Super Mario Odyssey Guide – What do amiibo unlock?

Super Mario Odyssey is out now. It’s an incredible game and it’s also huge. Not to worry though, we’ve got your back with a number of handy guides, tips and hints. In this guide, we’ll let you know what you can unlock by using amiibo.

What do amiibo unlock?

For the purposes of this guide, we tested as many amiibo as we were able. Unfortunately, we have not been able to test every amiibo available. As such we can’t give a definitive answer as to what those amiibo may or may not do.

Our experience with the amiibo we do have available, lets us feel fairly certain that we know what will happen with the ones we haven’t tested. We’re happy to be proven wrong though. For now, these are the amiibo we’ve tested and this is what they do.

amiibo Collection Unlock Uncle amiibo unlock
Mario Smash Bros Limited time invincibility Classic Cap & Classic Suit
Silver Mario Super Mario Bros Limited time invincibility Classic Cap & Classic Suit
Mario Super Mario Bros Limited time invincibility Classic Cap & Classic Suit
Pixel Mario Super Mario Maker Limited time invincibility Classic Cap & Classic Suit
Luigi Super Mario Bros Coins or Heart refill Luigi Cap & Luigi Suit
Dr. Mario Smash Bros Limited time invincibility Doctor Headwear & Doctor Suit
Peach Smash Bros Extra Heart
Bowser Smash Bros Locate special Coins
Wario Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill Wario Cap & Wario Suit
Mega Man Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill
Yarn Yoshi (all colours) Yoshi’s Woolly World Coins or Heart refill
Sonic Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill
Little Mac Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill
Inkling Girl Splatoon Coins or Heart refill
Koopa Troopa Super Mario Bros Coins or Heart refill
Goomba Super Mario Bros Coins or Heart refill
Yoshi Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill
Villager Super Smash Bros Coins or Heart refill

To use an amiibo in Super Mario Odyssey you need to hold down the right side of the D-Pad until the amiibo symbol appears on-screen. When it does, tap the amiibo on the controller or Switch console and you’ll unlock your reward.

At this stage, it seems that only Mario, Peach and Bowser provide you with any real benefit. If you tap any Mario amiibo, you’ll be given a brief window of invincibility. Peach will grant you an extra heart, taking your HP to six. Bowser seems to be the most useful as tapping him will place an indicator on-screen, showing the location of a group of special, level specific coins. You’ll need these coins to buy costumes.

Uncle amiibo

Uncle amiibo is a sentient amiibo hot-spot that can be found in just about every kingdom. If you talk to him and tap any amiibo they will find a clue to direct you to a new Power Moon. It takes about 5-minutes, but when you speak to Uncle amiibo again, the location of a Moon will be marked on your map.

Some amiibo will also unlock a special costume for Mario to wear. We’ve only found four costumes at the time of writing. We unlocked them by tapping Luigi, Dr Mario, Wario and Mario. There may be more, but so far we haven’t found them.

Uncle amiibo will recognise most amiibo you tap and call them out by name. Some amiibo don’t fully register when you tap them though. Sonic, Mega Man, Koopa Troopa and Goomba were referred to as ‘Lovely amiibo’ by Uncle amiibo. Clearly, they don’t have much functionality in Super Mario Odyssey.


PowerUp! has been incredibly fortunate to have received a copy of Super Mario Odyssey ahead of release. We’ve managed to play through and finish the game and have prepared a number of guides. Some of these guides are a work in progress as Super Mario Odyssey is enormous.

Please check back regularly to get all the latest updates to all our Super Mario Odyssey Guides.


Super Mario Odyssey was provided to PowerUp! by Nintendo.

Leo Stevenson
Leo Stevensonhttps://powerup-gaming.com/
I've been playing games for the past 27 years and have been writing for almost as long. Combining two passions in the way I'm able is a true privilege. PowerUp! is a labour of love and one I am so excited to share.

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