Super Mario Bros. 3/Inventory items

Several of the power-ups and items in Super Mario Bros. 3 were exclusive to said game and its ports (Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3). Exclusive power-ups were never in any game prior to Super Mario Bros. 3 and were never usable in any game, with the exception of ports, that came after it.

Power-Ups

Three of the power-ups in the game were "suits", and were the rare half of the powerups. All three of the suits were exclusive to Super Mario Bros. 3 and have not been usable since except in ports of the game.

Raccoon Leaf

The Raccoon Leaf is the most common power-up exclusive to Super Mario Bros. 3. When worn by Mario or Luigi, the Raccoon Suit grants them the power of flight after a short run to build up momentum. It also allows for a slower descent by rapidly waving its tail. The third benefit of the raccoon was that it enables the wearer to perform a spinning tail-attack.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, a trophy of Mario's Raccoon Mario form can be obtained. Additionally, in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Leaves are often used by Mario and Luigi to become Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi, the episode "Super Koopa" even has Bowser utilize a Super Leaf to become "Raccoon Koopa". In Nintendo Comics System, the Raccoon Suit appeared in the story "It's Always Fair Weather".

Although the Raccoon Leaf was missing from following games, functionally it was very similar to the feather introduced in Super Mario World.

Frog Suit

The Frog Suit greatly increases the wearer's speed and control in the water, at the cost of speed and control on land. The earliest this suit is available was in World 2 (to prepare for the water-filled World 3), making it the earliest available out of the suits. This suit also grants the ability to swim through jet-streams coming out of pipes.

In Nintendo Comics System, the Frog Suit's only appearance was "Love Flounders," where Mario is forced to fetch the rare Chuckberries for Princess Toadstool's breakfast cereal. He dons a Frog Suit in order to do this, and as a result is mistaken for a real frog by Bertha the Boss Bass (a former girlfriend of Stanley the Talking Fish), who does not realize her mistake until she kisses him, which removes his Frog Suit.

The Frog Suit was also featured frequently in the animated series based on the game. On The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the characters often wore Frog Suits as scuba gear or in place of swimming trunks. One episode, "The Ugly Mermaid", featured a storyline like that of "Love Flounders", except in that case, Mario's would-be paramour, the mermaid princess Holly Mackerel, never finds out that Mario is not really a frog. The Princess and Toad are also shown using the Frog Suit, and Bowser even briefly uses it himself in the episode '"Super Koopa".

Tanooki Suit

The Tanooki Suit is the second suit found in Super Mario Bros. 3. It is usually found in treasure chests inside Toad's House.

Wearing the Tanooki Suit gives the wearer all the powers of Raccoon Mario with the added ability to turn into an invulnerable statue for a limited time. The statue has the appearance of Jizō, with Mario's mustache. If Mario jumps above an enemy and activate the statue power, then Mario crushes it, defeating it instantly. This tactic even works on enemies such as Thwomps, Boos and Buzzy Beetles.

The suit is based on the tanuki, a Raccoon Dog native to Japan which features heavily in Japanese mythology.

In Nintendo Comics System, the Tanooki Suit makes an appearance in the story "Tanooki Suits Me". In Super Paper Mario, one of the items listed on nerdy chameleon Francis's to-buy list is a Tanooki Suit with "real Tanooki fur"; additionally, one of the Sammer Guys fought in the game is named "Cloak of Tanooki."

Hammer Bros. Suit

Hammer Brothers' Suit is the third and final suit power-up in Super Mario Bros. 3. There are only 3 ways to obtain it:

• From one of the Mushroom Houses in World 6
• From a secret room in World 6, Level 10
• From Level 8 in World 7

The suit allows the user to throw hammers at enemies, and to crouch into a gray shell invulnerable to most attacks. The hammers can kill nearly any enemy in the game, including several that can not be defeated using an invincibility star. These include the Thwomp, Dry Bones, Boo Diddly and Podoboo. It also enables Mario/Luigi to defeat Boom Boom in just one hit and King Bowser in ten hits.

Though Hammer Brothers Suit never officially appear in any episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the episode "Reptiles in the Rose Garden" has Mario and Luigi dressed in the uniforms of two Sledge Brothers.

Exclusive inventory items

These items were not only exclusive to the game, but were also only usable from the inventory on the world map screen.

P-Wing

The P-Wing is rare, although not as rare as some items in the game. When used, it gives Mario or Luigi a Raccoon Suit, and the power of infinite flight for the next level that is entered. If Mario or Luigi is hit in this level, the Raccoon Suit and the infinite flight is lost. After completion of the level, the infinite flight power wears off, but Mario or Luigi keep the Raccoon Suit. These were awarded upon completion of worlds 1, 4, and 6.

In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the P-Wing made only one appearance, in the episode "Up, Up, and a Koopa" Toad and Princess Toadstool use it.

The P-Wing makes a cameo appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. It appears on the side of some trucks in Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City. The license plate of the truck that has the P-Wing on it is "SMB3," the short name for Super Mario Bros. 3.

Jugem's Cloud

The Jugem's Cloud (known as Lakitu's Cloud in the ports of the game, as Jugem was Lakitu's Japanese name) is a rare inventory item, which, when used, allows the player to skip over one unfinished stage. While it bypasses Hammer Brothers, all levels and even stone castles, it cannot be used on end castles. Once passed, if the player is not successful on the level after they go back to the last level beaten, wasting the effect.

Music Box

When used, Music Boxes plays calming music which causes the wandering Hammer Bros. and the Piranha Plants on the world map to fall asleep. While the Hammer Bros. and Piranha Plants are asleep, Mario and Luigi can walk past them without triggering a battle with them.

Anchor

The Anchor item stops the Airship from moving around on the map after Mario or Luigi make a failed attempt at beating it. The Anchor is one of the rarest items, and can be found after collecting either most or all of the coins in 2-2, 4-2, or 6-7 and earning a White Mushroom House.

Hammer

The Hammer (not to be confused with the Hammer Bros. Suit) allows the player to break through stone barricades that block some paths. Usually this opens up shortcuts, although it's the only way to get to certain areas.

Warp Whistle

Warp Whistles send the user by tornado to the Warp Zone, where the player can skip ahead in the game a few worlds. There are only three Warp Whistles in the entire game, two in World 1, and one in World 2. If one uses the Warp Whistle in the warp zone, they would automatically go to level 8. The Warp Whistle is a reference to the Recorder from The Legend of Zelda. The Warp Zone is set up on four tiers, 1, 2-4, 5-7, then 8. Once at on a level included in that tier, you went to the next tier. For example, if you were already on level 2, you could not warp whistle to level 4, you'd have to choose from 5, 6 or 7.

P-Wing Tanooki Suit

It is possible to combine the powers of the P-Wing and the Tanooki Suit to both wear the suit and have unlimited flight ability. If the player has infinite flight from a P-Wing and then finds a Tanooki Suit in the level, they'll have the use of both items. After completion of the level, the power of the P-Wing wears off, but the Tanooki Suit is still equipped. This is possible only in levels 4-5, 5-5, 6-3, and the first World 7 fortress.

Kuribo's Shoe

"Kuribo", actually is the Japanese name of the Goombas. So, it means "Goomba's Shoe".

The Kuribo's Shoe is a power-up only available in one level, World 5-3. It can be taken from Goombas who wear it by breaking the blocks underneath them. If the Goombas are dispatched in this fashion, they drop a shoe that Mario or Luigi can ride the same way the Goombas do.

While riding in this shoe, Mario or Luigi can stomp on things that they cannot stomp normally, such as Piranha Plants, Nibblers and Spinies. When Mario or Luigi complete the level, the shoe "dies" just as on-screen enemies do when the level is completed, by falling off-screen. It is named Kuribo's Shoe after the Japanese name for Goomba, Kuribo.

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the Kuribo Shoe can be found in a few of the game's unlockable levels; additionally, a few of the beta levels of Super Mario Bros. 3 feature the Kuribo Shoe.

In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Kuribo Shoe, despite appearing prominently in the show's opening cinematic, appears in only one episode "Super Koopa"; the Kuribo Shoe is referred to as "Kurobe Shoe" in this appearance.

In Super Paper Mario, one of the Sammer Guys fought in the game is known as Shoe of Kuribo, which is an obvious homage to the Kuribo Shoe.