrooms that are found in Treasure Boxes recovers all HP and FP for Mario's entire party. These Mushrooms are used as soon as they are picked up. Additionally, these powerful Mushrooms have faces. Also, most Mushroom Treasure Chests restock with every selection of a certain area. A special type of mushroom is sold by the Goombette Triplets at the shop in Monstro Town. These mushrooms, apart from restoring 30 HP, also turn the user into a mushroom.

In the same game, a particular status ailment turns charcters into a Mushroom. While a Mushroom, the character recovers health every turn, but is completely immobilized. Like the Mushrooms from the Treasure Chest, they also have faces on them.

''Super Mario 64 DS
Mushrooms also appear in Super Mario 64 DS as a power-up that makes the characters grow extremely large for a limited time, similar to the effect of a Mega Mushroom. This allows the characters to destroy objects or enemies simply by touching them. They earn an extra life for each object or enemy that they destroy after the first seven.

New Super Mario Bros.
In the New Super Mario Bros., there are four kinds of mushrooms. The first is the, now common, Super Mushroom which makes the character grow a bit larger and gain the ability to survive one hit more. The other common one is the 1-UP mushroom which gives an extra life to the character. The two other uncommon ones are the Mega Mushroom and the Mini Mushroom which make the character grow huge and tiny respectively.

Mario & Luigi series
During the events of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, a Mushroom recovers twenty-five HP for one ally. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, a Mushroom recovers twenty HP for one ally.

Paper Mario series
In the first two installments of the Paper Mario series, a Mushroom heals Mario (or his partner in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) for five health. In Super Paper Mario, however, the Mushrooms come out of ? Blocks and heal ten HP upon contact. There is also a variation called a Shroom Shake. At the end of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Punio and Petuni give both Mario and Peach a Mushroom.

Mario Party series
Mushrooms such as the Golden Mushroom, the Cursed Mushroom, the Mini Mushroom, the Super Mini Mushroom, the Mega Mushroom and the Super Mega Mushroom are also used as items in the Mario Party series to earn more dice blocks. Mushrooms were a item in Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3 and Mario Party 4. Rolling the same number gave ten coins to the user, rolling double 7 gives 30 to the user. There was a Mushroom Capsule in Mario Party 5 and Mushroom orbs in Mario Party 6 and Mario Party 7.

Mario Sport Events
Mushrooms also appear in the Mario Kart series to increase a player's speed and has also appeared to increase speed in Mario Power Tennis, Mario Hoops 3 on 3, Mario Smash Football, and Mario Strikers Charged Football. They can come in groups of three but can't be held behind or around the kart.

Trivia

 * In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, it is interesting to note that the Mushrooms had no faces, and their cap's coloring was reversed. They had red spots on a white cap, making the Mushrooms look much like Toad.
 * In New Super Mario Bros., there were mushrooms on Midway Point flags, as well as on the Main Flags of each castle.
 * In the online game, World of Warcraft, there is an item that looks exactly like a Mushroom.
 * The classic red and white-spotted Mushroom is inspired from the poisonous Fly Agaric toadstool (Amanita Muscaria).
 * In the original Super Mario Bros. 3, Mushrooms were white and red-spotted instead of red and white-spotted. This is fixed within levels in the SMA4 remake, but the map's item screen retains the error.