Toad House



Toad Houses are Mushroom-shaped buildings that first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3, where they were located across every world map except for Dark Land. They have since made appearances in more recent games. Toad Houses always hold either a useful surprise or reward for the player.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Upon entering a Toad House, Toad will appear and present the player with three Treasure Chests, each one ostensibly containing a different item. Toad Houses in earlier worlds tend to hold more basic power-ups such as Super Mushrooms and Super Leaves, while the ones in later worlds may hold Tanooki Suits and Hammer Suits. The player may only open one chest, after which, the Toad House will disappear.

White Toad House
If a player collects enough Coins in a world's particular level, a special White Toad Houses will appear (in remakes of the game, these Toad Houses are blue). In these special Toad Houses lies a single chest. A P-Wing can be found in the chest in odd-numbered Worlds, while an Anchor will appear in even-numbered Worlds. If the player finds the secret exit in World 1-3, they will enter a secret Toad House, where they will acquire a Warp Whistle.

New Super Mario Bros.
Toad Houses reappear in New Super Mario Bros. on the world map, often requiring Star Coins to open up (or completing a bonus, lettered level). Toad Houses (except the Mini House) disappear after one use. However, if the brothers can complete all eighty levels in the game, all Toad's Houses will reappear and become permanent (marked by a blue circle on the world map), providing up to 99 lives and infinite items to help find all the Star Coins. Manned by Toadsworth, they supply all the helpful items in the game in four different varieties:

Item House
Item Houses are mapped by a red mushroom on the world map. A big block alternates between a Mushroom, Fire Flower, Blue Shell and a Mini Mushroom. Whatever is displayed when Mario or Luigi bumps it from below is what will be stored as the backup item. If a brother has a backup item already and the item chosen has less or equal value to the original backup item, 1000 points will be awarded instead.

1-Up House
These are capped by a green mushroom. Six ? Blocks are spread out. Three contain a 1-Up Mushroom card. One contains a 1-Up Mushroom X3 card, which is equal to 3 1-ups. One contains a X2 card. One contains a Bowser card. The X2 card doubles all cards already revealed, and the Bowser card ends the minigame (though Mario keeps any 1-Ups revealed). Up to twelve 1-Ups can be won.

Mega Mushroom House
Mega Mushroom Houses are Mushroom Houses that look like Mega Mushrooms in New Super Mario Bros. When Mario or Luigi enter this house, Toadsworth will create a Giant ? Block. When hit, a Mega Mushroom will appear. The Mega Mushroom gained from the Mega Mushroom House will override any item in the item slot. Like other houses featured in New Super Mario Bros., Mario will usually have to pay five Star Coins to pass the signpost leading to the Mega Mushroom House. Mega Mushroom Houses are featured in every world of New Super Mario Bros.. They can also be accessed by finishing a level with a time left ending in '77, '88 or '99, where the house will appear at the start. Fireworks will also go off, how many determined by the number at the back.

They do not reappear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii because of the fact that there is no Mega Mushroom in this game.

Mini House
These rare houses are capped by a blue mushroom. See the uses of Star Coins for more details.

Bonus Houses via Flag Fireworks
By ending the level with the last two numbers being the same (except 00), three things are triggered: a) The Super Mario Bros. Level Complete theme is played instead of the normal one, b) Fireworks go off (1 for ending in 11, 2 for ending in 22, and so on, awarding 4000 points per explosion), and c) A bonus Toad House appears on the starting point where Mario first enters the world. Times ending in 11, 22, or 33 yield an Item House, 44, 55, and 66 a 1-Up House, and 77, 88, and 99 a Mega House. None of these houses are ever permanent, even after completing all eighty levels.

New Super Mario Bros.Wii
Unlike New Super Mario Bros., this game does not require Mario to collect Star Coins to open Toad Houses. Instead, the player will automatically unlock it when a certain level is completed. Also, a Toad House will appear at the start of the World if Fireworks are triggered, like the prequel. In single-player, this is accomplished by rescuing a Toad. In multiplayer, all players must reach the flagpole when the last two digits of the remaining time are the same. In both modes, the last digit of the remaining time tells how much fireworks are set off. After using a Toad House, the player will get a tip, reminding them to use them on a tough course. Or if the player used a 1-Up House, they will get a message about visiting Princess Peach's Castle to watch Hint Movies. There are three colors of Toad Houses. Red, Green, and Yellow. If Mario gets a red Toad house, he will play Power-Up Panels. If he gets a green Toad House, he will play the game 1-Up Blast. If he gets a yellow one, he will get a Starman.

Item House (Red)
Power-Up Panels is played by matching two of the same items. If two Bowser or Bowser Jr. tiles pop up, the game will end and Mario keeps his items.

Star House (Yellow)
These houses contain one Starman, and they are much rarer than the regular Item Houses. These houses have white roofs with multiple stars around the house.

1-Up House (Green)
1-Up Blast is played by hopping into a cannon and players hit 2 to shoot out and pop balloons.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad Houses were shown to be the actual residences of the Mushroom People living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad's house in particular was a frequently used location during the course of the series. In addition to the houses, most commercial buildings were shaped like Mushrooms, such as the Mushroom Land Central Library and the Mushroom Kingdom Orphanage.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, the Toad House became a place where Mario and his partners could restore their HP, FP, and SP. They appeared in almost every town, and they were each run by a Toad. In the later Paper Mario games, the Toad Houses were replaced by Inns.

Trivia

 * Beta screenshots of Super Mario Bros. 3 showed that Toad wouldn't be the only one hosting Toad Houses - a Koopa and a Hammer Bro. would also run the Toad Houses.
 * Also beta screenshots of Super Mario World showed Toad Houses would appear in this game.
 * Toad House's music in New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a remix of Toy Time Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy.
 * In Paper Mario, the Toad House in Goomba Village has the slogan "Refresh your body and mind" while the others are "Refresh your Body and Soul".