Inventory

Not to be confused with item storage.

The inventory opened in New Super Mario Bros. U

An inventory, sometimes simply referred to as an items menu, is a menu that displays usable items that have been collected. In the Super Mario franchise, they are most common in RPGs, though they have made several appearances in platforming games as well.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3

In Super Mario Bros. 3, the inventory can be accessed from the map screen or viewed within a Toad's House by pressing , causing the normal heads-up-display to flip over and turn pink to show it. The inventory can hold up to 28 items, being four rows of seven. The rows can be picked between by pressing up and down. Once the inventory is full, any collected item will replace the 28th item. Items can be added to the inventory from treasure boxes in stages, Enemy Courses, and Toad's Houses; letters from Princess Toadstool; and the matching game in N-Mark Spade Panels. After the game is completed once, the inventory starts out on further playthroughs filled completely with P-Wings.

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the inventory has been altered due to the greater graphical capabilities of the Game Boy Advance and is now accessed with the button. Now all four rows are visible at once, and due to some pieces of the normal heads-up display being removed from the inventory, each row can contain up to nine items for a total of 36.

Super Mario World

Main article: Item storage

Super Mario World has a different inventory system referred to as the item storage. This only allows one item to be held, but it can be activated within stages rather than the world map, and any redundant powerups that are collected are automatically put into the item storage. This system returns in some later games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3D Land.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

The inventory screen returns on the map screen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where its functionality is updated. It now constantly shows every power-up in the game with a number next to them to show how many have been collected, for a maximum of 99 of each. Items can be gained from Toad Houses or Enemy Courses, as well as by rescuing a Toad from a stage.

New Super Mario Bros. U

The inventory returns in New Super Mario Bros. U, where it can again be accessed on the map. This inventory is much less robust than previous ones, only storing a maximum of ten items. The items can be gained from Toad Houses, on the world map, from Enemy Courses, as a reward for finishing stages with the last two digits on the timer being the same, or by catching Nabbit.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the inventory contains Special Items that are won in Bonus Challenges and Mini Battles. It can be accessed by pressing on the pause menu and can hold up to 27 Special Items.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the inventory contains several restorative, status, and attack items. Some of these can only be used in battle, while others can only be used on the field. In battle, it is accessed with the button, while on the field, it is accessed with the pause menu (which itself is accessed with ). The inventory can hold up to 29 items in the original game; in the Nintendo Switch remake, this is altered so that copies of the same item stack in one slot, though the exact number allowed varies per item, and any extra are sent to a storage box located in Mario's Pad.

Paper Mario series

In the first three games of Paper Mario series, the inventory works similar to how it does in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, holding a certain amount of items that can be used on the field or in battle. Ten items can be carried at a time (15 in the Nintendo Switch remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door), though shop clerks can also store up to 32 of them. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door also features the Strange Sack, increasing the inventory capacity to 20.

Later games of the series have all attacks classified as kinds of item. Items in general come in come in a different form in each game, with the inventory changing to match. In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the inventory is the album, which stores stickers. The album's pages is a grid, and stickers come in varying sizes that have to fit on the pages or they cannot be picked up. Royal Stickers, Scraps and Things are stored in separate areas that do not have size restrictions. In Paper Mario: Color Splash, the inventory stores Battle Cards. In Paper Mario: The Origami King, the inventory stores weapons and battle items.

Mario & Luigi series

In the Mario & Luigi series, the inventory's items are stackable to a maximum of 99 each, ensuring there is always enough room for a new type of item. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team's Hard Mode, the capacity is lowered to ten of each item. The inventory items in these games are almost always statistic-restorative items, though Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time also features a separate inventory for battle-only attack items called Bros. Items and later games feature other types of items like Retry Clocks, Taunt Balls, and Boo Biscuits.

Donkey Kong Country series

This section is a stub. Please consider expanding it to include any missing information. Specifics: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Trade items, cap on items in listed games

In Donkey Kong Country Returns, its Nintendo 3DS port, its Nintendo Switch port, and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the player can buy items from shops. Donkey Kong Country Returns has Cranky Kong's Shop and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has Funky's Fly 'n' Buy. Before entering a level, the player can enter the Inventory menu to equip items they purchased to help them in the level. The original Donkey Kong Country Returns and the Original Mode of its ports spend equipped items even if they were not used, while New Mode of the ports and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze allow the player to keep unused items. The Funky Mode of the Nintendo Switch port of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze adds the ability to check the Inventory from the pause screen and equip items during a level. Equipping items has no effect if the player starts Time Attack, Mirror Mode, or Hard Mode in any game.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

In Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, items are stored in a bag which can be used in battle. The inventory consists of items for recovery, attacking enemies or increasing movement range.

Notes

• In Super Mario Bros. 3, every item outline in the inventory except for the Hammer Suit uses transparency against the black background; the Hammer Suit instead has an opaque black outline. They look the same in gameplay unless something causes the screen to flash.
• In Super Mario Bros. 3, there exists a regional difference in the inventory that is shared with the normal heads-up display, due to the "WORLD" counter being present in both; in the Japanese versionMedia:SMB3 HUD inventory Japanese.png, an outline pixel in the "R" is transparent, while in international versionsMedia:SMB3 HUD inventory international.png, the pixel is black. Like the above, this is visible when the screen flashes.
• In Super Mario Bros. 3, the flip animation for the heads-up display changing to the inventory varies depending on whether it is being looked at on the map or in a Toad's House; on the mapMedia:SMB3 HUD flip map international.gif, it turns pink immediately before it begins flipping, while in Toad's HousesMedia:SMB3 HUD flip house international.gif, it only turns pink once it has flipped into a temporarily invisible state. Both of them only change back to blue when in the temporarily invisible state when flipping back. These differences previouslyMedia:SMB3 HUD flip map Japanese.gif existedMedia:SMB3 HUD flip house Japanese.gif in the Japanese version.