User blog:LuckyEmile/Mario Power-Ups grant Statistic Amplification

Throughout fiction, many powers and abilities can be found. Today I'd like to look into one such ability known as Statistics Amplification. Put simply, this is the ability to amplify one's own statistics, whether it be an increase in power, durability, speed or some other statistic to help turn the tides of the battle. As noted on the page, this isn't related to simply using more of your base power or tapping into some hidden power, this isn't going beyond your maximum input by some special means.

This power is far from absent in the Mario series. Whilst there are many items that can be attributed with this ability, I'll be solely delving into the Power-Ups that the mainline Mario series is famed for. This would mean the items such as the Fire Flower, Cape Feather, Mega Mushroom, etc. This blog is more-or-less just a place to have all the proof in one place where I can redirect everyone for them to see it.

The evidence
Even as early as when Power-Ups were introduced in Super Mario Bros, there have been statements to prove they provide a "power boost" on page 8 of the manual. This was supported by the GameBoy Colour remake, Super Mario Bros Deluxe, where on page 10 of the manual, the player is reassured that this fact has stayed true despite the rewording. Super Mario Bros 3 brought back Power-Ups to the Western Audience after their absence from Super Mario Bros 2, and on page 18 of the manual, we see that Mario could still "gain power" by using these items in this title too. Super Mario Land's manual outright introduced Power-Ups with the phrase "Increasing Mario's Power" and told us to "pick them up to increase Mario's power" on page 9. The sequel also went on to remind us that they will "make Mario more powerful" on page 10 of its manual. Super Mario World went in depth on this topic, with numerous statements found on both page 7 and page 11, such as noting "he'll gain more power" from Fire Flowers and Cape Feathers explicitly. Finally, with the 2D formula returning in New Super Mario Bros, it is perhaps unsurprising that the fact remains consistent even now, with page 22 of the manual noting that "Mario grows bigger and stronger when he gets a Super Mushroom". As all of these titles are mainline, there shouldn't be any doubt as to the canonicity of these statements.

Gallery
Coming soon