Check Out This Compilation of Every Zelda Reference in the Mario Series
Posted on February 09 2018 by Alexis S. Anderson
It’s no secret Shigeru Miyamoto’s games love making nods to one another. But the sheer amount of references to Zelda in Mario games is staggering. This video by Nintendo Unity shows the usual suspects like Link napping in Super Mario RPG and the warp whistle tune in Super Mario Bros. 3 matching that of the recorder from The Legend of Zelda. But it also includes many obscure references, including ones from Mario-related series like Donkey Kong, Yoshi’s Island, and Warioland.
A lot of these references were easy to spot, but some of them were very lowkey. Saria and Sheik on the Mario Golf leaderboards is so small, but some of the best easter eggs are those that seem just casually thrown in. I’m surprised the video didn’t show the Hylian Kite in Mario Kart 8, though, and it makes me wonder if any other references are missing.
As its name suggests, Nintendo Unity produces videos– including Top Tens, walkthroughs, and compilations of glitches and easter eggs– related to various Nintendo properties. You can check out the rest of the channel’s Zelda videos here.
What do you guys think of this compilation? Which references are your personal favorites? Are you aware of any that the video missed? Let us know in the comments!
Alexis S. Anderson is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon who joined the writing team in November, 2014. She has a JD from the UCLA School of Law and is pursuing a career in Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law. She grew up in the New Jersey suburbs with her parents, twin brother, and family shih-tzu.
