MIPS
- “Yeeoww! Unhand me, brute! I'm late, so late, I must make haste! This shiny thing? Mine! It's mine. Finders, keepers, losers... Late, late, late... Ouch! Take it then! A gift from Bowser, it was. Now let me be! I have a date! I cannot be late for tea!”
- —MIPS, Super Mario 64
MIPS[1] the rabbit is found in the basement of Princess Peach's Castle when the player acquires fifteen Power Stars during the events of Super Mario 64. When Mario approaches MIPS, he runs away. After Mario catches MIPS, the rabbit gives him a Power Star. MIPS appears in the basement a second time after Mario has collected fifty Power Stars. Mario can catch MIPS again and will get another Power Star from him. In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, there are many different rabbits modeled after MIPS, but they do not give up Power Stars. Instead, they give up keys to unlock minigames in the Rec Room. Two of Mario's, one of Wario's and one of Yoshi's rabbits can be found in the same location MIPS was in the original game and after 50 power stars, 8 glowing rabbits appear, catch them to unlock the white door in the character room, and get a secret star. Along with Mario, MIPS was the first character created for Super Mario 64. MIPS was used extensively in early Nintendo 64 test simulations and ultimately made it into the final game because the development team liked him so much.[2]
MIPS also makes a cameo appearance in Mario Party 3 on the Woody Woods board where several can be seen around the board.
Trivia
- MIPS is named after the MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) microprocessor, the type of processor used in the Nintendo 64.
- MIPS is involved in a glitch where if the player picks him up and places him near a wall, Mario will go through that wall.
- Star Bunnies from Super Mario Galaxy and its successor are similar to MIPS as they both run away from Mario and can give up Power Stars. The rabbits from Super Mario 3D World behave like them too but give Green Stars.
- MIPS can be picked up like a normal object when Mario collects the star but this was changed in the DS remake, as if Mario tries to pick up one of the rabbits based on MIPS, they just tell him to leave them alone.
- Although not quoted directly, several of MIPS's lines reference the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
References
- ^ Super Mario 64 Player's Guide, pages 49, 43-44, 83 & 103
- ^ Shigeru Miyamoto Interview from Nintendo Power (October 1996) at Miyamoto Shrine
