Toad House
Toad's Houses are Mushroom-shaped buildings that first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3, where they were located across every world map except for Dark Land. They have since made appearances in more recent games. Toad's Houses always hold either a useful surprise or reward for Mario or Luigi.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 3
Upon entering a Toad's House, Toad will appear and he will present the player with three Treasure Chests, each one ostensibly containing a different item. Toad's Houses in earlier worlds tend to hold more basic power-ups such as Super Mushrooms and Super Leaves, while the ones in later worlds may hold Tanooki Suits and Hammer Suits. The player may only open one chest, after which, the Toad's House will disappear.
White Toad's House
If a player collects enough Coins in a world's particular level, a special White Toad's Houses will appear (in remakes of the game, these Toad's Houses are blue). In these special Toad's Houses lies a single chest. A P-Wing can be found in the chest in odd-numbered Worlds, while an Anchor will appear in even-numbered Worlds. If the player finds the secret exit in World 1-3, they will enter a secret Toad's House, where they will acquire a Warp Whistle.
New Super Mario Bros.
Toad's Houses reappear in New Super Mario Bros. on the world map, often requiring Star Coins to open up (or completing a bonus, lettered level). Manned by Toadsworth, they supply all the helpful items in the game in four different varieties:
Item House
Capped by a red mushroom on the world map. A big block alternates between a Mushroom, Fire Flower, Blue Koopa Shell and a Mini Mushroom. Whatever is displayed when Mario or Luigi bumps it from below is what will be stored as the backup item. If a brother has a backup item already and the item chosen has less or equal value to the original backup item, 1000 points will be awarded instead.
1-Up House
Capped by a green mushroom. Six ? Blocks are spread out. Three contain a 1-Up Mushroom card. One contains a 1-Up Mushroom X3 card. One contains a X2 card. One contains a Bowser card. The X2 card doubles all cards already revealed, and the Bowser card ends the minigame (though Mario keeps any 1-Ups revealed). Up to twelve 1-Ups can be won.
Mega House
Capped by a Mega Mushroom. As the name implies, a big ? Block contains a Mega Mushroom, which will override any backup item. They can also be accessed by finishing a level with a time left ending in '77, '88 or '99, where the house will appear at the start.
Mini House
Capped by a blue mushroom. See the uses of Star Coins for more details.
Toad's Houses (except the Mini House) disappear after one use. However, if the brothers can complete all eighty levels in the game, all Toad's Houses will reappear and become permanent (marked by a blue circle on the world map), providing up to 99 lives and infinite items to help find all the Star Coins.
Bonus Houses via Flag Fireworks
By ending the level with the last two numbers being the same (except 00), three things are triggered: a) a Super Mario Bros. theme is played instead of the normal end-of-level music, b) fireworks go off (1 for ending in 11, 2 for ending in 22, and so on, awarding 4000 points per boom), and c) a bonus Toad's House appears on the starting point where Mario first enters the world. Times ending in 11, 22, or 33 yield an Item House, 44, 55, and 66 a 1-Up House, and 77, 88, and 99 a Mega House. None of these houses are ever permanent, even after completing all eighty levels.
New Super Mario Bros.Wii
Unlike New Super Mario Bros., this game does not require Mario to collect Star Coins to open Toad's Houses. Instead, he player will automatically unlock it when a certain level is completed. Also, a Toad's House will appear if Fireworks are triggered. In single-player, this is accomplished by rescuing a Toad. In multiplayer, all players must reach the flagpole when the last two digits of the remaining time are the same. In both modes, the last digit of the remaining time tells how much fireworks are set off. After using a Toad house you will get a message to use them on a tough course. Or if you used a 1-up house you will get a message to visit Peach's Castle to watch Hint Movies.
Item House
Here, Mario will play the minigame, Power-Up Panels, in order to win items. To win, Mario only needs to match two of the same items. If two Bowser or Bowser Jr. tiles pop up, the game will end and Mario keeps his items.
Star House
These houses contain one Starman, and they are much rarer than the regular Item Houses. These houses have white roofs with multiple stars around the house.
1-Up House
Inside this house, Mario will play the minigame 1-Up Blast. Mario will need to hop into a cannon and shoot himself out popping balloons.
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad's Houses were shown to be the actual residences of the Mushroom People living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad's house in particular was a frequently used location during the course of the series. In addition to the houses, most commercial buildings were shaped like Mushrooms, such as the Mushroom Land Central Library and the Mushroom Kingdom Orphanage.
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, the Toad's House became a place where Mario and his partners could restore their HP, FP, and SP. They appeared in almost every town, and they were each run by a Toad. In the later Paper Mario games, the Toad's Houses were replaced by Inns.
Trivia
- Beta screenshots of Super Mario Bros. 3 showed that Toad wouldn't be the only one hosting Toad's Houses - a Koopa and a Hammer Bro. would also run the Toad's Houses.
- Also beta screenshots of Super Mario World showed Toad's Houses would appear in this game.
- Toad's House music in New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a remix of Toy Time Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy.
- In Paper Mario, the toad house in Goomba Village has the slogan "Refresh your body and mind" while the others are "Refresh your Body and Soul".
