Enemies

Anything listed here is purely an adversary to Mario and Cappy, can’t be captured, and actively works to harm our heroes. Dodge these creatures or subdue them. Often, a capturable foe nearby is the best means to take out all its uncapturable allies!

Big Poison Piranha Plant

This overgrown specimen spews purple poison like its normal-sized cousins. Throw Cappy over poison purple splotches to mop them up. Clog this big plant’s gullet with an object like Cappy or a rock to leave it vulnerable to stomping.

Bitefrost

Found only in frigid environments, these strange creatures exist as shadow faces traveling just under the ice. They pounce on prey above them, rising from the ice as living platforms with snapping maws. Ride rising Bitefrost monsters all the way up, then leap to avoid the snapping jaws. As they rise up to snap at our hero, Bitefrost pillars can become unwitting allies by serving as temporary raised platforms.

Burrbo

Burrbos may seem adorably clueless, but these spiky and colorful critters can still overwhelm Mario in colorful packs. Take them out with Cappy attacks.

Chincho

These gossamer undead apparitions are little more than rags, easily knocked apart with cap tosses or by jumping on them. But where one Chincho rises, there are usually many, and they’ll keep coming. Watch out for Chinchos rising from the earth right in front of Mario’s running path.

Donkey Kong

The original Super Mario franchise antagonist, dating back to 1981’s Donkey Kong! Donkey Kong long ago made a turn toward good guy status, but for old time’s sake his original form shows up to roll barrels at Mario once more.

Fuzzy

These clusters of pests follow preset paths mindlessly. Fuzzies are obstacles to be dodged whether in full 3D or in 8-bit pipes.

Klepto

This thieving tropical bird has a particular affection for unique hats. This may test Mario’s dependence on Cappy in a dire situation.

Komboo

These aggressive reeds drift together underwater, waiting for tasty-looking plumbers to swim nearby. They attack in fragile crowds. Knock their plant bodies apart with underwater cap tosses or a captured Cheep Cheep’s motion control spin attacks.

Koopa Troopa

The classic turtle foe in 2D glory. Jump on top of it once to make it withdraw into the shell. Then run or jump into the shell to kick it, sending it spinning across the stage.

Magmato

These scalding balls of lava burst if they take a hit, spilling lava into a small pool that becomes off-limits to most creatures, but a kind of improvised platform for a captured Lava Bubble.

Maw-Ray

In the depths of the ocean, creatures can grow to incredible size. These enormous eels surge forward opportunistically to snap at movement in the murk in front of their dens.

Mini Goomba

Mini Goombas are smaller than Goombas, and cannot be captured. They’re just as crushable, and since they can’t be captured and aren’t armored, cap throws will defeat them too.

Moonsnake

These curious, dangerous structures spin around a main segment, like living blades. They might spin in one place, or travel back and forth along a certain route.

Spiny

Of the smaller enemies who often swarm Mario, like Goombas and Chinchos, perhaps the most dangerous are Spinies. Their armored spiky shells mean they’re guarded from jumps or cap tosses. They must be dodged, or defeated with some other weapon.

Stairface Ogre

These enormous Thwomp-like creatures carry a stamp-like club. They’ll telegraph where they’re going to attack, so vacate the space then climb the stamp and ground pound the crown of their noggins on the impact symbol.

Trapeetle

These slow but insistent beetles advance after Mario slowly. Throw Cappy at a Trapeetle, and it’ll catch the hat and then hurtle toward Mario rapidly, exploding when the Trapeetle hits anything! Dodge out of the way with a jump, roll, or tackle before Trapeetle detonates on Mario, then think twice about throwing Cappy at more Trapeetles without a plan for where the exploding beetle will go.

Urban Stingby and Larva

Larva thrive in the heat and moisture of the city’s garbage-strewn streets. They’ll pop from their old skins into buzzing, charging Urban Stingby flies when heroes approach.

Yoofoe

This miniboss is a small flying saucer, flying just out of reach above Mario while dropping Goombas as minions. The Yoofoe saucer is vulnerable to jumping attacks from above, but when you consider its spinning protective blades and high hovering altitude, it’s a puzzle to figure out how to get up there.