This page explains in detail the interactions between the Mario series and the Spore series, as well as between the Mass Effect series and the Spore series.
Spore: Galactic Edition[]
September 04, 2008
Mario and Mass Effect
Spore
The special edition of Spore includes a strategy guide published by Prima Games that features a section with various examples of creatures that can be created in the game. One of these is called Sloshi and is clearly a parody of Yoshi from the Mario series. The same page also includes a reference to Mass Effect:
Of course Sloshi's friend Miguel is a reference to Mario and his being spanish is a reference to Mario being italian, while the Ivy Kingdom is a reference to the Mushroom Kingdom, the evil Growser is a reference to Bowser and Princess Apple is a reference to Princess Peach.
Note: this only counts as a link to the Mario series and not to the Yoshi series, because the description clearly talks of him as Mario's sidekick, not as the hero of his own series.
Also the reference to Mass Effect, despite the name of the game being explicitly stated, is only a type 3 link because it's referenced in a description on the strategy guide, not in the game's universe itself.
License[]
Spore's company Electronic Arts had no right over Nintendo's elements, in fact they only included a subtle reference to the Mario series.
Rights for both the Mass Effect and the Spore series are held by Electronic Arts.