WEEKLYCHEF: power-up

A Super Mushroom (also known as a Power-Up Mushroom[1]) is a red Mushroom that serves a particular function depending on the game in which it is found. Its first and most common effect is causing Mario or Luigi to turn into their Super form, allowing them to smash through bricks and take an extra hit from enemies. An opposite can be considered as the Poison Mushroom, a mushroom item that hurts the player. Both this and the standard Mushroom are designed after the Amanita Muscaria mushroom, which is ironically poisonous.

The idea for Super Mushrooms were originally believed to have been inspired by the cake that Alice eats in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that makes her grow after having been shrunk by a potion. However, Shigeru Miyamoto later corrected himself, saying that this was a misunderstanding; the mushrooms were actually inspired by the concept of mushrooms being associated with magical worlds in general, like the Wonderland of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Mushroom Kingdom[citation needed].