Mario's face
- “I'm-a bet you can't-a do this! Wheeeeeeeee! Ahahaaha!”
- —Mario's face, Mario Teaches Typing 2
Mario's face is a floating, disembodied head of Mario. The gameplay element of an interactive floating head of Mario has appeared in many games.
Mario's floating head (animated with VActor technology) first appeared in Mario Teaches Typing and its sequel Mario Teaches Typing 2. He narrated players' lessons and actions as they learned to type, while also making random small talk. Later, the head appeared on the title screen of Super Mario 64, where players could tug and stretch his facial features; his nose, ears, cheeks, chin, and hat, to humorous positions. As Super Mario 64 was Nintendo's first title for the Nintendo 64, an interactive Mario face served to familiarize the player to the Nintendo 64 controller without worrying about actual gameplay. Additionally, if the player gets a Game Over, the Mario head will appear dazed and worn out.
Mario's face later appeared in the Mario Party 2 version of Face Lift (also in Mario Party 1, but with Bowser's face and no other faces), where the player has to alter the face of Mario or other characters in the game. The more accurately the face is changed to match a picture, the more points the player receives. The player who earns the most points wins. Soon in the next game Mario Party 3, Mario's face is one of the faces (alongside Wiggler and Toad) to appear in the minigame Picture Imperfect. The player must get his M on his hat right, nose right, mustache right, mouth right and eyes right.
In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, the Mario head appeared along with a Yoshi head. In this game, Mario's face is able to turn into an ink outline version of itself, which can be distorted with the stylus or various buttons. The player can also erase the face and draw his or her own creations.
Mario's face is also a feature in some of the minigames in Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros. When the player opens a chest in Boom Box, the chest makes a sound, astonishing the Mario head on the top screen. If the player makes a mistake, the Mario head frowns, while if the player succeeds, the Mario head beams joyously at the player. If the player gets a Game Over in any minigame, Mario's face will yell and look dazed. When a player clears any minigame round or beats a highscore, the Mario face is astonished, then bursts out laughing.
In addition, the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros., and nearly all of the Super Mario series games since, Mario's face is the icon that marks the amount of Extra Lives the player has.
Mario's face is also spoofed in a beginning chapter of volume 16 of Super Mario-Kun. This volume also follows Super Mario 64's story. Later in the volume, there is a 4koma that involves Yoshi playing the game and not only moving Mario's face to bizarre positions, but also drawing on it as well.
Luigi's face is a primary gameplay mechanic of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
Game Appearances
| Title | Description | Release Date | System/Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Teaches Typing 2 | Makes small talk with Player while playing. | 1996 | Computers |
| Super Mario 64 | Appears on title screen, speaks occasionally. Can be altered with hand. | 1996 | Nintendo 64 |
| Mario Party 2 | Must be altered in the mini-game Face Lift. | 1999 | Nintendo 64 |
| Pokémon Stadium 2 | Cameo. Appeared on a TV screen, and appears exactly as in Super Mario 64. | 2000 | Nintendo 64 |
| Super Mario 64 DS | Face appears on title screen, if touched with stylus becomes a sketch. Also, observes several mini-games. | 2004 | Nintendo DS |
| New Super Mario Bros. | Appears in and observes some mini-games. | 2006 | Nintendo DS |
| Super Mario Galaxy | File icon | 2007 | Wii |
| Super Mario Galaxy 2 | File icon and Starship Mario | 2010 | Wii |
Tech Demo
- Main article: Face to Mario
Quotes
All from the Mario Teaches Typing series.
- "I'm-a gonna fly for you. Mmmmmph...mmmmmph....mmmmmmph....mmmmmmph...KRSH! Ow! I hit my nose."
- "Oh, no! I'm-a fallen, and I can't-a get up! This is my impression of American advertising. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you."
- "Hmmm... Oh! Nice computer you've got here. Can I have it?"
- "Look, I'm a video game. Pong...pong, pong...pong, pong...pong...Thank you very much, thank you, thank you."
- "Hey, you got a good joke for Mario?"
- "My nose-a feels-a funny against this screen. Hmm."
- "Have you seen the Princess? PRINCESS! Hmm."
- "Hey, I'm-a thirsty. You got something to drink-y?"
- "Say, I'm-a hungry. Have you got any food?"
- "Oh boy, finally! I get to move on the ground! Here we go! Movin' on the ground, movin' on the ground, hee hee hee hee hee!"
- "Hey! Are you ready to Mario-cize? Okie-dokey. You do just like Mario, OK? One...Very good! Two...And three! Wheeeeee! Oh. Sorry. That's hard for you, but easy for me. You know why? IIII ain't got no BO-DY! Get it? No body? Heeheeheeheehee! Eeheeheehee! Wheeee, haha!"
- "Can I sing a song for you? When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amore; when an eel lunges out, and takes a bite of your snout, that's a moray! Get it? The moray eel?"
- "I said a funny!"
- "Oh boy! That-a makes me so happy, I'm-a lightheaded."
- "Oh boy, look at that keyboard! I'll bet you're going to learn how to type on it!"
- "Ooh, Mario's Tunnel of Doom! Very scary!
- "Hee hee hee!"
- "Hey, who's that behind you?"
- "Made you look! Made you look! Heeheehee!"
- "Look, I don't got no tonsils! Aaaah..."
- "Hmm... Guess what time it is? It's time for you to type! Let's do this!"
- "Hey, Luigi, it's-a time for you to type."
