Weapon of the Week: Boomerang Flower

A rare native plant of the Mushroom Kingdom. Also Australia.

Franchise: Super Mario

Appearances: Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Mario Golf World Tour

Type: Power-up

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone, and welcome to the very first Weapon of the Week! Today, we will be looking at one of the lesser known power-ups from the Mario universe.

Where would Mario be without his power-ups? In all likelihood, he’d be in a crumpled heap at World 1-1, with Goombas dancing all over his corpse. Lucky for him, he is supplied with many different tools throughout his adventures that makes saving the princess a piece of cake. Several of his power-ups have reached iconic status: the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, the Starman. However, the power-up I chose to write about isn’t iconic, but is still very useful in its own right.

Enter the Boomerang Flower. Like many of Mario’s power-ups, touching it will allow Mario to change form. In this case, Mario will become Boomerang Mario, allowing him to use a boomerang (creative, I know). The boomerang itself is surprisingly useful; it can collect far away items, can destroy projectiles, and can even bounce off walls. Clever players can jump over their own boomerang, keeping it in the field for a longer period of time. All of this adds up to a very versatile power-up.

I hope to see the Boomerang Flower make a return in future Mario games. I also hope that one day I too can get powers by eating plants, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time, we’ll look at a weapon that can both create and destroy. Until then, have a happy New Year.