You've probably seen it on a digital billboard or tucked away in a movie trailer. It looks like a legitimate U.S. phone number. 929-55-MARIO. If you grew up in the era of NES manuals and cheat code hotlines, your first instinct is to grab your phone. You want to know if Nintendo finally gave the world’s most famous plumber a working landline.
So, what is Mario's phone number?
Honestly, the answer depends on when you ask. Over the last forty years, Nintendo has used several "real" phone numbers for marketing stunts, easter eggs, and customer service lines that became legendary in their own right. But if you’re looking for the one tied to the Super Mario Bros. Movie, the digits are 929-556-2746. It’s a New York City area code (Brooklyn, obviously), and yeah, it actually works. Or at least, it did. These things have a shelf life.
The Brooklyn Connection: 929-556-2746
When Illumination and Nintendo started ramping up the marketing for the 2023 film, they went full "method." They launched a website for the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing business. It looked like something built in 2005 on GeoCities. It had testimonials, a career page, and a very prominent phone number.
If you called it back then, you didn't get a receptionist. You got Charlie Day. Well, you got Luigi. The voicemail was a high-energy recording of Luigi (voiced by Day) rambling about their plumbing services. It was a brilliant bit of world-building. It treated the characters not as digital sprites, but as small business owners trying to make it in the Big Apple.
Fans loved it. People were texting the number too. If you sent a message, you’d get a link to sign up for updates about the movie. It was a direct line to the marketing department disguised as a pipe-fixer’s cell phone.
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But here is the thing about marketing numbers. They aren't forever. Companies lease these numbers through services like Twilio. Once the DVD sales peak and the sequel is announced, those lines often go dark. Some people calling lately have reported getting a busy signal or a generic "mailbox is full" message. It’s a bummer, but that’s the reality of "fake-real" numbers.
The History of Calling Nintendo
Nintendo has a long, weird history with telephones. Long before the movie, there was the Nintendo Power Line.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, if you were stuck in The Legend of Zelda or couldn't find the secret exits in Super Mario World, you didn't have YouTube. You had a phone. You would call (425) 885-7529. That was the number for the Nintendo Power Club game counselors.
Imagine having a job where you sat in a cubicle in Redmond, Washington, holding a binder full of maps, just waiting for kids to call and ask how to beat Bowser. It was a premium service. It cost money per minute. Parents hated the phone bill, but for a kid in 1991, that was the only "Mario phone number" that mattered.
The counselors were real people. They were experts. They had to play the games for hours to make sure they could talk a caller through a jump over a pit of lava without seeing the screen. It was primitive, high-stakes tech support for 8-bit plumbers.
Other Secret Digits
- The Japanese "Special" Number: During the launch of Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo Japan released a number that played a clip of the song "Jump Up, Super Star!"
- The Punch-Out Cameo: In some older Nintendo titles, random strings of numbers appeared in the background that fans would swear were secret hotlines. Most were just random textures, but the 929 number was the first time Nintendo fully leaned into the "call us" trope for a global audience.
Why Do We Keep Searching for This?
It’s about the "Magic Circle." In game design theory, the Magic Circle is the space where the rules of the game world apply. When a developer gives you a real-world phone number, they are stretching that circle. They are telling you that Mario isn't just a collection of pixels on your Switch; he's a guy in Brooklyn who pays a phone bill.
It’s the same reason people try to find the real-life locations of the diner in Seinfeld. We want the fiction to bleed into reality.
When you dial 929-55-MARIO, you aren't expecting to talk to a fictional character about your leaky faucet. You’re looking for an "Easter Egg." You want that tiny hit of dopamine that comes from a brand acknowledging you're in on the joke.
What Happens if You Text Him?
During the height of the movie's promotion, texting the 929 number was actually more rewarding than calling. You’d get a digital business card for "Super Mario Bros. Plumbing." It featured the tagline: "Fixing pipes is our game!"
It also included a link to a "Service Map." Of course, the map just showed the Brooklyn/Queens area, but it was packed with references to the games. This kind of "transmedia storytelling" is basically standard now, but Nintendo’s execution felt particularly nostalgic.
If you try to text it today, you might get nothing. Or you might get a "Number Disconnected" bounce-back. That’s the danger of these articles you see online—they often promise a "live" interaction that has actually been decommissioned for months.
The Logistics of Mario’s "Phone"
Let's get technical for a second. Nintendo doesn't own a physical iPhone sitting in a drawer in Kyoto.
They use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems. These systems can handle thousands of concurrent calls. If ten thousand people call the Super Mario phone number at 7:00 PM on a Friday, the system just routes them all to the same audio file. It’s essentially a cloud-based voicemail box.
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If you are a developer or a business owner looking to do something similar, it’s surprisingly easy. Services like Grasshopper or Twilio let you buy "vanity" numbers. The hard part isn't getting the number; it’s the "MARIO" part. You have to find a combination of digits that haven't been snatched up by another company.
Misconceptions and Fakes
Because the search volume for Mario's contact info is so high, the internet is littered with fakes.
You’ll see YouTube videos titled "I CALLED MARIO AT 3 AM (HE ANSWERED!!)" usually featuring some guy in a cheap polyester costume or a soundboard of Charles Martinet clips. These are almost always fake. Mario doesn't have a personal cell phone. He’s a mascot.
There are also "fan-made" numbers. Some enthusiasts will buy a number and set up their own recordings. While cool, these aren't official. If the number isn't printed on a Nintendo-sanctioned poster or website, it’s probably just a fan project—or worse, a scam trying to collect phone numbers for marketing lists. Always be careful about what you're dialing.
What to Do Instead of Calling
If you tried the number and it’s dead, don't worry. You haven't missed out on the "true" Mario experience.
The best way to interact with the world of Mario isn't through a phone anyway. It’s through the games. But, if you’re looking for that specific "real world" itch:
- Visit Super Nintendo World: If you go to the theme parks in Osaka or Hollywood, the "Power-Up Bands" act as your physical connection to the game. It’s way more interactive than a voicemail.
- Check the Official Websites: Nintendo often hides mini-games on their promotional sites that serve the same purpose as the phone number.
- The Archive: You can find recordings of the original 929-556-2746 voicemail on YouTube. It’s a nice piece of digital history to listen to if the line eventually gets reassigned to a random person in New York.
The legacy of Mario’s phone number isn't about the digits themselves. It’s about the fact that even in 2026, we still want to believe that if we dial the right combination of numbers, someone from the Mushroom Kingdom might just pick up.
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Next Steps for the Curious:
If you’re still itching to call, give the 929-556-2746 number one last try, but don’t be surprised if the line is silent. Instead, head over to the official SMBPlumbing website (if it’s still mirrored) to see the hidden "error 404" page which often contains fun animations. For those interested in the history of game counseling, look up the "Nintendo Power Line" archives on the Internet Archive; there are hundreds of hours of recorded tips and tricks from the 90s that offer a much more authentic look at the "real" Mario phone experience.