Lift

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"Elevator" redirects here. For the object in Donkey Kong's Crash Course in Nintendo Land, see Automated elevator. For the object in Super Mario Land also referred to as an Elevator, see Lift Block.
Lift
Lift artwork from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Artwork from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
First appearance Donkey Kong (1981)
Latest appearance Mario & Luigi: Brothership (2024)
Effect Platforms that are either suspended in the air or move in set patterns
Variants

Lifts[1][2] (also known as elevators)[3][4] are thin platforms that appear throughout the Super Mario franchise. They typically are suspended in the air and move, enabling the player character to reach different heights and cross gaps. Some move by themselves, while others are controlled by the player. They debuted in Donkey Kong.

Lifts that move along wire-like tracks in the Super Mario and Yoshi's Island series are sometimes referred to as Flatbed Ferries.[5]

History[edit]

Donkey Kong[edit]

Donkey Kong features a lift that travels upward and another going downward in 75 m, traveling along what appears to be a track. Both lifts spawn another elevator when one reaches the end of the path. Switches that reverse their direction appear in some levels of the Game Boy game.

Mario Bros. Special[edit]

A lift that takes Mario or Luigi to the upper conveyor belts appears in Mario Bros. Special.

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels[edit]

Screenshot from Super Mario Bros. of a lift being used in World 6-3
A Lift, as it appears in Super Mario Bros..

Vertical Lifts[6] are first found in World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros., functioning like in Donkey Kong. However, World 1-3 adds a variation that moves up and down. The game adds several varieties in general. World 3-3 adds Flimsy Lifts, which move down when stood on. There are Balance Lifts, which push down from the weight of Mario or Luigi, putting them at risk of falling into a pit if they stand on for too long. The lifts are solid, meaning Mario and Luigi cannot land on top by jumping through them. Lifts look like the platforms that make up 100m in Donkey Kong, though the original Family Computer Disk System of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels composes them of mushrooms. There are also Horizontal Lifts,[6] which move back and forth.

Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]

Lifts, like Hard Blocks in Super Mario Bros. 3. The game adds Rail Lifts,[7] debuting in World 1-6 and traveling along a track, and moving Flimsy Lifts, debuting in World 1-4, that collapse to the bottom when stood on.

Certain World-e levels of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 include two more varieties based on their appearance in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World. Wild Ride in the Sky, Caped Escape, Koopaling Confusion, Classic World 1-2, Classic World 1-3 and Classic World 1-4 includes those based on Super Mario Bros., while Rich with Ropes include several stationary lifts based on their design in Super Mario World. A Towering Tour has fast-moving gray lifts that work like the Super Mario Bros.-based lifts but are shaped like the lifts from Super Mario Bros. 3, and they follow a shorter path compared to normal lifts; they move faster on tracks.

Super Mario World / Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2[edit]

Lifts return in Super Mario World and its reissue, this time with a gray or cream color. The Rail Lift returns with the title Pulley Lift[8] (or Pully Lift).[9] There are Single Swing Lifts, consisting of a platform on a swing, with a brown version that rotates around a central pivot point when stepped on and a gray version that swings perpetually. There is also the Triple Swing Lift, consisting of three swinging gray platforms; a Flying Platform, a set of gray Rotating Blocks that cannot spin with wings; Skull Raft, a raft of skulls on lava; a diagonal platform, an orange lift with a grassy top; the Count-Lift, an upright grassy platform with a countdown timer; and the Piston Lift, a mushroom variant of the Balance Lift.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins[edit]

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins introduces a Bone Lift, which rises when stood on, working the opposite of a Flimsy Lift, but freezes in place if not stood on.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS[edit]

Lethal Lava Land Star 6
Screenshot of a lift being used in Super Mario 64

Most lifts in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS are textured with a checkerboard pattern of tan and green. Some pairs of lifts move and rotate around both sides of a vertical beam, flipping upon reaching the top, like in Whomp's Fortress and Vanish Cap Under the Moat. The lifts of Hazy Maze Cave move along black spheres, and there are large orange lifts with yellow and black details that move between floors as well as the controllable Work Elevator at one point. Lethal Lava Land similarly has lifts that travel along black spheres. Wet-Dry World has Arrow Lifts, which move back and forth when stepped upon. The course also has the Express Elevator, which can be stepped on from outside so then the player can ride the part inside of the mesh and get the Power Star of "Express Elevator--Hurry Up!." Tick Tock Clock has vertically moving yellow rectangular lifts, though their speed and direction vary depending on when the course is entered, and a "The Pit and the Pendulums" has a brown cube, an obstacle that moves up and down.

Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

A Lift in Super Mario Galaxy 2
Mario on a lift in Super Mario Galaxy 2

The Lifts of Super Mario Galaxy 2 appear in Sky Station Galaxy, are yellow and rise before flashing blue and disappearing. They have a giant counterpart in Supermassive Galaxy.

Super Mario 3D Land / Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[edit]

Lifts in Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury|the latter's port]] have the same design and function as in Super Mario Galaxy 2 but do not vanish.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS[edit]

Lift

Lifts in Super Mario Maker, its port, and Super Mario Maker 2 can travel in a preset direction and be placed on a track. Lifts can be shaken to become the blue Flimsy Lifts, which travel along a track when stepped on. A lift on a track in the Super Mario World style has a tile largely similar to the Chainsaw. The Super Mario 3D World style of Super Mario Maker 2 turns lifts into the form of Cloud Lifts.

Super Mario Run[edit]

Lifts in Super Mario Run move on tracks in several levels. When the player lands on a Lift, they slowly center themselves on the lift, then do not move again until they jump from it. Some lifts only start moving if the player is standing on them. If a lift leaves a track, it does not reattach itself to any track, even one it originates from. After the player leaves a Lift in any way, most commonly by jumping but also by other platforms or enemies coming between their feet and the Lift, the Lift disappears. After some time has passed, the Lift reappears back in its original location. The lifts' designs are similar to the falling platforms in the final Bowser battle in New Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Odyssey[edit]

The location of a Power Moon in Super Mario Odyssey
A lift leading to Moe-Eye Habitat
Moving platform Super Mario Odyssey
A lift in the Ice Cave

Lifts (referred to as moving platforms in the Prima guide)[10] appear in varying designs and sizes in Super Mario Odyssey. The Tostarena Ruins of the Sand Kingdom has large stone lifts depicting the Inverted Pyramid after completing "Atop the Highest Tower" as well as in the Ice Cave, albeit darker, covered with ice. The stone lifts move along a track when stepped on, and those of Tostarena Ruins take Mario to Moe-Eye Habitat, where smaller variations are used to collect Moon Shards. Larger versions of the stone lifts from Moe-Eye Habitat are in the sub-area with the Power Moon for the sidequest Jaxi Driver.

The 2D segments have lifts reusing their graphics from Super Mario Bros. The sidequest Past the Chasm Lifts of Cascade Kingdom has lifts that work like those in World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros.

Donkey Kong Country series[edit]

Donkey Kong Country[edit]

Elevators in Donkey Kong Country travel up or down from a steel pole in Elevator Antics.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble![edit]

Wooden lifts that move up and down are in the mill stages, Fire-Ball Frenzy, and Rocket Rush of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, as well as Dingy Drain-Pipe in the remake. A lift that moves horizontally is in the first boss fight with Baron K. Roolenstein. Certain lifts only move when stepped on by the player characters.

Yoshi series[edit]

Yoshi's Island series[edit]

Every game of the Yoshi's Island series has Flatbed Ferries, which typically follow a preset path marked by a track when jumped upon until reaching a little red sphere at the end. Upon reaching the end, a Flatbed Ferry switches its direction of movement; if the line ends without a sphere, the Flatbed Ferry falls down, but it may be "caught" by another track if it falls on one, and it starts following it.

Flatbed Ferries appear in a variety of colors, such as green, yellow, and red, with each getting progressively faster; in the isometric sections found in certain fortresses, the colors are a pale pink, periwinkle, and cyan. Magenta ones appear as part of paddle wheels. The liquid lift and Blarggwich carry green Flatbed Ferries.

Yoshi's Story[edit]

Lifts in Yoshi's Story are featured in the form of smiling cloud platforms that move along tracks in the level Rail Lift. If a Baby Yoshi hits a switch present along the tracks by throwing an egg, the cloud platform can move to different tracks. Flatbed Ferries also return in the game.

Yoshi Topsy-Turvy[edit]

Lifts are the smaller Half Lifts (ハーフリフト).[11] are usable in Yoshi Topsy-Turvy. Lifts bear a green zig-zag pattern and a brown rocky pattern. They are attached either to chains or rails. The player can tilt their system to have the lifts move. There are worn-out brown lifts, which fall at the end of a rail.

Game & Watch Gallery 2[edit]

Flatbed Ferries are activated temporarily from a lever in the Modern Donkey Kong in Game & Watch Gallery 2 They are the last platforms used in the first stage, where it moves like a paddle wheel, doing four turns within a full rotation, and the second stage, where they swing from side to side on a chain.

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

SmashWiki article: Platform
The smiling cloud platform that appears in the Yoshi's Story stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Lifts appear in the Super Smash Bros. series as platforms in various stages themed after the Super Mario franchise. A smiling cloud lift appears in the Yoshi's Story stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee, also returning in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; it moves along a dotted line and utilizes its design from Yoshi's Story. The lifts of 75 m in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and its reappearances in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate work exactly like in the original 75m. Super Smash Bros. Brawl also includes rusted lifts in the World 1-2 version of Mushroomy Kingdom, except they are pass-through platforms, unlike the original Super Mario Bros. iteration. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS includes the lifts of Super Mario 3D Land as platforms. 3D Land starts on three motionless lifts, and players battle on four multi-colored lifts while being transitioned from the second to third portion, with rocks possibly altering their angle.

PictoChat 2 of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS may feature segment from World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros. showing a row of blocks between a pair of continuously moving lifts.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions[edit]

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and its port, has some lifts in Guffawha Ruins and the caves of Beanbean Fields. One lift to Little Fungitown is at the end of Teehee Valley. The game also adds the Spin Block variety.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong series[edit]

Mario vs. Donkey Kong[edit]

The lifts of Mario vs. Donkey Kong and its remake are similar to those from Donkey Kong. They appear at one end of a track repeatedly before traveling in another direction and disappearing at the other end, and a Direction Switch can sometimes change the direction of every lift in a level.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis[edit]

Elevators and Moving Platforms[12] (also known as Path Platforms),[13] are the two types of lifts in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis.

Elevators are platforms attached to a pole, like before, and are first found in Room 1-5 of Mushroom Mayhem. At a wall next to an elevator is a control panel,[14] depicted with buttons looking like up and down arrows that turn green when activated. An elevator can have up to two Minis, and the Stylus either raises or lowers the platform from the control panel accordingly. The direction of an elevator can be altered once it reaches a ground or the top of the pole.

A Moving Platform from Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis.

Moving Platforms are first found in Room 6-3 of Toadstool Castle and move along a path automatically, stopping whenever at any ledge and extending their platform slightly, allowing only one Mini to go on board.

WarioWare series[edit]

Lifts on tracks from Super Mario Bros. 3 appear in the microgame Super Mario Bros. 3-Lift in WarioWare: Twisted! and WarioWare Gold (renamed to simply "Super Mario Bros. 3" in the latter). The player has to rotate the system to move the platforms and make Mario avoid the multiple enemies coming for him. In the third level, another lift appears along with Luigi on it, who also needs to be protected.

Super Princess Peach[edit]

Flatbed Ferries appear in Super Princess Peach with a similar role as in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Super Paper Mario[edit]

Lifts are depicted with a yellow and orange zigzag pattern in Super Paper Mario. The player uses horizontal and vertical lifts in places such as Yold Desert, the Floro Caverns, and The Overthere to reach certain areas. The Bitlands has a pixelated variation resembling its design from Super Mario Bros., and there are vertically traveling lifts underground. The Castle Bleck Inner Sanctum has black lifts with white outlines.

Mario Party: Island Tour[edit]

Lifts are featured in the minigame Gyro for the Gold in Mario Party: Island Tour, where players try to cross two of them to complete the obstacle course.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo Switch)[edit]

Lifts reappear in the Nintendo Switch version of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. They replace the Propeller Platforms because the Nintendo Switch has no usable microphone.

Mario Kart series[edit]

Mario Kart Tour[edit]

In Mario Kart Tour's Battle Mode, any opponents that are eliminated ride on lifts that move around the course and throw projectiles such as Green Shells, Bananas, and Bob-ombs onto the course.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[edit]

A pink Flatbed Ferry, with a Yoshi sitting on it, appears near the starting line of Yoshi's Island in the Booster Course Pass DLC pack for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]

Lifts make an appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where they resemble and behave the same way they do in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World.

List of lifts[edit]

Lifts are the basis for many other platforms. For many of them, this is apparent with the inclusion of リフトRifuto ("Lift") in their Japanese name, which is not always carried over during localization. Most derived lifts are suspended in the air and move, either on their own or when a player character steps on them.

Profiles[edit]

Rail Lift[edit]

Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]

  • Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual description:
    • English:
      Travel along rails.

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Lift.

Names in other languages[edit]

Lift[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese リフト[15][16]
Rifuto
Lift
エレベーター[17]
Erebētā
Elevator Mario & Wario
Chinese 升降梯[?]
Shēngjiàngtī
Lift
升降台[?]
Shēngjiàng Tái
Super Mario Maker 2
Dutch Platform[?] Platform
French Plateforme[?] Platform
Ascenseur[21][22] Elevator
German Lift[19] -
Italian Ascensore[?] Elevator
Piattaforma[?] Platform
Piattaforma mobile[20] Mobile platform
Russian Платформа[?]
Platforma
Platform
Spanish Ascensor[?] Elevator
Elevador[18]

Flatbed Ferry[edit]

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese せんリフト[?]
Sen Rifuto
Track Lift
センリフト[23]
Sen Rifuto
線リフト[24]
Sen Rifuto
レールリフト[25]
Rēru Rifuto
Rail Lift Super Mario Bros. 3
Korean 줄리프트[?]
Jul Ripeuteu
Line Lift
Spanish (NOE) Transbordador[?] Ferry

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pelland, Scott, and Dan Owsen (1996). Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Redmond: Nintendo of America (American English). Page 58.
  2. ^ Super Mario Maker in-game name
  3. ^ Musa, Alexander, and Geson Hatchett (November 22, 2013). Super Mario 3D World PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0804162494. Page 167.
  4. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in-game help (no. 08)
  5. ^ "Stand on the Flatbed Ferry platform above this first Star Coin, and wait for the Flatbed Ferry to slide to the right." – Stratton, Steve (2012). New Super Mario Bros. U: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville: Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-89690-2. Page 68.
  6. ^ a b Tochikubo, Hiroo (1987). How to win at Super Mario Bros.. Tokuma Shoten (American English). ISBN 4-19-720003-XC. Page 47..
  7. ^ 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 English instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 19.
  8. ^ August 1991. Nintendo Mario Mania Player's Guide. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 70 and 71.
  9. ^ 2002. Nintendo Power Advance Volume 4. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 29.
  10. ^ Walsh, Doug; Epstein, Joe (October 27, 2017). Super Mario Odyssey Prima Official Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0744018882. Page 54, 59, 68, 71, 73.
  11. ^ March 1, 2005. 「ヨッシーの万有引力任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Yoshi Banyū Inryoku Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook. Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 4-09-106215-6. Page 20Media:YUG Shogakukan P20.jpg.
  12. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in-game help (no. 20)
  13. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis object graphics filename (data/anims/path_platform_anim.bin)
  14. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 21. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  15. ^ Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 21, 29, 41, 48, 61, 78, 92, 119, 137, 151, 171, 186, 201, 217, 234.
  16. ^ KADOKAWA Game Linkage, editors (2023). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ ワンダー かんぺき攻略本』. Tokyo: Kadokawa (Japanese). ISBN 4-047337-02-1. Page 62.
  17. ^ 1993. Mario & Wario instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 9.
  18. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong European instruction booklet. Page 98.
  19. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong European instruction booklet. Page 38.
  20. ^ "TIP — Sali sopra all'ultimo soffitto usando la piattaforma mobile nel MONDO 1-2 per trovare tubi capaci di portarti nel MONDO 2, 3 e 4." – March 26, 2025. Una guida al mondo di Super Mario — MONDO 1 — Super Mario Bros. Nintendo Today! (Italian). Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  21. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong European instruction booklet. Page 58.
  22. ^ Yoshi's Story in-game name (French localization)
  23. ^ November 20, 1995. 「オールカラー版 スーパーマリオヨッシーアイランド全百科」 (All-Color Ban - Super Mario: Yossy Island All Hyakka). Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 92.
  24. ^ ---- (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 60, 118, 150, 200, 216.
  25. ^ 1988. Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 17.