Horse
- This article is about the animal. For the character from Saturday Supercade, see Trucknappers.
| Horse | |
|---|---|
 Artwork with Daisy from Mario Sports Superstars | |
| First appearance | Mario Party 2 (1999) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024) |
Horses appear in the Super Mario franchise as animals that player characters ride in equestrian sporting events. Their purpose as steeds are usually taken by Yoshis instead, which is why they seldomly ever appear.
History[edit]
Mario Party series[edit]
Horses appear as board decorations in Western Land in Mario Party 2 and Super Mario Party Jamboree, retaining their Mario Sports Superstars design in the latter.
In Super Mario Party, horses appear in the minigame Fiddler on the Hoof, where they retain their design for the male Balance type Horses from Mario Sports Superstars. Despite this, none of the colors are shared between games.
Mario & Sonic series[edit]
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games[edit]
Horses first appear as interactable elements in the Super Mario franchise in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. They are used by player characters in the equestrian events. They come in large varieties, such as brown, bright brown, and white. The Equestrian - Show Jumping event is set in Greenwich Park, where the horses are found.[1] They can be ridden by playable characters in the game. At the beginning of Equestrian, when a "GO!" appears on the screen, the player can swing the Wii Remote for a Starting Dash. The player has to hold the Wii Remote on its side and move up and down as if they were reins to speed up. The player needs to slow down and angle their Remote to steer around corners before galloping up to a fence and leaping over it. Equestrian is known to have ten fences, which a horse needs to jump over. If the player misses a single fence, they lose the game. When the player is about to finish the Equestrian event, the Horse may speed up when the player keeps on shaking the Wii Remote.
Horses appear in one of the Dream Events, Dream Equestrian, which takes place in Moo Moo Meadows from Mario Kart Wii.[2] The event needs four players who ride their horses, and help transport the seven Yoshi Eggs on a cart at the goal of the minigame. Sometimes, arrows to show the direction where the players should go to appear, and the Horse moves if the players hold the Wii Remote sideways and shake it in the right direction. Sometimes the cart tips over and the players have to hold the Wii Remote in the right direction to get the balance back, especially when a Chain Chomp chases after them on a bridge. The horses always have to dodge things thrown at them, including the barrels behind them, a Magikoopa's magic attacks, or what's laying around. If a horse is injured, the cart loses a Yoshi Egg. Boost panels can help the horses increase their speed. At times the horses are at cliffs, the player needs to press the 
button to make them jump. If the characters make it with Yoshi Eggs, different colored Yoshis hatch and they complete the event. However they lose the event if all the Yoshi Eggs have disappeared from the cart.
Horses in the Nintendo 3DS version appear in Show Jumping (Team) and Modern Pentathlon only, so only characters in the Heroes and Girls groups ever ride on them.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games[edit]
Horses appear in both versions of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the Equestrian events, serving the same purpose as in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. They also appear in Equestrian Plus in the Nintendo 3DS version. In both versions, Larry Koopa expresses a keen interest in the Equestrian event and horses.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020[edit]
Horses in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have the same purpose as in prior Mario & Sonic installments.
Mario Sports Superstars[edit]
Horses in Mario Sports Superstars are stylized and more cartoony-looking, and are used in the Horse Racing sport. In the Single Player and Multiplayer horse racing modes, players can choose to use either their own horses, or select from a pool of guest horses (which increases upon winning tournament cups).
In the Stable mode, players can take care of their horses to better their mood and increase their bond with them. They are able to take care of horses divided in four different types: Balance, Technique, Speed and Power. Each type features ten color variations (with slightly different stats) for each gender, for a total of eighty different horses. When bonding with their horses, players can also unlock accessoriesfor them to wear, such as saddles, bridles, and hats.
Princess Peach: Showtime![edit]
In each of Cowgirl Peach's stages in Princess Peach: Showtime!, there is always a section in which she rides a female blonde-maned white horse made out of wood and controlled by strings, in a similar fashion to the large members of the Sour Bunch. During these sections, Peach must navigate parallel sections to avoid incoming obstacles such as rocks, walls, and towers, jump over smaller obstacles like cacti and holes, and catch enemies or debris with her lasso to remove them from the path. The Sour Bunch also rides purple wooden horses, which will break down once their cargo or knight is launched away.
The companion horse is first found attached to a chariot in Cowgirl in the Wilderness, from which she then detaches to help Peach catch up to the Sour Bunch and their cowboy leader.
In Cowgirl at Dusk, the horse helps Peach throughout most of the level, helping her catch up to the Dark Locomotive and eventually tear it down.
Lastly, in The Dark Locomotive & the Doomed Town, the horse helps Peach rescue the Cowgirl Sparkla tied to the tracks; then, after reaching a dead end caused by a fallen bridge, the horse pulls a chariot and lets the Sparkla guide her while Peach, standing on the chariots, takes care of the incoming obstacles. If anything hits the chariots, the ones that have been hit will flash red, and if Peach does not dismount in time, she will fall off as the chariot explodes.
All three levels also have dark horses used by the Sour Bunch to ride and carry crates.
Gallery[edit]
Artwork[edit]
Mobile Golf artwork of Bean riding a horse, which does not appear in the game
Mario & Sonic at Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Screenshots[edit]
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Larry performing a trick on his horse in the Equestrian event of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U)
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario Sports Superstars
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
The horse in The Dark Locomotive & the Doomed Town in Princess Peach: Showtime!
A dark horse in Princess Peach: Showtime!
The "Special Cowgirl Dress" with horse designs in Princess Peach: Showtime!
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Uma |
Horse | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 马[?] Mǎ |
Horse | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 馬[?] Mǎ |
Horse | |
| French | Cheval[?] | Horse | |
| German | Pferd[?] | Horse | |
| Italian | Cavallo[?] | Horse | |
| Portuguese (NOA) | Cavalo[?] | Horse | |
| Spanish | Caballo[?] | Horse |
References[edit]
- ^ East, Thomas (May 16, 2011). First Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympics Wii screenshots, details. Official Nintendo Magazine (British English). Archived May 19, 2011, 07:15:19 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ Marcello Forrest (August 19, 2011). Horseback Riding Dream Event Moomoo Meadows - Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. YouTube (English). Retrieved July 7, 2024.
