This article is about the box fromSuper Mario 3D Land. For the item from thePaper Mario series with the same name, seeMystery Box (item). For the Captain Command inBowser Jr.'s Journey, seeMystery Box (Captain Command).

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

Mystery Boxes are objects debuting inSuper Mario 3D Land.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario 3D Land[edit]

InSuper 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 fromGoombas toBoom Booms. When Mario completes the task,coins and aStar Medal appear. Other items, such as1-Up Mushrooms,Super Leaves andFire 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 theTeleporter theme fromSuper 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 asPoison Mushrooms,Toads, or evenP-Wings. These Mystery Boxes have a cover of themain theme fromSuper 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 viaStreetPass, a wireless feature that automatically exchanges information with nearbyNintendo 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. The first time the player completes theWorld 1 map Mystery Box, during the tutorial for StreetPass Mystery Boxes, "Victory Parade" plays.

Mystery Boxes also can appear in some levels ofSuper 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 currentWarp 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 Fury[edit]

Mystery Boxes inSuper Mario 3D World andits Nintendo Switch port can only be found in levels. Each of them has aGreen Star which must be collected within the time limit. If the player fails, they are 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 calledMystery Houses, which consist of clearing a number of Mystery Box courses in quick succession. In one area of theShiftier Boo Mansion level, afake Mystery Box appears, which summons aBig Boo when interacted with.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]

Mystery Boxes also appear inCaptain Toad: Treasure Tracker and its Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DSports, appearing only inCoins Galore bonus levels this time. After entering a Coins Galore level,Captain Toad orToadette can select two Mystery Boxes: one that accesses a bonus area withSuper Pickaxes and other that access a bonus area withDouble Cherries. The task is to collect many coins orGold 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 theBonus Episode.

Contents[edit]

Super Mario 3D Land[edit]

Image	Content	Location
	3? Blocks, two of which contain a singlecoin and the other of which continues to produce coins as long as time remains on the Box's timer 2Hidden Blocks (Note: They appear where there are gaps between the ? Blocks.)
	3Long ? Blocks containing twocoins and aSuper Leaf, a single set of three coins, and multiple sets of three coins, respectively
	3Roulette Blocks	(Note: Ayellow Toad will also be found here and will give a1-Up Mushroom if the player watched his entrance into the hidden Box through a pair ofbinoculars.)
	3coin throwingRocky Wrenches 1Star Medal
	45Brick Blocks each containing acoin 3Hidden Blocks each containing acoin 1Hidden Block containing a1-Up Mushroom

World Map Mystery Boxes[edit]

Defeating every enemy in a Box will cause tencoins and aStar Medal to appear.

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

Golden Mystery Boxes[edit]

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

Image	Content	Appearance
	15Super Leaves 1P-Wing
	5Toads (red, blue, yellow, green, and purple)
	9Goomba Boards, five of which contain1-Up Mushrooms and others which containcoins 1Fire Flower
	10crates, four of which contain1-Up Mushrooms 2? Blocks containing aSuper Leaf and aFire Flower, respectively
	12cacti, four of which contain1-Up Mushrooms 1Boomerang Flower
	7 white dandelions 4 yellow dandelions containing1-Up Mushrooms 1? Block containing aSuper Leaf
	4P Switches pressing each of which causes a1-Up Mushroom to appear
	71-Up Mushroom Boards, four of which contain real1-Up Mushrooms A 5th1-Up Mushroom 1? Block containing aFire Flower
	61-Up Mushrooms 6Poison Mushrooms
	12? Blocks containingcoins 4Invisible ? Blocks containing1-Up Mushrooms
	3? Blocks containing1-Up Mushrooms 1? Box
	4torches containing1-Up Mushrooms 1Fire Flower
	81-Up Mushrooms
	Flowers, some of which contain1-Up Mushrooms, and some of which containcoins 1? Block containing aFire Flower
	Plants, some of which contain1-Up Mushrooms, and some of which containcoins 1Coin Coffer hiding in one of the plants 1? Block containing aSuper Leaf

Super Mario 3D World[edit]

The player obtains aGreen Star by completing the following objectives:

Level	Location	Objective
World 1-2:Koopa Troopa Cave		Defeating twoKoopa Troopas
World 1-5:Switch Scramble Circus		Destroying the crate in the left-hand corner
World 2-3:Shadow-Play Alley		Pressing theP Switch to open a hidden room underneath the stairs
World 3-3:Shifty Boo Mansion		Dodging thePeepas in the rotating room to reach the Green Star
World 3-6:Mount Must Dash		Catching theRabbit
World 4-2:Piranha Creeper Creek		Using fourPiranha Creepers as platforms to reach the Green Star
World 4-4:Big Bounce Byway		Jumping with a disabledHop-Chop or using theCat transformation to climb to the Green Star
World 4-Castle:Lava Rock Lair		Pressing the threeP Panels
World 5-7:Searchlight Sneak		Climbing the stairs to the Star while dodgingCat Bullet Bills
World 6-3:Hands-On Hall		Defeating theSpike
World 6-5:Ty-Foo Flurries		Skating to the Star while dodgingWalleyes andSkating Goombas
World 6-6:Bullet Bill Base		Navigating the circular vertical conveyor belt to reach the Green Star
WorldCastle-4:Boiling Blue Bully Belt		Pushing aBully into the lava
WorldBowser-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
WorldBowser-3:Cookie Cogworks		Navigating the giant cookie rotating counterclockwise to reach the Green Star
WorldBowser-4:Footlight Lane		Navigating the invisible floors and dodging theThwomp to reach the Green Star
WorldBowser-6:A Beam in the Dark		Defeating sixBoos withLight Boxes or theLucky Bell
WorldStar-3:Rolling Ride Run		Rotating the room to the right or using the Cat transformation to reach the Green Star
WorldStar-5:Super Block Land		Extending the blocks in the room or using the Cat transformation to reach the Green Star
WorldStar-8:Peepa's Fog Bog		Throwing a snowball at the Green Star to collect it; going near it causes it to vanish
WorldFlower-1:Switch Shock Circus		Turning on all fourSwitch Panels on the wall to reveal the Green Star

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Super Mario 3D Land

• 

  Super Mario 3D World

Names in other languages[edit]

References[edit]

• Blocks
• Locations
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker objects
• Super Mario 3D Land objects
• Super Mario 3D World objects

• Articles with unsourced foreign names