Rotating platform
- Not to be confused with Rotating Block.
| Rotating platform | |
|---|---|
 Model from Super Mario 64 | |
| First appearance | Super Mario 64 (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020) |
Rotating platforms,[1] originally referred to as flipping blocks,[2] are blocky platforms in Super Mario 64, Super Mario 64 DS, and New Super Mario Bros. They are suspended in the air and rotate around a fixed screw-like pivot point in 90° intervals. In all appearances, multiple rotating platforms of various shapes and sizes must be ascended in order to reach the goal of their levels.
History[edit]
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS[edit]
Flipping blocks are one of the shifting footholds found inside Tick Tock Clock in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS. The design of the flipping blocks is comparable to other ones inside the clock, with yellow outer casing and coiled interiors, similar to the interior parts of real clocks. Flipping blocks are of various shapes and sizes, with some being cubes, triangular prisms, or hexagons. While most flipping blocks rotate vertically, some are very broad and rotate horizontally. While most flipping blocks rotate around a pivot in their center, there are horizontal triangular ones where the pivot is at one of their corners, from which they teeter back and forth in set intervals. Flipping blocks are the primary platforms needed to reach different sections of Tick Tock Clock.
Flipping blocks stall before rotating and slightly dip downward before rotating. If the player character is on top of a block as it flips, he falls. In the original Nintendo 64 game, where Tick Tock Clock has no floor, this can cost Mario a life. The placement of the clock's hands when the player enters its face determines the speed with which the flipping blocks rotate. If the minute hand is near "9," for example, the blocks rotate very rapidly. If the minute hand is near "12," the blocks are static.
New Super Mario Bros.[edit]
Rotating platforms appear in two levels in New Super Mario Bros., a 2D game heavily derived from Super Mario 64 DS. Here, the blocks are red and have hollow centers. Like in Super Mario 64, the rotating platforms are varyingly shaped, with some cubes, rectangular prisms, and triangular prisms. They rotate horizontally in set intervals that can be timed. Their is no mechanism in this game that controls the speed with which they rotate or makes them stop.
The platforms first appear in World 2-
Tower, after the level's midway point. Red-and-yellow blocks in this area cause rotating platforms to materialize in certain parts when struck, and they disappear when struck again. Mario (or Luigi) must use the rotating platforms to reach the boss room with Bowser Jr., as well as one of the level's Star Coins. Rotating platforms subsequently appear in World 8-
Castle, where they are required to cross over lava and reach the level's third Star Coin.
Gallery[edit]
New Super Mario Bros.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 回転足場[3] Kaiten Ashiba |
Rotating Scaffolding | Super Mario 64 |
| 回転ブロック[4] Kaiten Burokku |
Rotating Block | New Super Mario Bros. | |
| German | Fatal Quadrat[5] | Fatal Square |
References[edit]
- ^ Loe, Casey (2006). New Super Mario Bros. Official Player's Guide. Redmond: Nintendo of America. ISBN 1-59812-009-3. Page 35.
- ^ Pelland, Scott and Dan Owsen (1996). The Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Redmond: Nintendo of America. Page 113.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). "Super Mario 64" in『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). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 91.
- ^ ---- (2015). "New Super Mario Bros." in『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). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 118.
- ^ Kraft, John D., Thomas Görg, and Marko Hein, editors (1997). Der offizielle Nintendo 64 Spieleberater "Super Mario 64". Großostheim: Nintendo of Europe GmbH (German). Page 91.
