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Drill Mushroom: Digging Through Floors and Ceilings in Wonder

1421 words | Reading time : 7 minute(s)

ItemDrill MushroomSuper Mario Bros. Wonder

A drill on your head to burrow through floors and ceilings alike. Introduced in Super Mario Bros. Wonder on Switch in 2023, the Drill Mushroom turns Mario into a burrower able to strike armoured enemies from below. This guide covers its uses — hiding, breaking, exploring — and its place among the game's new power-ups.

In Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo Switch, 2023), the Drill Mushroom (Drill Mushroom in English) turns Mario into a tireless burrower. Crowned with a spinning drill, he digs just as easily underground as along the ceiling to explore levels, take cover and catch otherwise untouchable enemies by surprise.

Released worldwide on October 20, 2023, this grand return of 2D Mario makes it one of the game's flagship powers, alongside the Elephant Fruit and the Bubble Flower. Here is how it works, what it lets you do and where it falls short.

Contents

A mushroom topped with a spinning drill

The Drill Mushroom is picked up like any other item in the game. It looks like a mushroom with a red base, topped not with a cap but with an unmistakable grey drill. Once grabbed, it turns the character into Drill Mario (Drill Mario), wearing a humming drill helmet in place of his cap.

Like every Wonder power-up, it takes up the slot of the main power: picking up another item, a Fire Flower for instance, replaces it, and taking a hit makes you lose it, sending Mario back to his previous form. The drill is therefore no mere cosmetic gadget, but a genuine way of moving that changes how you tackle a level and how you read its scenery.

Burrowing through floors and ceilings

The heart of the power comes down to one move: burrowing. Just push the stick down while crouching over diggable ground and Mario vanishes beneath the surface, travelling under cover along the terrain. You can pop back out at any moment by letting go or jumping.

The real stroke of genius is the ceiling. Jump into certain ceilings and Mario latches on with his drill, moving along upside down with his head buried above him. He can travel freely between floor and ceiling, switching from one to the other to get around obstacles and flush out hidden passages that stay completely invisible to every other form.

In practice, that opens up three complementary uses:

  • Underground: slip just below the surface to dodge projectiles and the enemies patrolling above you.
  • On the ceiling: drill through dirt ceilings or soft blocks to reach ledges no ordinary jump can touch.
  • In mid-air: point the drill downwards to bore through certain surfaces right under your feet and keep on falling.

Hitting armoured enemies from below

The drill's great offensive asset is attacking from below. Plenty of Wonder enemies guard their top side with a shell, a helmet or a row of spikes, shrugging off the classic head stomp and hurting you instead. The counter is simple: burrow, line yourself up right underneath them, then burst out to strike where they are vulnerable.

Same logic against enemies bristling with spikes on top: jumping on them is impossible without getting pricked, but a drill strike bursting out of the ground wipes them out with zero risk. On top of that, the power-up adds protection against anything falling from above: an enemy or object that lands on you is absorbed by the drill helmet instead of costing you your power.

Hiding, breaking and exploring levels

Beyond combat, the drill is a formidable tool for exploration. Lying low beneath the surface, Mario slips out of sight of certain enemies and crosses dangerous areas without taking a hit, rather as if he were using a safety tunnel. It is also the key to plenty of secrets: seeds and bonus nooks often only reveal themselves if you dig in the right spot.

The drill also bores through flimsy materials, such as certain dirt or ice blocks, opening up shortcuts closed to every other power-up. Several levels are in fact entirely built around it: two-tier galleries, ceilings to bore through and dirt walls that only make sense once you have the drill.

One of Wonder's three new power-ups

The Drill Mushroom does not arrive alone: it is one of the three new transformation powers introduced by Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It shares the bill with the Elephant Fruit (Elephant Fruit), which turns Mario into an elephant able to swing its trunk and spray water, and the Bubble Flower (Bubble Flower), which fires bubbles that trap enemies and double as bouncy platforms.

These newcomers sit alongside returning classics such as the Fire Flower and the Super Mushroom. But where the others bet on ranged attacks or raw power, the drill plays a card all its own: vertical traversal: it is the only power in the game that lets Mario leave the surface plane and move through the very thickness of the scenery.

The drill's limits and the right reflexes

The drill is not invincible, though. It offers no protection from fire: burning enemies and traps hurt you despite the helmet, so you are better off staying on the surface to dodge them than trusting the armour. Nor does it dig through just anything: only the terrain designed for it, dirt and soft materials, gives way — never hard stone.

A few habits get the most out of the power: alternating floor and ceiling to sweep an entire corridor, popping out right under an armoured enemy rather than in front of it, and always digging around dead ends, since the designers often hide a reward there. Mastered properly, the drill turns every level into a double-sided playground, to be played on top and underneath alike.

The Drill Mushroom at a glance

Name (Europe) Drill Mushroom
English name Drill Mushroom
Type Transformation power (Wonder)
Debut game Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)
Platform Nintendo Switch
Resulting form Drill Mario
Key strength Burrowing through floors and ceilings
Weakness No protection against fire

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FAQ

  • Which game does the Drill Mushroom appear in?
    It debuts in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, released worldwide on Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2023.
  • What is the Drill Mushroom's English name?
    In English it is called the Drill Mushroom, and it turns the character into Drill Mario, known as Mario foreuse in the French version.
  • How do you burrow into the ground or the ceiling?
    Push the stick down over diggable ground to dive underground, and jump into certain ceilings to latch onto them.
  • Which enemies is the drill useful against?
    It lets you beat armoured or spike-covered enemies from below — the ones you cannot jump on — by bursting out of the ground beneath them.
  • Does the drill protect you from everything?
    No. It absorbs anything falling from above, but offers no protection from fire, and it can only dig through the terrain designed for it, not hard stone.
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