Super Star

A Super Star, also referred to as Starman or Invincibility Star, is a powerful recurring power-up in the Mario franchise, also appearing as an item in Super Smash Flash 2.

Overview
When a Super Star appears, it will start bouncing in one direction until it falls off stage or hits a wall, making it bounce in the other direction. Directly getting the Super Star will, just like in the original series, grant the player invincibility for about 10 seconds. This will make the character impervious to any attack, though it will be still possible to push the character around. Also, the character will be unable to damage opponents simply by touching them. Whenever a Super Star is used, the background music gets replaced with the iconic invincibility chiptune that has accompanied the transformation since the beginning.

Origin
The Super Star debuted in the platform game, Super Mario Bros., and since then, has become a recurring power-up in the franchise. In its original appearance, it is a rare item that normally only appears once per level, they may come out from ? Blocks or invisible Blocks. Once it gets out, it will start bouncing. Snatching one on time grants Mario or Luigi temporary invincibility taking down any enemies that come in contact and abolishing any projectile thrown at them. However, it does not protect from falling down to lava, a bottomless pit or running out of time. The iconic invincibility chiptune was also introduced in Super Mario Bros. and has been remixed several times in subsequent appearances. Beginning with Super Mario World defeating several enemies in a row would increase a points chain, eventually getting an extra life. Though the design of the Super Star has not drastically changed throughout the years, it is worth noting that the design of the Super Star used in SSF2 is particularly based on the current design used since New Super Mario Bros..

Trivia

 * It is possible to bypass the lava from Bowser's Castle and Phase 8 using the Super Star's invincibility, though this will result in a self-destruct.
 * Because of how invincibility frames are currently treated, a character under them will be unable to get a Super Star, a Super Mushroom or Poison Mushroom event if they were directly touched. This flaw is more evident if the invincibility was granted by a Super Star itself. This makes it possible to attack the hitboxes of the aforementioned items, making possible to launch them.