- This article is about the gameplay mechanic. For other uses of the term "Fly", see Fly (disambiguation).
- “I'm-a going to fly for you. Mmmmmph. Mmmmmmmph. Mmmmmmmmph. Mmmmmmmph. KRSH! Ow! ... I hit my nose.”
- —Mario's face, Mario Teaches Typing series
| Fly
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Flying is an ability of Caped Mario, as depicted in Super Mario World
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| First appearance
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Super Mario Bros. Special (1986)
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| Latest appearance
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Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2025)
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| Used by
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Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Toad, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Lulu
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| Effect
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Lets the character travel through the air
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| Input method
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 , hold  or 
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Flying in the Super Mario franchise is an ability in which player characters float in the air either temporarily or as long as desired. While characters such as Mario need a power-up to fly, certain enemies such as Fly Guys and Paragoombas can fly without the aid of items.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. Special
Flying in Super Mario Bros. Special can be done by having Mario use the Wing power-up, allowing him to fly through the air similarly to the swimming mechanics.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Flying in Super Mario Bros. 2 can be done from a magic carpet temporarily after defeating the Pidgit on it.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Flying in Super Mario Bros. 3 can be temporarily done by Raccoon Mario or Tanooki Mario while the P-Meter is filled, usually from a running start. Flying can be done indefinitely through the effects of a Magic Wing, until Mario either takes damage, grabs a non-flight-based power-up, or clears the current level.
Super Mario World
Flying in Super Mario World can be mainly done by Caped Mario, though only after a running start, after which he soars as if he were gliding. Flying can also be done by a Yoshi eating a Blue Shell (or a Blue Yoshi eating a shell), granting him wings and allowing him to fly around for as long as the shell is held, or if the mounted Yoshi grabs Yoshi's Wings. Flying can also be temporarily by Mario riding a Lakitu's Cloud.
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
Flying can be done by
Wing Mario in
Super Mario 64.
Flying in Super Mario 64 can be done by Wing Mario by performing a Triple Jump or using a cannon to take off, but its effects last only as long as the power-up is active. Flying in Super Mario 64 DS remains an ability exclusive to Wing Mario, this time from collecting the Wings instead of a Wing Cap, but the Yoshis are able to obtain wings in the VS. mode.
New Super Mario Bros.
Flying in New Super Mario Bros. can be done by riding in a Lakitu's Cloud, like in Super Mario World, or by using a Spin Block to charge upwards.
Super Mario Galaxy
Flying can be done by Flying Mario in
Super Mario GalaxyFlying in Super Mario Galaxy and its Nintendo Switch port can be done by Flying Mario temporarily, after jumping and spinning in midair. Flying can also be done by Bee Mario, though his flight is limited by a fly meter, changing color from green, to yellow, and finally to red as they fly. Once the bar is empty, they fall and are unable to fly until the flight meter fills up, which occurs by landing on a stable surface or by collecting Coins). Boo Mario has the ability to float around in midair while the player presses 
. In his standard form. Mario can fly only by going through a Launch Star, which puts him on to an automated flight path.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Flying in New Super Mario Bros. Wii can be done by Propeller Mario, if the player shakes the Wii Remote, making him charge upwards similarly to the Spin Block from New Super Mario Bros. Like in New Super Mario Bros., flying is also doable from a Lakitu's Cloud temporarily through the same means.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Flying in Super Mario Galaxy 2 is performed in the same ways as in Super Mario Galaxy, except Flying Mario, who does not return. Flying can additionally be done by Blimp Yoshi for a certain amount of time, during which the player is given some freedom to control his movement.
Super Mario 3D Land
Flying in Super Mario 3D Land is only done from using Propeller Boxes, since Tanooki Mario and even the P-Wing item do not allow for flying in this game and future 3D installments of the Super Mario series. Despite this, Mario and the Toads from the intro are seen flying in the ending cutscene.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Flying can be done by Raccoon Mario in
New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Flying in New Super Mario Bros. 2 is doable as Raccoon Mario, like in Super Mario Bros. 3, but unlike said game, players can fly by just holding the jump button. Lakitu's Cloud can also be used to fly temporarily through the same means as before.
New Super Mario Bros. U
Flying can be done by Flying Squirrel Mario in
New Super Mario Bros. UFlying in New Super Mario Bros. U can be accomplished from Flying Squirrel Mario or Power Squirrel Mario gliding in the air, similarly to Raccoon Mario or Caped Mario. Flying can be done continually by Power Squirrel Mario without touching the ground, although the effects wear off after one level.
Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Flying in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch version can be done using Propeller Boxes, like in Super Mario 3D Land.
Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS / Super Mario Maker 2
Flying in Super Mario Maker, its Nintendo 3DS version, and Super Mario Maker 2 can be done by Raccoon Mario, Cape Mario, and Propeller Mario in the Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U styles, respectively, functionally identical as in the original games. Flying can also be done from a Lakitu's Cloud temporarily, but this time there is the option to either steal or place a standalone one (except in the Super Mario 3D World style of Super Mario Maker 2). Flying can be similarly done with the (Fire) Koopa Clown Car (Junior Clown Car in the New Super Mario Bros. U style).
Super Mario Odyssey
Flying in Super Mario Odyssey becomes possible from certain captures, such Paragoombas and Glydon.
Super Princess Peach
Flying in Super Princess Peach can be done by Princess Peach while the Joy vibe is active.
Wario: Master of Disguise
Flying in Wario: Master of Disguise can be done by Wicked Wario if the player blows into the Microphone.
Yoshi series
Yoshi's New Island
Artwork of Yellow Yoshi flutter-flying
In Yoshi's New Island, Yoshi can flutter-fly[1][2] when he has the Flutter Wings or Golden Flutter Wings. Flutter-flying is similar to the Flutter Jump. Where a Flutter Jump requires Yoshi to physically exert himself, ends after a short time, and can be reset by pressing and holding the jump button again potentially at a height cost depending on the player's timing, flutter-flying only has Yoshi calmly flap their wings and lasts for as long as the player holds the jump button. This further means the player is at no risk of reducing their maximum height as long as they continuously flutter-fly. In the game's European manual, the term "flutter-fly" is absent, with the Flutter Wings instead allowing for a continuous flutter jump.[3]
Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
Flutter-flying, albeit only referred to as flying, returns in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. The latter game also references it as floating. Instead of needing an item, Yoshi becomes Winged Yoshi when the game is in Mellow Mode, and can therefore only flutter-fly in that mode.
Yoshi's Crafted World
Yoshi's Crafted World follows from Yoshi's Woolly World with two mechanical changes. One is that the amplitude of sustained flutter-flying is smaller, in the sense that Yoshi does not drop as far before rising to his prior height again. The second is that if Yoshi flies, stops flying, then flies again, he gets the larger height boost from initiating flying rather than the weakened height boost from sustained flying. This can be trivially exploited by repeatedly using the initial boost, which allows Yoshi to gain infinite height and reach each course's upper boundary. (Yoshi with wings is not called Winged Yoshi in material for this game.)
WarioWare series
WarioWare: Get It Together!
In WarioWare: Get It Together!, one of Lulu's abilities is to float. When the player presses 
, she spins her hair bow like a propeller and rises into the air a little bit, leaving colored star effects in her wake. The stars indicate that floating is an attack; Lulu can float into objects above her to hit and push them and into enemies above her to defeat them. If the player holds , Lulu will repeatedly float. Lulu cannot ground pound immediately after floating, but this means that if the player holds both and the 
downward, Lulu will repeatedly alternate floating and ground pounding. Lulu moves left and right faster in the air than on the ground, and her faster aerial movement can be facilitated through floating.
Floating is one of the game's stronger attacks. It breaks the bag in Level 1 of Strike Gold in three hits, where some other attacks require four or five hits to do the same. Still, certain attacks are stronger than it, breaking the same bag in only two hits. Floating is also a slow and imprecise way to move vertically, though Lulu's ground pound can partially cover for this weakness.
Profiles
Super Mario Bros. 3
- Wii Virtual Console manual description: "As Tanooki Mario or Raccoon Mario, run until the P on the power meter at the bottom of the screen lights up, then press
repeatedly to fly."
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Fly.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|
| Japanese | 飛ぶ
Tobu | To fly | | [4] |
| Danish | Flyve | To fly | | [5] |
| Dutch | Vliegen | To fly | | [6] |
| Finnish | Lentää | To fly | | [7] |
| French | Voler | To fly | | [8] |
| German | Fliegen | To fly | | [9] |
| Italian | Volare | To fly | | [10] |
| Korean | 날다
Nalda | To fly | | [11] |
| Norwegian | Fly | To fly | | [12] |
| Portuguese | Voar | To fly | | [13] |
| Spanish | Volar | To fly | | [14] |
| Swedish | Flyga | To fly | | [15] |
References
- ^ "Wearing them allows you to flutter-fly by holding down
. It's like a flutter jump that never quits!" – 2014. Yoshi's New Island North American digital instruction manual. Nintendo (English). Page 11.
- ^ "These wings allow Yoshi to flutter-fly, making it easier to avoid traps and pitfalls." – 2013 or 2014. Yoshi's New Island North American official website. Nintendo (English). Retrieved 29 July 2025. (Archived October 23, 2014, 18:59:39 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ "Hold down to continuously flutter-jump!" – 2014. Yoshi's New Island European digital instruction manual. Nintendo (English). Page 11.
- ^ 1988. 『Super Mario Bros. 3 取扱説明書』 (PDF). Kyoto: Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japanese). Page 7.
- ^ 1992. Super Mario World Instruction Booklet. Kungsbacka: Nintendo (Danish, Swedish). Page 43.
- ^ Super Mario Bros 3 — NL
- ^ Nintendo-lehti (1990-1994, Finnish)
- ^ https://notipix.fr/nintendo/nes/super-mario-bros-3/
- ^ Super Mario Power - Offizieller Nintendo Spieleberater
- ^ 1991. Super Mario Bros. 3 Libretto d'Istruzioni. Großostheim: Nintendo of Europe GmbH (Italian). Page 7. (Archived 29 July 2022 via Mario's Castle by Alessandro "Stormkyleis" Imbesi.)
- ^ 「슈퍼 마리오 브라더즈 3」 한국판 사용설명서
- ^ Summer 1991. Power Player Nummer 11-12. Oslo, Norway: Semic AS (Norwegian). Page 29.
- ^ 1991. Super Mario Bros. 3 Manual de Instrucções. Oeiras: Nintendo (European Portuguese). Page 15.
- ^ 1991. Super Mario Bros. 3 Manual de Instrucciones. Madrid: Nintendo (European Spanish). Page 7.
- ^ Nintendo Magasinet Nr 6-7 1991
