Mystery Box

Mystery Box
	; Artwork from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
First appearance	Super Mario 3D Land (2011)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)

This article is about the box from Super Mario 3D Land. For the item from the Paper Mario series with the same name, see Mystery Box (item). For the Captain Command in Bowser Jr.'s Journey, see Mystery Box (Captain Command).

Mystery Boxes are objects debuting in Super Mario 3D Land.

HistoryEdit

Super Mario seriesEdit

Super Mario 3D LandEdit

In Super Mario 3D Land, they are found in most Worlds, with their primary task being to defeat all the enemies in the box within ten seconds. Enemies can range from Goombas to Boom Booms. When Mario completes the task, coins and a Star Medal appear. Other items, such as 1-Up Mushrooms, Super Leaves and Fire Flowers are also found within Mystery Boxes. However, if Mario loses a life in a Mystery Box, he will be forced to quit the level. Whenever the player first encounters a Mystery Box on the world map, they are required to enter it before moving on. The Mystery Box theme is a remix of the Teleporter theme from Super Mario Galaxy 2.

A golden Mystery Box. Note that there are two Star Medals and even a P-Wing.

Mystery Boxes can also be golden on the inside, while still appearing purple on the outside. All of the golden-sided Mystery Boxes contain two Star Medals, and at least three 1-Up Mushrooms, with some containing as many as eight. No golden-sided Mystery Boxes contain enemies, and as such, Star Medals appear immediately upon entering a box. They can contain many different things, such as Poison Mushrooms, Toads, or even P-Wings. These Mystery Boxes have a cover of the main theme from Super Mario Bros. as the background music.

There are a total of 20 unique normal Mystery Box contents and 15 unique golden-sided Mystery Boxes contents. Golden-sided Mystery Boxes more rarely appear than normal ones. Each normal Mystery Box can be found in two different Worlds, while each golden-sided one can only be found in a single World.

After completing a Mystery Box, it turns gray on the overworld map and "falls asleep", rendering it inaccessible. It may be accessed again 20 hours later. The contents of each Mystery Box changes each time it is re-entered.

Mystery Boxes can also be accessed via StreetPass, a wireless feature that automatically exchanges information with nearby Nintendo 3DS systems while the system is in sleep mode). The only difference in a StreetPass Mystery Box is that it is guaranteed to have a Star Medal or two, unless of course all Star Medals have been collected.

Mystery Boxes also can appear in some levels of Super Mario 3D Land, which the goal is to collect as many coins from the blocks within the time limit. In the early versions of the game, these Mystery Boxes used the same design as that of the current Warp Box; similarly, the early Warp Boxes used the current Mystery Box design, albeit with an exclamation point instead of a question mark.^[1] The colors were switched in the final version of the game.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's FuryEdit

Mystery Boxes in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch port can only be found in levels. Each of them has a Green Star which must be collected within the time limit. If Mario fails, he is sent back to the proper level. The Green Stars must be collected in different ways, like defeating every enemy present, navigating through a small obstacle course, or using given items or forms to reach it. Certain worlds also feature special courses called Mystery Houses, which consist of clearing a number of Mystery Box courses in quick succession. In one area of the Shiftier Boo Mansion level, a fake Mystery Box appears, which summons a Big Boo when interacted with.

Captain Toad: Treasure TrackerEdit

Mystery Boxes also appear in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and its Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS ports, appearing only in Coins Galore bonus levels this time. After entering a Coins Galore level, Captain Toad or Toadette can select two Mystery Boxes: one that accesses a bonus area with Super Pickaxes and other that access a bonus area with Double Cherries. The task is to collect many coins or Gold Mushrooms within 10 seconds. After completing a Coins Galore level, it cannot be entered again. However, if the Toads complete every level of the game, these Coins Galore levels will be permanently open and can be accessed at any time from the Bonus Episode.

ContentsEdit

Super Mario 3D LandEdit

Image	Content	Location
	3 ? Blocks, two of which contain a single coin and the other of which continues to produce coins as long as time remains on the Box's timer 2 Hidden Blocks (Note: They appear where there are gaps between the ? Blocks.)
	3 Long ? Blocks containing two coins and a Super Leaf, a single set of three coins, and multiple sets of three coins, respectively
	3 Roulette Blocks	(Note: A yellow Toad will also be found here and will give a 1-Up Mushroom if the player watched his entrance into the hidden Box through a pair of binoculars.)
	3 coin throwing Rocky Wrenches 1 Star Medal
	45 Brick Blocks each containing a coin 3 Hidden Blocks each containing a coin 1 Hidden Block containing a 1-Up Mushroom

World Map Mystery BoxesEdit

Defeating every enemy in a Box will cause ten coins and a Star Medal to appear.

Image	Content	Location(s)
	2 Goomba Boards 1 Fire Flower	(Note: This is also the tutorial.)
	3 Piranha Plants
	3 Goombas
	1 red Biddybud 1 Fire Flower
	1 Fire Flower 1 Goomba Tower, two Goombas high 1 Fire Piranha Plant
	2 Tail Goombas 1 Piranha Plant
	1 Goomba 1 Piranha Plant
	3 Biddybuds (yellow, green, and red) 1 Fire Flower 1 Super Mushroom
	2 Fire Piranha Plants 1 Fire Flower
	2 Tail Goombas 1 Super Leaf
	5 Biddybuds (yellow, green, red, blue, and pink)
	2 Goomba Towers, two Goombas high each
	1 Hammer Bro 1 Boomerang Flower
	1 Goomba 1 Super Leaf
	1 Boomerang Bro 1 Boomerang Flower
	1 Hammer Bro 1 Boomerang Bro
	1 Hammer Bro 1 Boomerang Bro 1 Boomerang Flower
	3 Fire Piranha Plants
	Boom Boom (requiring only one hit to defeat)
	2 Goomba Towers, two Goombas high each 1 Fire Flower

Golden Mystery BoxesEdit

In addition to the features listed here, each Box contains two Star Medals.

Image	Content	Appearance
	15 Super Leaves 1 P-Wing
	5 Toads (red, blue, yellow, green, and purple)
	9 Goomba Boards, five of which contain 1-Up Mushrooms and others which contain coins 1 Fire Flower
	10 crates, four of which contain 1-Up Mushrooms 2 ? Blocks containing a Super Leaf and a Fire Flower, respectively
	12 cacti, four of which contain 1-Up Mushrooms 1 Boomerang Flower
	7 white dandelions 4 yellow dandelions containing 1-Up Mushrooms 1 ? Block containing a Super Leaf
	4 P Switches pressing each of which causes a 1-Up Mushroom to appear
	7 1-Up Mushroom Boards, four of which contain real 1-Up Mushrooms A 5th 1-Up Mushroom 1 ? Block containing a Fire Flower
	6 1-Up Mushrooms 6 Poison Mushrooms
	12 ? Blocks containing coins 4 Invisible ? Blocks containing 1-Up Mushrooms
	3 ? Blocks containing 1-Up Mushrooms 1 ? Box
	4 torches containing 1-Up Mushrooms 1 Fire Flower
	8 1-Up Mushrooms
	Flowers, some of which contain 1-Up Mushrooms, and some of which contain coins 1 ? Block containing a Fire Flower
	Plants, some of which contain 1-Up Mushrooms, and some of which contain coins 1 Coin Coffer hiding in one of the plants 1 ? Block containing a Super Leaf

Super Mario 3D WorldEdit

The player obtains a Green Star by completing the following objectives:

Level	Location	Objective
World 1-2: Koopa Troopa Cave		Defeating two Koopa Troopas
World 1-5: Switch Scramble Circus		Destroying the crate in the left-hand corner
World 2-3: Shadow-Play Alley		Pressing the P Switch to open a hidden room underneath the stairs
World 3-3: Shifty Boo Mansion		Dodging the Peepas in the rotating room to reach the Green Star
World 3-6: Mount Must Dash		Catching the Rabbit
World 4-2: Piranha Creeper Creek		Using four Piranha Creepers as platforms to reach the Green Star
World 4-4: Big Bounce Byway		Jumping with a disabled Hop-Chop or using the Cat transformation to climb to the Green Star
World 4- Castle: Lava Rock Lair		Pressing the three P Panels
World 5-7: Searchlight Sneak		Climbing the stairs to the Star while dodging Cat Bullet Bills
World 6-3: Hands-On Hall		Defeating the Spike
World 6-5: Ty-Foo Flurries		Skating to the Star while dodging Walleyes and Skating Goombas
World 6-6: Bullet Bill Base		Navigating the circular vertical conveyor belt to reach the Green Star
World Castle-4: Boiling Blue Bully Belt		Pushing a Bully into the lava
World Bowser-1: Spiky Spike Bridge		Climbing up the wall to the P Switch to reveal the Green Star and climbing the opposite wall to retrieve it
World Bowser-3: Cookie Cogworks		Navigating the giant cookie rotating counterclockwise to reach the Green Star
World Bowser-4: Footlight Lane		Navigating the invisible floors and dodging the Thwomp to reach the Green Star
World Bowser-6: A Beam in the Dark		Defeating six Boos with Light Boxes or the Lucky Bell
World Star-3: Rolling Ride Run		Rotating the room to the right or using the Cat transformation to reach the Green Star
World Star-5: Super Block Land		Extending the blocks in the room or using the Cat transformation to reach the Green Star
World Star-8: Peepa's Fog Bog		Throwing a snowball at the Green Star to collect it; going near it causes it to vanish
World Flower-1: Switch Shock Circus		Turning on all four Switch Panels on the wall to reveal the Green Star

GalleryEdit

Names in other languagesEdit

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ミステリーボックス^[2] Misuterī Bokkusu	Mystery Box
Chinese	神秘箱^[?] Shénmì Xiāng	Mystery Box
German	Rätselbox^[?]	Mystery Box
Italian	Cubo Mistero^[?]	Mystery Cube
Korean	미스터리박스^[?] Miseuteori-Bakseu	Mystery Box
Portuguese	Caixa Mistério^[?]	Mystery Box
Russian	Ящик с секретом^[?] Yashchik s sekretom	Box with secret
Spanish	Caja misteriosa^[?]	Mysterious box

ReferencesEdit

^ UltimatePisman (May 27, 2015). Super Mario 3D Land: E3 2011 Beta. YouTube (English). Archived August 19, 2015, 03:14:16 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
^ Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit) et al. (October 19, 2015). Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook. Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 186 and 233.

[1] UltimatePisman (May 27, 2015). Super Mario 3D Land: E3 2011 Beta. YouTube (English). Archived August 19, 2015, 03:14:16 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 29, 2024.

[2] Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit) et al. (October 19, 2015). Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook. Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 186 and 233.

[1]

[2]

Mystery Box
Artwork from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
First appearance	Super Mario 3D Land (2011)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)

[Edit] Super Mario 3D Land
Playable characters		Mario • Luigi
Forms		Small Mario • Super Mario • Fire Mario • Tanooki Mario • Boomerang Mario • Invincible Mario • White Tanooki Mario • Statue Mario
Non-playable characters		Princess Peach • Toad • Toads
Enemies		Banzai Bill • Biddybud • Big Boo • Big Cosmic Clone • Big Tail Goomba • Blokkablok • Boo • Boomerang Bro • Blooper • Bob-omb • Bullet Bill • Chain Chomp • Cheep Cheep • Coin Coffer • Draglet • Dry Bones • Fake Block • Fire Piranha Plant • Flophopper • Fuzzy • Goomba • Goomba Tower • Grinder • Hammer Bro • Inky Piranha Plant • Koopa Troopa • Lava Bubble • Magikoopa • Magmaargh • Monty Mole • Morty Mole • Para-Biddybud • Paragoomba • Peepa • Piranha Plant • Pokey • Porcupuffer • Prongo • Rocky Wrench • Sandmaargh • Small Cosmic Clone • Spike Eel • Spiny • Stingby • Tail Bob-omb • Tail Boo • Tail Bullet Bill • Tail Goomba • Tail Thwomp • Thistle • Thwomp • Wallop
Obstacles		Baddie Box • Ball 'n' Chain • Banzai Bill Cannon • Bill Blaster • Cannon (Spike Ball) • Fire Bar • Giant spiked ball • Jet engine • Lava • Lava Geyser • Poison • Retractable spikes • Spike Pillar • Spiked ball • Spike Bar • Spike Block • Spiked roller
Bosses		Tail Bowser • Boom Boom • Pom Pom • Bowser • Dry Bowser
Items and power-ups		? Box • + Clock • 1-Up Mushroom • Boomerang Flower • Coin • Fire Flower • Invincibility Leaf • Note • P-Wing • Poison Mushroom • Propeller Box • Red Coin • Star Medal • Statue Leaf • Super Leaf • Super Mushroom • Super Star
Objects		! Block • ? Block • Assist Block • Beep Block • Big Goal Pole • Binoculars • Block • Board • Bolts • Bowser Switch • Cactus • Cannon • Checkpoint Flag • Cog • Coin Block • Coin ring • Crate • Crumbling platform • Directional Block • Donut Block • Empty Block • Face block • Flip Panel • Flower • Fluff • Flying ? Block • Gift Box • Goal Pole • Golden Rock • Green Shell • Hard Block • Invisible Block • Lift • Mystery Box • Note Block • Pipe • P Switch • Pole • Red-Blue Panel • Red Ring • Rock • Roulette Block • Rubber pad • Seagull • Small bird • Spine Coaster • Stump • Super Note Block • Switchboard • Tail Wheel • Tapering platform • Tightrope • Tree • Torch • View plate • Warp Box • World Warp Pipe
Locations	Main worlds	World 1 • World 2 • World 3 • World 4 • World 5 • World 6 • World 7 • World 8
	Special worlds	Special 1 • Special 2 • Special 3 • Special 4 • Special 5 • Special 6 • Special 7 • Special 8
	Other	Mushroom Kingdom • Peach's Castle • Sub-area • Toad Houses
Moves		Crawl • Crouch • Crouch Jump • Dash • Ground Pound • Jump • Long Jump • Roll • Side Somersault • Slide • Swim • Tail whip • Wall Jump
Gameplay elements		Completion • Item storage • StreetPass Gift • Tail Tree • UFO • Warp Zone
Music compositions		"Ground Theme" • "Underwater Theme"
Further info		Gallery • Glitches • "The Mario Drawing Song" • Media • Pre-release and unused content • Staff

[Edit] Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury / Bowser's Fury
Playable characters		Mario • Luigi • Peach • Toad • Rosalina • Captain Toad • Blue Toad^b • Green Toad^b • Yellow Toad^b • Bowser Jr.^c
Forms		Small Mario • Mario (form) • Cat Mario • Double Mario • Tanooki Mario • Fire Mario • Boomerang Mario • Mega Mario • Invincible Mario • White Tanooki Mario • Lucky Cat Mario • White Cat Mario^b • Giga Cat Mario^c
Non-playable characters		Sprixie Princesses • Sprixies • Rabbits • Mega Rabbit • Toads • Plessie • Lumas • Ghost Miis^a • Toadette^c • Kittens^c • Cats^c
Enemies		Ant Trooper • Banzai Bill • Biddybud • Big Ant Trooper • Big Boo • Big Galoomba • Blockstepper • Blooper • Blurker • Bob-omb • Boo • Boomerang Bro • Brolder • Bullet Bill • Bully • Cat Banzai Bill • Cat Bullet Bill • Cat Goomba • Chargin' Chuck • Charvaargh • Cheep Cheep • Coin Coffer • Conkdor • Fighter Fly^d • Fire Bro • Fire Piranha Plant • Fireball^d • Fizzlit • Flopter • Freezie^d • Fury Shadow^c • Fuzzler • Fuzzy • Galoomba • Goomba • Goomba Tower • Grumblump • Hammer Bro • Hop-Chop • Horned Ant Trooper • Ka-thunk • Innertube Goomba • Lava Bubble • Madpole • Magikoopa • Mega Piranha Plant • Mini Goomba • Octoomba • Para-Biddybud • Parabones • Peepa • Piranha Creeper • Piranha Plant • Porcupuffer • Rammerhead • Ring Burner • Shellcreeper^d • Sidestepper^d • Skating Goomba • Skipsqueak • Small Rammerhead • Snow Pokey • Spike • Spiny • Spiny Skipsqueak • Splorch • Splounder • Stingby • Thwomp • Ty-foo • Unshelled Koopa • Walleye
Obstacles		Baddie Box • Bill Blaster • Cannon • Dark • Fire Bar • Fury Sun^c • Fuzzy Horde • Ink Bomb^c • Lava • Poison • Poison fog • Quicksand • Spike ball • Spike Block • Spike Trap • Spiked roller • Volcanic debris
Bosses		Bowser • Boom Boom • Pom Pom • Hisstocrat • Boss Brolder • King Ka-thunk • Prince Bully • Motley Bossblob • Meowser • Fury Bowser^c • Giant Bowser^c
Items and power-ups		+ Clock • 1-Up Mushroom • Baseball • Blue Coin • Bomb • Boomerang Flower • Cannon Box • Cat Shine^c • Cat Shine Shard^c • Coin • Coin Box • Coin pile • Crown • Double Cherry • Fire Flower • Giga Bell^c • Gold Shell • Goomba Mask • Green Shell • Green Star Coin • Green Star • Hidden Coin • Ice Skate • Invincibility Bell^b • Invincibility Leaf • Key^c • Key Coin • Light Box • Lucky Bell • Mega Mushroom • Plessie Medal^c • Potted Piranha Plant • Propeller Box • Red Coin • Snowball • Springboard • Stamp • Super Bell • Super Leaf • Super Mushroom • Super Star
Objects		? Block • ? Block tower • Arrow platform • Arrow Sign • Assist Block • Beep Block • Big Block • Big Goal Pole • Binoculars • Bowser Board • Bowser Statue • Brick Block • Bubble • Cactus • Cage^c • Cat Wheel • Chain-Link • Character Switch • Checkpoint Flag • Clear Pipe • Clear Pipe Cannon • Cloud Cannon • Cloud Lift • Cog • Color Panel • Conveyor Belt • Crab • Crate • Crystal Block • Dash Panel • Donut Block • Empty Block • Falling spike^c • Fish • Fling Pole^c • Floating couch • Floor^d • Flower • Fluff • Fury Block^c • Gift Box • Glowing spot • Gold P Switch • Goal Pole • Goal Pole (flying) • Gold Ring • Gong • Graffiti^c • Green Star Ring • Ground-Pound Switch^c • Hexagon • Hidden Block • Illusion • Invisible walkway • Jump Panel • Kick Bomb • Lift • Lighthouse^c • Long ? Block • Magic brush^c • Multi-Vator • Mushroom Trampoline • Mystery Box • P Panel • P Switch • Pipe • Pixel Luigi • Propeller Platform^a • Red POW Block • Red Ring • Red-Blue Panel • Rising pillar • Rock Block • Rocket • Rotating Panel • Roulette Block • Sand statue • Seagull^c • Searchlight • Seesaw • Sliding door • Slot Block • Small bird • Splotchy goop^c • Super Jump Panel^c • Swing • Switch Block • Switch Panel • Switchboard • Super POW Block • Tank • Timer Gate^c • Torch • Touchstone • Trample Switch • Trapeze • Tree • Turning Floor • Warp Box • Warp Box (With Key) • Warp Door • World Warp Pipe • Zipline lift
Locations	Normal worlds	World 1 • World 2 • World 3 • World 4 • World 5 • World 6 • World Castle • World Bowser
	Special worlds	World Star • World Mushroom • World Flower • World Crown
	Lake Lapcat^c	Fur Step Island • Scamper Shores • Pounce Bounce Isle • Fort Flaptrap • Slipskate Slope • Clawswipe Colosseum • Trickity Tower • Crisp Climb Castle • Risky Whisker Island • Pipe Path Tower • Roiling Roller Isle • Mount Magmeow • Lucky Isle
	Other	Sprixie Kingdom • Mushroom Kingdom • Sprixie Houses • Toad Houses • Mystery Houses • Lucky Houses
Moves		Crawl • Crouch • Crouch Jump • Dash • Dive^b • Floating Jump • Ground Pound • Ground Pound Jump^b • Jump • Long Jump • Roll • Scuttle • Shell dash • Side Somersault • Slide • Spin • Spin Jump • Swim • Synchro Ground-Pound • Tail whip • Wall Jump
Gameplay elements		amiibo^b • Captain Toad's Adventures • Completion • Enemy Battles • Luigi Bros. • List of Cat Shine names in other languages^c • List of Pixel Luigi sightings • List of stamps • Miiverse^a • Points • Snapshot Mode^b • Toad Brigade^b
Musical compositions		"Super Bell Hill" • "Mario's Colour Panel" • "Super Block Land"
Further info		Gallery (SM3DW+BF • BF) • Glitches (SM3DW+BF) • Media (SM3DW+BF) • Original soundtrack • Playable characters' statistics (SM3DW+BF) • Pre-release and unused content • Staff (SM3DW+BF)
^a Exclusive to the Super Mario 3D World campaign in the Wii U version ^b Exclusive to Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury ^c Exclusive to Bowser's Fury ^d Exclusive to Luigi Bros.
Related Play Nintendo activities Can’t-miss games • What does THAT thing do? • Cute-throat enemies • Power-up trivia quiz! • Power-up personality quiz! • Colorful cat-tastrophe!

[Edit] Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U) / Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo Switch / Nintendo 3DS)
Characters	Playable	Captain Toad • Toadette • Purple Captain Toad^Switch
Characters	Supporting	Hint Toad • Yellow Toad • Green Toad • Mole
Episodes		Episode 1 • Episode 2 • Episode 3 • Bonus Episode • Special Episode^Switch
Bosses		Draggadon • Wingo • Gold Draggadon
Enemies and obstacles		Ant Trooper • Biddybud • Big Boo • Big Piranha Plant^WiiU • Bill Blaster • Blurker^WiiU • Boo • Bull's-Eye Bill • Bullet Bill • Cat Goomba^WiiU • Chargin' Chuck • Charvaargh • Cheep Cheep • Conkdor • Cookatiel^Switch/3DS • Fire Bro • Flaptor • Fuzzy • Goomba • Goomba Tower • Innertube Goomba • Magikoopa • Mummy-Me • Mud Trooper • Para-Biddybud • Peepa • Piranha Creeper • Piranha Plant • Piranha Sprout • Shy Guy • Spike • Spike ball • Spiked ball • Stingby^WiiU • Stumper • Walleye
Items and objects		1-Up Mushroom • ? Block • Beep Block • Brick Block • Cannon • Clear Pipe • Coin • Coin pile • Color Panel • Crystal Block • Dash Panel • Donut Block • Double Cherry • Flip Panel • Girder • Gold Mushroom • Green Star^WiiU • Hidden Coin • Invincibility Mushroom • Invisible walkway • Key • Key Coin^WiiU • Key Door • Ladder • Lift^Switch • Mine Cart • Multi-Vator • Mystery Box • P Panel • P Switch • Piranha Plant^WiiU • Pixel Luigi^WiiU • Pixel Toad • Pluck Patch • POW Block • Power Moon^Switch/3DS • Power Star • Propeller Platform^WiiU/3DS • Pull Switch • Rock Block • Rotating platform^Switch/3DS • Spinwheel • Super Gem • Super Mushroom • Super Pickax • Touchstone • Tree^WiiU • Turning Floor • Turnip • Turnip Cannon • Warp Box • Warp Box (With Key)^WiiU • Warp Pipe
Special Episode^Switch		Crown Chip • Shiny Crown • Super Crown
Miscellaneous		Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Fun Quiz • Gallery • Luigi sightings^WiiU • Pre-release and unused content • Staff (Wii U • Nintendo Switch / Nintendo 3DS) • Track That Treasure, Captain Toad!
^WiiU Exclusive to the Wii U version ^Switch Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version ^3DS Exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS version