Bull's-Eye Bill

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Bull's-Eye Bill
A Bull's-Eye Bill in Super Mario Run.
First appearance Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Latest appearance Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Variant of Bullet Bill
Variants
Relatives

Bull's-Eye Bills, formerly known as Missile Bills[1][2] or Guided Missile Bills,[3] are heat-seeking variants of Bullet Bills typically fired from Bull's-Eye Blasters. They attack by homing in on the player. Prior to New Super Mario Bros. Wii's introduction of the current Search Killer (サーチキラー), which eventually became known in English as Bull's-Eye Bill, earlier games gave the homing abilities to normal Bullet Bills or their behavioral or color variations, as various sources treat them as.[4][5][6] In some games, there are also regular Bullet Bills that perform similar functions to Bull's-Eye Bills, as seen in Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Odyssey, Smash Run in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and sometimes in Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]

Missile Bill

Missile Bills are introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. In this game, a Missile Bill turns around once if it misses its target, but continues going forward without turning around after missing twice. In the original version, the colors a Missile Bill flashes are dependent on the palette the player character uses, as they cycle between all four palettes currently used on their graphical layer.[7] As such, for instance, playing as Frog Mario or any of the normal-colored versions of Luigi causes them to flash green. In the remakes, they consistently flash between black, brown, orange, and red. Missile Bills only appear in World 4-5.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii[edit]

World 9-3 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Missile Bills from New Super Mario Bros Wii

Missile Bills appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Despite having the same name of the flashing Bullet Bills of Super Mario Bros. 3 in the Prima Games guide, their Japanese name indicates that this game is the first one to use its modern iteration. They resemble normal Bullet Bills, but when one sees Mario, it will make a beeping noise and start flashing red. Here, they have a similar attack pattern to the one they had in Super Mario Bros. 3; however, in this game, they can change the angle they are flying at and will not stop pursuing the player until they are defeated, or the player has gotten far enough away. They can be defeated the same way as normal Bullet Bills. They only appear in World 9-3, alongside Mario-seeking Banzai Bills referred to as King Bills.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[edit]

In New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U, Missile Bills only appear during the Roy Koopa battle at Rock-Candy Mines. When Roy is jumped on at least once, he occasionally fires a Missile Bill out of his Bullet Bill cannon. If these Missile Bills are neither eliminated nor successful in hitting their target within a short amount of time, they eventually detonate. Starting from this game, Missile Bills keep their red coloration instead of being normal Bullet Bills flashing red. A Torpedo Ted equivalent, the Targeting Ted, homes in on Mario in a slightly different manner, but it also eventually self-destructs when it is onscreen for too long.

Super Mario Maker series[edit]

A Bull's-Eye Bill
A Bull's-Eye Bill

Bull's-Eye Bills reappear in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Mario Maker 2. As they did not appear in the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, new sprites were created for those two game styles.

While they do operate similar to their appearances in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the Bull's-Eye Bills in these games do not turn as sharply, and they will only chase after Mario for a limited time period, instead of relentlessly pursuing him.

In Super Mario Maker 2, they are replaced by Cat Bullet Bills in the Super Mario 3D World game style.

Super Mario Run[edit]

Bull's-Eye Bills appear in Super Mario Run, exclusively in Bullet Bill Barrage. Bull's-Eye Bills appear from the left of the screen and position themselves behind Mario if they are level with him. After a few seconds they will charge forward, whether or not Mario is in front of them. Like the similar Bullet Bill, they cannot be vaulted over.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder[edit]

Although no normal Bull's-Eye Bills appear in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, a new variant consisting of multiple segments and dorsal fins does.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3[edit]

Unused red Bullet Bill from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (used in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3)

Red Bullet Bills appear in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 in the final secret level, Endless World of Yoshis. They are fired from red Turtle Cannons and appear to make a biting motion as they fly, though this is purely for show. As they fly, they gradually slow down, eventually shrinking away in light blue and vanishing with a pop. They can be defeated by simply stomping or swallowing them; they look like regular Bullet Bills if spat back out, but they fly downwards.

This is the first game to have them be able to follow the player at any angle, due to the ones in Super Mario Bros. 3 being restricted to lateral movement. However, they still make abrupt u-turns after slowing down when they miss, whereas later games have them keep a smoother trajectory.

Mario Party 9[edit]

Missile Bills from New Super Mario Bros. Wii make a comeback in Mario Party 9 in the minigame, Billistics, where they appear alongside Bullet Bills. In this game, Missile Bills make beeping radar noises. This is a way to tell if a Missile Bill is coming. Like in other appearances, Missile Bills will home in on the player, but when a Missile Bill misses, it will not turn around, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 when a Missile Bill misses twice.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]

Bull's-Eye Bill
A Bull's-Eye Bill, as seen in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Bull's-Eye Bills first appear under their current name in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and reappear in its Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS ports. Unlike standard Bullet Bills, Bull's-Eye Bills are fired from red Bill Blasters. They behave like in past games and similarly to the Cat Bullet Bills in Super Mario 3D World, homing in on Captain Toad or Toadette and chasing them.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World[edit]

A Bull's-Eye Bill in the Scrapbook Theater
A Bull's-Eye Bill in Yoshi's Woolly World

Bull's-Eye Bills make their non-reissue debut in the Yoshi franchise in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. They are made out of red wool which can be turned into yarn balls if Yoshi eats them. They can only be found in Knot-Wing the Koopa's Sky Fort, where they are launched from red Bill Blasters in the level itself, as well as during the boss fight with Knot-Wing the Koopa, where they are launched from the boss's Bill Blaster in addition to Bullet Bills.

Unused appearances[edit]

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island[edit]

Though they appear in the Game Boy Advance version, Red Bullet Bills capable of following the player went unused in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Profiles[edit]

Super Mario Run[edit]

  • Notebook bio: "A friend of Bullet Bill, this foe will try to seek you out from behind. You can jump over it with careful timing."

List of appearances[edit]

Title Description Release Date System/Format
Super Mario Bros. 3 Enemy 1988 NES
Super Mario All-Stars Enemy 1993 SNES
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World Enemy 1994 SNES
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Enemy 2003 GBA
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Enemy 2003 GBA
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Enemy 2009 Wii
Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition Enemy 2010 Wii
Mario Party 9 Enemy 2012 Wii
New Super Mario Bros. U Enemy 2012 Wii U
New Super Luigi U Enemy 2013 Wii U
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Enemy 2014 Wii U
Yoshi's Woolly World Enemy 2015 Wii U
Super Mario Maker Enemy 2015 Wii U
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Enemy 2016 3DS
Super Mario Run Enemy 2016 iOS / Android
Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World Enemy 2017 3DS
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Enemy 2018 Switch / 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Enemy 2019 Switch
Super Mario Maker 2 Enemy 2019 Switch

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese キラー[5][6]
Kirā
リターンキラー[8][9]
Ritān Kirā
往復おうふくキラー[4]
Ōfuku Kirā
サーチキラー[10][11]
Sāchi Kirā

Same as Bullet Bill (Super Mario Bros. 3 and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3)

Return Bullet Bill (Super Mario Bros. 3)

Roundtrip Bullet Bill (Super Mario Bros. 3)

Search Bullet Bill (New Super Mario Bros. Wii onwards)

Dutch Bull's-Eye Bill
-
French Auto Bill Balle
Automatic Bullet Bill
German Vefolgungs-Willi
Treffer-Willi
Pursuit Bill
Hit Bill
Italian Pallottolo Segugio
Sleuth Bullet
Portuguese (NOA) Busca Bill
Search Bill
Russian Билл-яблочко
Bill-yablochko
Bull's-Eye Bill

Spanish (NOA) Bill buscablancos
Target searcher Bill
Spanish (NOE) Bill Bala Buscador
Searcher Bullet Bill

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nintendo Power Volume 13, page 9.
  2. ^ Bueno, Fernando. New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Page 16.
  3. ^ M. Arakawa. NES Game Atlas. Page 36. "Red Guided Missile Bills move back and forth in search of their target."
  4. ^ a b Page 192 of 「スーパーマリオ全百科オールひゃっか」 (Super Mario Zen Hyakka, or "Super Mario Complete Encyclopedia"). 「おなじみの砲弾ほうだん普通ふつうのキラーは、1方向ほうこうにまっすぐすすむだけ、『マリオ3』新登場しんとうじょうの「往復おうふくキラー」は、いったん発射はっしゃされると、左右さゆうにいったりきたりをかえす。」
  5. ^ a b 「キラー砲台から発射され、まっすぐに飛んでくる。Uターンするタイプもいる。」 ("Fired from Killer Cannons, they fly straight ahead. There is also a U-turning type.") - Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario Bros. 3 section, page 36.
  6. ^ a b みどりあか砲台ほうだい固定式こていしきで、黄色きいろ砲台ほうだい回転式かいてんしきあかいキラーは ヨッシーをいかけ、黄色きいろいキ ラーはかべにたるとはねかえる。砲台ほうだいたおすならアイス攻撃こうげきで。」 ("Green and red cannons are a fixed type, while yellow cannons are a rotatable type. Red Killers pursue Yoshi, and yellow Killers bounce off walls. The cannons can be defeated by an ice attack.") - 「スーパーマリオアドバンス3任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Super Mario Advance 3 Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook), page 15.
  7. ^ The Spriters Resource
  8. ^ Page 34 of スーパーマリオブラザーズ3 テクニカルマニュアル 3, supplement of Famicom Tsushin November 1988 issue
  9. ^ Shogakukan. 1993. Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook - Super Mario Collection, page 216.
  10. ^ Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, New Super Mario Bros. Wii section, page 145.
  11. ^ Omoide Theatre, Yoshi Wool World (Japanese)