User:Nintendo101

Casual Nintendo historian. Otherwise an artist and a professional zoologist. Bio degree. I've had an account here since 2012.

I wrote the character sections for Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. I contributed much of the article for Super Mario Sunshine and am currently working on Super Mario Galaxy.

I have been a fan of Nintendo since a very young age. My first Mario games (and three of the first video games I ever owned) were Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, Super Mario 64 DS, and Mario Kart DS. These games were good company for a young kid who moved around a lot and had difficulty keeping long-lasting friends.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I sequentially played some of my favorite games in the Super Mario series to 100% completion. This includes, in order, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Super Mario Odyssey. It's been really fun so far! These are great games, and I always wanted to marathon a series like this before but never had the time. It has been interesting to see where the series began and where it has ended up. The design philosophies, the characters, the art directions, world building, level design, narrative, etc. All good stuff. It might be fun to write something about it some day.

My favorite video game character is Yoshi.

Sandbox for current project

Objects

Name	Description
Transportation objects
Launch Star	Floating Stars near the surface of planets that launch Mario to distant areas when spun near. Some yellow Lumas transform into Launch Stars when freed by Mario.
Pull Star	Floating Stars that are interacted with the Star Cursor. Moving the cursor over a Pull Stars and holding pulls Mario to it. Gently pressing again, pressing , or spinning releases Mario from the Pull Star. A Pull Star is at the center of every dome on the Comet Observatory. Blue Lumas can transform into them.
Sling Star	Diminutive Launch Star-like objects that sling Mario towards a neighboring planet when spun near.
Pipe	Pipes going through the ground that transport Mario to new areas. He enters one when is pressed while on top of one. Some pipes lead Mario to otherworldly bonus areas.
Warp Pad	Transport panels that transport Mario along a curved beacon of light from one part of the Comet Observatory to another. More Warp Pads become available as energy is restored to the observatory. They are not in any of the galaxies.
Key Door	Doors that open when Mario makes contact with a key.
Sproutle Vine	Twisting vines that sprout from the base of defeated Piranha Plants. Mario grabs and swings up one by spinning. Sproutle Vines enable Mario to travel from one planetoid to another.
Cannon	Cannons that launch Mario to distant areas. They are accessed like pipes. Entering one shifts the screen perspective to inside the cannon and turns to Star Cursor into a reticle symbol. Aiming the cursor on screen and pressing fires Mario.
Bubble	Big bubbles that are moved by the Star Cursor. Mario becomes trapped inside one when he touches it. The Star Cursor turns into an air-blowing nozzle that pushes the bubble with . Pressing releases Mario.
Rolling Ball	Translucent orbs that contain Power Stars. Mario takes control of one when he jumps on top of it. The ball is steered by shifting . Reaching the goal causes the Rolling Ball to break and release its Power Star.
Sling Pod	Clumps of adhesive spider silk. Mario becomes stuck to one when he makes contact with it. Pointing on it with the Star Cursor and holding pulls back on the Spring Pod. Releasing slings Mario a great distance.
Banandelion	Tall dandelions. Mario grabs onto one by spinning. Continuing to spin makes Mario ascend up the flower like a Sproutle Vine and flings him.
Floaty Fluff	Short dandelions that are carried on gusts of wind. Mario grabs onto one by spinning. It slowly descends as it floats. It ascends briefly by shaking , but only up to four times. Pressing makes Mario let go of the Floaty Fluff.
Tornado	A vortex of desert winds that moves back and forth along a set path. Making contact will trap Mario within its gusts, but this does not damage him. Mario is propelled high into the air like a bamboo-copter if he tries to spin.
Swing	Trapezes made out of vines and flowers. Mario grabs onto one automatically when he makes contact with it. Moving back and forth makes him swing. A swing bar can be used to bring Mario over gaps between platforms.
Vine	A rope swing that Mario will grab onto when he jumps towards it. Moving the causes him to swing.
Blocks and containers
? Block	Floating blocks that contain a finite number of items (see above). One releases its content when Mario jumps underneath it. ? Blocks that contain coins and some that have Star Bits can be jumped under in rapid succession to release more than one. Most ? Blocks become empty blocks when there contents are exhausted. There are ? Blocks containing Star Bits that burst immediately when jumped under. Some are invisible and only become viewable once interacted with.
Brick	Blocks. Some are Coin Blocks that contain multiple coins like ? Blocks. Others are empty and fall apart when jumped under.
Block	Blocks that contain nothing and cannot be broken. Coin Blocks and some ? Blocks become these when their contents are exhausted.
Crate	Wooden boxes which rest on the ground. They contain items or Goombas. They release their contents when spun near or ground-pounded, which breaks the Crate.
Treasure chest	Wooden treasure chests that contain items. One opens when a Koopa Shells is thrown at it.
Gold Treasure Box	A treasure chest that only opens when struck by a Gold Shell. It contains a Power Star and the Toad Brigade Captain.
Sliding block	Flat, transparent ? Blocks only found in Gold Leaf Galaxy. They slide across the surface of the planet like hockey pucks and can damage Mario on impact. Breaking one with a ground-pound releases an item.
Strikable and spinnable objects
Crystal	Minerals which are broken when spun into. Most crystals are small, contain Star Bits, and are broken with a single spin. Others are large, contain Power Stars, and require three spins to be broken.
Rubbery bulb	Bulbous plants similar to roly-poly toys. They can be used to break objects and defeat enemies. Spinning into one flings it forward and return with the same force exerted. Mario receives knockback if hit by the rebound. The plants rebound is halted if it collides with an enemy or object. They are comparable to the prickly plant enemies.
Snowman	Snow sculptures. Their positioning within areas obstruct paths. They are destroyed with fireballs.
Bowser Statue	Stone statues of Bowser which contain items. They are destroyed when they are struck by Bomb Boos or Bullet Bills.
Icicle Rock	Speleothems found on the floors of cave areas. They fall apart when spun into. Some contain items.
Cage	Glass spheres. They contain objects of interest such as pipes, Star Bits, or Power Stars. In one mission, Luigi is trapped in a cage. They can be broken by Bullet Bills.
Tiny lamp	A shimmering protrusion in the ground. Firing a Star Bit at one with the Star Cursor transforms it into a collectible coin.
Stone circle / Shell Circle / Strawberry Circle	A circle of seven objects embedded in the ground. Spinning inside the circle transforms the objects into Star Bits.
Bolt	Phillips-headed bolts embedded in the ground. Mario screws them into the ground when he spins on top of them. Doing so grants Mario access to new areas or triggers nearby events.
Water Valve	Variants of the bolt that prevents the flow of water in an area. Spinning on top of one releases the water.
Ground-poundable objects
Stump	Tree stumps. Ground-pounding one either produces items or triggers events that enable level progression, like Ground-Pound Switches.
Stone wheel	Stone discs. Ground-pounding one breaks it and usually releases an item. Breaking one sometimes changes an element of the area it is in. In some galaxies, they are multiple stone wheels stacked on top of each other.
Trampoline	Springboards which bounce Mario high in the air. Ground-pounding the surface of a trampoline launches Mario higher.
Switches
Flipswitch Panel	Blue ? panels that turn into yellow ! ones when Mario steps on them. Stepping on all of the panels in a confined area triggers access to a new area or the appearance of a Power Star.
Lever Switch	Levers that physically change the surrounding area, usually by granting Mario access to a new area by making a door or bridge appear. Mario uses one by spinning near it.
Ground-Pound Switch	Buttons that trigger a change in the surrounding environment when Mario ground-pounds into them. A Ground-Pound Switch is only useable once. There are wooden and stone variants that are destroyed when activated, and the symbol on their button's face also appears on the abdomen of Mandibugs.
Blue Switch	Blue ! Switches. Ground-pounding one usually triggers a timed event or changes an element in the area it is encountered.
Arrow Switch	Mounted arrow-shaped levers that shifts the gravitational pull from the floor to the ceiling. They only occur in portions of levels on a two-dimensional plane.
Platforms
Assembly Block	Multi-shaped and multicolored block platforms. They initially float distantly in midair, but will immediately assemble into an established configuration if Mario approaches the intended space. They fall away if Mario moves away from the intended space, meaning the player does not have a permanent visual as to where the platforms are going to appear.
Lift	Moving platforms. Their designs and environmental context for moving depends on where they are encountered.
Flower	Floating flower platforms that recede if Mario makes contact with them. He can only stand on them while in his bee form.
Shrinking platform	A checkerboard platform that disappears once Mario stands on it.
Cloud	Floating platforms that Mario is normally too heavy to stand on. He can only do so in his bee form. There are raining gray variants that move along set paths.
Bolt Lift	Platforms made of three giant nuts on a threaded rod. The rod connects two distant areas. Walking perpendicular to the rod on the nuts makes them rotate, allowing Mario to travel between the areas.
Ice	Frozen surfaces. Ice reduces Mario's traction and causes him to slide, but spinning causes Mario to start skating.
Other objects
Ring	Underwater rings. Swimming through one gives Mario a burst of speed.
Pole	Climbable poles. Mario clings to one by jumping onto it. He can ascend, descend, and change which face of the pole he is on by moving . Pressing makes Mario jump from whichever face he is on.
Honey wall	Hexagonal panels attached to the side of walls within levels. Mario can cling and crawl on them, but only while in his bee form.
Bob-omb dispenser	Depositories that release Bob-ombs. A single dispenser only releases one Bob-omb at a time: the current one out must explode before it releases another one. The Bob-ombs are usually active, but the Bob-omb dispensers in the Bob-omb Blasting minigame only release the legless variants that can be picked up by Mario.
Ring	Indentations in the ground for the Rolling Ball. The yellow rings launch the Rolling Ball from one planetoid to another. The blue ones are the final goals for the levels. They break the Rolling Ball and allow Mario to collect its Power Star.
Water spigot	A device that expels water into the air in timed intervals. Mario is briefly carried into the air when he enters the stream. When in his ice form, Mario can freeze the surface of the water to form temporary ice platforms.
Nails	Metal rods embedded in the caverns of Deep Dark Galaxy. Mario can swing from them like trapezes to reach higher areas.
Board	Posted signs that contain information on actions. Several of them are speaking characters that give Mario specific instructions on how to use objects or power-ups that change how he is controlled.
Beacon	The comet at the center of the Comet Observatory that gives it its energy. Collected Power Stars are fed to it. Grand Stars make it grow larger and unlocks new areas of the observatory to explore.