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Mario and Link

Because The Legend of Zelda series and the Super Mario series were both created by Shigeru Miyamoto, elements from both series have often been referenced by the other.

In the late 1980s, after the release of the first Legend of Zelda game, Mario and Link were often seen together on various pieces of merchandise. This extended to the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, where The Legend of Zelda cartoon appeared in place of the Super Mario Bros. animated segments in the episodes that aired on Fridays.

The NES version of Tetris was the first game to feature characters from both series onscreen together; in that game, if the player completes Level 9 Stage 5 in the Type B mode, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Link all appear (along with Samus Aran and Pit) on the ending screen. The two franchises would eventually cross over again, along with several other Nintendo franchises, in the Super Smash Bros. series. Link also appeared as a downloadable guest character in Mario Kart 8.

Mario references in The Legend of Zelda[]

Zelda references in Super Mario[]

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