Editing Palette swap

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{{move|Alternate color|reason="Palette swap" refers to a specific manner of graphic encoding in early 2D displays, not color swaps in general}}
A '''palette swap''', also known as a '''color swap''', '''alternate palette''', and '''alternate color''',{{ref needed}} appears in the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] as a form of changing the colors of the player characters. This is often employed to differentiate multiple players playing as the same character, or simply for cosmetic effect.

==History==
{{stub|section=y|Cover ''Donkey Kong'' series (''Donkey Kong 64'' multiplayer and ''DK: King of Swing'')}}
===''Mario Bros.'' series===
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Palette swaps were technically introduced in ''[[Mario Bros. (game)|Mario Bros.]]'', since [[Luigi]] looks identically to [[Mario]], but is controlled by the second player. 

The [[Mario Bros. (Game Boy Advance)|Game Boy Advance version of ''Mario Bros.'']] available in the ''[[Super Mario Advance (series)|Super Mario Advance]]'' series features multiple colored versions of Mario as players 2, 3 and 4. Player 2 wears a green hat and purple overalls (identical to Luigi's Super Mario Advance palette), player 3 wears a yellow hat and tan overalls, and player 4 wears a blue hat and tan overalls. In pre-release screenshots, player 3 wore a purple hat with yellow overalls, while player 4 wore an orange hat with red overalls (resembling [[Fire Mario]]'s appearance in ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'').<ref>https://www.superluigibros.com/super-mario-advance-review-gbx-issue-1#</ref> 

''[[Luigi Bros.]]'' features Luigi as both player 1 and 2, with player 1 sporting his modern green and blue palette with a lighter skin tone, and player 2 retaining the white and green palette and darker skin from the original ''Mario Bros.''
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===''Donkey Kong Jr. Math''===
[[File:Pink Kong Jr Math.png|thumb|Both Kongs present in ''Donkey Kong Jr. Math'']]
''[[Donkey Kong Jr. Math]]'' features a pink-colored palette swap of [[Donkey Kong Jr.]], named [[Donkey Kong Jr.#Donkey Kong Jr. Math|Junior (II)]] in the game's manual, contrasting with Donkey Kong Jr. being referred to as "Junior (I)". He is playable in the modes Calculate A and B, where he and Donkey Kong Jr. compete to calculate Donkey Kong's number.

===''Mario Golf'' series===
====''Mario Golf''====
[[File:Mgpeach.png|thumb|[[Princess Peach|Peach]] and her four color variants in ''Mario Golf'']]
The [[Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)|Nintendo 64 version of ''Mario Golf'']] allows the player to customize the color of their player character. All 18 playable characters have four color palettes, including their default appearance.

===''Super Smash Bros.'' series===
[[File:SSBU Classic Victory Mario.png|thumb|Various Mario colors are seen in the completion for Mario's Classic Mode route in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''.]]
Due to the 4-player feature of the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, all characters have at least four different colors to choose from. In single player, free-for-all mode, as well as team battles since ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/ Nintendo 3DS'', players can freely choose their character's color, compared to other games where player assignment determines a color, though two characters cannot share a color. In team battles, until ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/ Nintendo 3DS'', duplicate characters on the same team have a light or dark tint, with the light tint appearing on the first duplicate and the dark tint on the second duplicate.

The various colors throughout the roster often reference an existing entity throughout the character's series. For instance, Mario's black and white color scheme references [[Foreman Spike]].<ref>{{cite|url=www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/Color.html|title=色ちがいのひみつ|language=ja|publisher=Nintendo|accessdate=April 4, 2015|archive=web.archive.org/web/20000301103031/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/Color.html}}</ref>

====''Super Smash Bros.''====
In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', all 12 playable characters have at least four different palettes, including their default appearance. Some characters have more than four colors, which are normally only playable on the blue, green, and red teams, with some colors, such as green Donkey Kong and green Mario, being available only in team battles. Duplicate characters on the same team are marked with a light and a dark tint. Yoshi's dark-blue and pink colors are not playable but can only be seen when the player faces the Yoshi Team in Classic Mode. The player can press {{button|n64|c}} on the controller to change the color of the character when selecting them.

In single player mode, when the player selects a default color for the character, the opposing character have their palettes changes. For instance, if Mario faces another Mario, the other Mario uses the Wario color scheme.

====''Super Smash Bros. Melee''====
In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', all 25 playable characters have between four to six palettes, including their default appearance and those in the previous game that were not originally playable. The player can press {{button|gcn|x}} or {{button|gcn|y}} on the character selection screen to change colors.

====''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''====
[[File:Mario palette swaps Brawl.png|thumb|left|Promotional screenshot advertising the alternate colors for Mario. [[Fire Mario]] was a new color at the time.]]
In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', all 35 playable characters have between four to six color variants, while [[Wario]] has 12: six of his ''WarioWare'' form and six of his original form. In addition, [[Peach]] has a red color variant that was not featured in ''Melee''.

====''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U''====
In ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]] / [[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U|Wii U]]'', each playable character has at least eight color variants, while [[List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U#Little Mac|Little Mac]] has 16: eight of his original form and eight of his wireframe form. Wario still has two forms, but now has eight color variants instead of 12. Starting in this game, color restrictions in team battles no longer apply, and characters in the same team no longer can share a color with a light or dark tint.

====''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''====
In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', all playable characters have exactly eight color variants, including their default appearance. Like with Wario in the previous game, Little Mac only has eight color variants between his two forms. Since [[Daisy]] is playable in this game, Peach's color variant that made her resemble Daisy was replaced with a gold color variant. Mario has had two of his color variants, the Wario-colored and the Fire form variants, replaced with the [[Builder Mario]] costume and the Wedding outfit from ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]''.

===''Mario Tennis'' series===
====''Mario Tennis''====
[[File:Bowser_Colors.png|thumb|left|200px|Bowser and his alternate color in ''Mario Tennis'']]
In ''[[Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)|Mario Tennis]]'' for the Nintendo 64, all playable characters have a second palette utilized for player 2 when both players select the same character in Short Game mode. A few of these palettes reference the characters' previous appearances, such as Mario's resembling Fire Mario and [[Bowser]]'s resembling [[Bowser's Brother]].
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====''Mario Tennis Open''====
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In ''[[Mario Tennis Open]]'', Yoshi is the only one out of the 17 playable characters to have alternate colors, totaling eight variants, including his default. The alternate colors can be unlocked by scanning a certain QR code, and the class type varies by their color.

====''Mario Tennis Aces''====
In ''[[Mario Tennis Aces]]'', some characters out of the 30 playable have alternate forms. Yoshi has eight color variants, Boo wears a visor in six different colors, Chain Chomp wears a hat in three different colors, Spike wears a headband in three different colors, Koopa and Paratroopa have three color variants, and Shy Guy has seven color variations.

===''Mario Kart'' series===
====''Mario Kart: Super Circuit''====
''[[Mario Kart: Super Circuit]]'' features a Single-Pak multiplayer mode, in which only one Game Pak is required with limited options, including that players can only drive as different-colored [[Yoshi (species)|Yoshis]], with each color designated to a specific player number. Player 1 controls a Green Yoshi, Player 2 controls a Red Yoshi, Player 3 controls a Light Blue Yoshi, and Player 4 controls a Yellow Yoshi.

====''Mario Kart DS''====
''[[Mario Kart DS]]'' similarly allows multiplayer with a single Game Card and limited options via DS Download Play. While players that had a copy of ''Mario Kart DS'' can play as any character and kart they have available, players that use DS Download Play can only play as a [[Shy Guy]], a character otherwise unavailable for ''Mario Kart DS'' players. There are eight available colors of Shy Guy (red, green, blue, yellow, pink, light blue, black, and white), but the colors assigned to each of the players using DS Download Play are chosen at random at each multiplayer session.

====''Mario Kart 7''====
Like ''Mario Kart DS'', ''[[Mario Kart 7]]'' allows multiplayer with a single Game Card via Nintendo 3DS Download Play, with players who use Download Play once again being assigned to play as a Shy Guy. This time, however, Shy Guy is part of the original roster, and players using DS Download Play are each assigned a color other than the default red.

====''Mario Kart 8'' / ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe''====
[[File:Birdo MK8DX.jpg|thumb]]
''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' features downloadable alternate colors for Yoshi and Shy Guy, available when both the [[The Legend of Zelda x Mario Kart 8|''The Legend of Zelda'' × ''Mario Kart 8'']] and [[Animal Crossing x Mario Kart 8|''Animal Crossing'' × ''Mario Kart 8'']] downloadable packs have been purchased, marking the first time that alternate colors for certain characters not only are available on a home console ''Mario Kart'' title, but also can be chosen by the player themselves. Including the default colors, there are nine available colors for Yoshi and Shy Guy: red, green, blue, yellow, orange, pink, light blue, black, and white.

In ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', in addition to all downloadable content from ''Mario Kart 8'' being included, [[Inkling]] Girl and Boy are added to the roster and available in three colors each: orange, green, and pink for Inkling Girl; and blue, purple, and teal for Inkling Boy. Additionally, Wave 4 of the ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass|Booster Course Pass]]'' included [[Birdo]] as a playable character, who, as with Yoshi and Shy Guy, has nine available colors, these being the same ones as Yoshi and Shy Guy.

====''Mario Kart Tour''====
''[[Mario Kart Tour]]'' includes several color variants for Yoshi, Shy Guy and Birdo, as well as color variants for [[Toad|Toad (Pit Stop)]] and [[Koopa Troopa|Koopa (Freerunning)]]. These color variants are considered separate characters each.

===''Mario Baseball'' series===
====''Mario Superstar Baseball''====
In ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'', nine of the 32 playable characters have alternate colors, which include Toad, Koopa, Paratroopa, Shy Guy, Magikoopa, Dry Bones, Noki, Pianta, and Hammer Bro. Players can press {{button|gcn|l}} to switch the colors of the designated characters who have the other colors. Birdo has alternate colors shown as spectators during gameplay and in the opening cinematic, but her only playable color is her default pink.

====''Mario Super Sluggers''====
In ''[[Mario Super Sluggers]]'', 11 of the 41 playable characters have alternate colors, including Yoshi, Toad, Paratroopa, Shy Guy, Magikoopa, Dry Bones, Noki, Pianta, and Kritter. Yoshi is the only team captain to have alternate colors. As with the previous installment, Birdo can only be played in her original pink form while her other colors appear as spectators during gameplay and cinematics.

===''Luigi's Mansion'' series===
[[File:Multiplayer-LMDM.jpg|left|thumb|All four colored Luigis present in ScareScraper mode]]
In ''[[Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon]]'' and ''[[Luigi's Mansion 3]]'', Luigi has four color variants in the [[ScareScraper]] mode. Each player wears green, blue, orange, and pink caps, overalls and [[Poltergust]]s, respectively (with orange and pink switching places in ''Luigi's Mansion 3''). All Luigis wear lime-green shirts. In ''Luigi's Mansion 3'', each player's [[Gooigi]] is colored to match their primary color.

===''Yoshi's Woolly World'' / ''Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World''===
In {{a|YWW|l}} and {{a|P&YWW|l}}, all of the [[List of Yoshi designs in Yoshi's Woolly World|Yoshi]]s reknitted through collecting five [[Wonder Wool]] in a course of a world have two alternate color schemes, depicted as being made from different Wonder Wool compared to the original Yoshi and swapping out the colors to match the Wonder Wool. In {{a|YWW}}, these color schemes can only be accessed by saving the Yoshi design to a Yarn Yoshi amiibo. As with all Yoshi designs saved to amiibo, that Yoshi with the alternate colors can be accessed in the [[amiibo Hut]]. In {{a|P&YWW}}, the player has the option to change a Yoshi to one of the alternate color schemes in the Yoshi Hut. The effect is only permanent if the player chooses to play as that Yoshi though. Note that the alternate colors are not retained during pre-rendered cutscenes, of which the only one in the game accessible past the point the player can have a reknitted Yoshi is the game's ending.

{{a|P&YWW}} allows the player to create Original Yoshi using any colors they want at the [[Yoshi Hut]], then play as them. A Original Yoshi has seven colors, though the player does not have to use all seven colors. (The color of the eyes cannot be changed. Yoshi's sclera and pupils are always white and their irises are always black, making it appear as though Original Yoshis have nine colors.) If one of the colors is reselected from the palette, all uses of the original color on the Yoshi are changed to the second color, therefore allowing the player to implement their own palette swaps.

===''Super Mario Run''===
[[File:SMR Yoshi website.png|thumb|left|Yoshi's art on the ''Super Mario Run'' website, accompanied with icons of the four other Yoshi available.]]
In ''[[Super Mario Run]]'', the version 2.0.0 update adds four characters, all of which are different colored Yoshis to complement Yoshi. While their emblems are different, the color of the [[Goal Pole]] and [[Checkpoint Flag]] remains orange like Yoshi despite how their shoes are not orange. All Yoshis, including the original green one, have a special effect based on color: In the Toad Rally mode, [[Toad (species)|Toad]]s that appear to cheer for them are more likely to be match the color of the Yoshi. This change in probability allows for Toads of colors that do not normally appear in a given course to appear. In the game, each Yoshi is a separate character to select, all of which with separate artwork. However, in the Remix 10 mode, only one course per Area can make the player play as a Yoshi of any color. The game's website displays all five Yoshi characters in one window.

===''Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker''===
[[File:PurpleToad CTTT.png|thumb|100px|Purple Captain Toad in ''Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker''.]]
In version 1.1.0 or later of the [[Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo Switch / Nintendo 3DS)|Nintendo Switch port]] of ''[[Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker]]'', [[Captain Toad]] has a purple color variant named [[Captain Toad#Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker|Purple Captain Toad]]<ref>{{cite|author=@NintendoAmerica|date=March 13, 2019|url=x.com/nintendoamerica/status/1105544188995592192|title=Purple Captain Toad is ready for two-player Partner Adventure for every level in #CaptainToad: Treasure Tracker! Captain Toad & Toadette can also team-up in the new DLC, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Special Episode! Tag your partner that you’ll be exploring with on 3/14!|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=June 2, 2021}}</ref>, where his mushroom cap is purple with white spots. The scarf and shoes are also purple. He is playable in the multiplayer mode except for the [[Special Episode]].
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==References==
{{NIWA|SmashWiki=Alternate costume}}
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[[Category:Game mechanics]]