Pit

Mario falling into an abyss in Super Mario World.

The terms abyss and bottomless pit refer to an area in a video game where no solid ground is programmed. If a playable character falls or jumps into the pit, he or she will be affected negatively. While most games do not explain this phenomenon, on Mushroom World they are a natural element. Literally, these pits have no bottom, although after falling a varying distance down the abyss, the person will die without hitting the bottom. This will even happen to invincible characters. Some Shaydes are tasked with cleaning bottomless pits as punishment in the Underwhere.

Sometimes abysses are very narrow. In such cases, the player is able to run across the pits without falling down. Walking across the abyss without accelerating, however, does not work.

There are also two other types of holes easily confused with an bottomless pit. First, some pits, such as those found in Donkey Kong, are not bottomless. However, the player will die if he or she hits the bottom, and therefore the player is issued a penalty, such as losing a life or being warped back to a particular location. Secondly, the pits in Wario World lead to Unithorn's Lair, a subterranean cavern. Because players can resume progress once a specific goal has been reached, these cannot be considered pits.