Warp Zone
The Warp Zone is a hidden area that acts as a kind of teleportation system, connecting many worlds to one place.
In Super Mario Bros., the zone is a sectioned-off area containing pipes to different levels. There are three, one located in World 1-2 and two in World 4-2.
In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Warp Zones function identically to those in Super Mario Bros. They no longer, however, give the player a choice of destination, as every zone contains only one pipe. Some Warp Zones send the player to an earlier World; for instance, the Warp Zone in World 3-1 leads to World 1. The World 1 warp zone has a gap so Mario can die instead of entering the pipe, but this gap doesn't exist in the World 5 warp zone (accessed from World 8-1).
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, King Koopa would sometimes make his getaway at the end of an episode by throwing a Magic Potion and creating a Warp Zone (usually a door or a portal), which he would escape through.
Characters in Captain N: The Game Master frequently used Warp Zones for means of rapid transit, with the Warp Zones of Super Mario Bros. even being referenced to in the show's first episode.
In Super Mario Bros. 3, World 9 is an island and that may only be accessed via Warp Whistle. It is the Warp Zone that connects to the other kingdoms of the Mushroom World, although it was not completely interconnected to access the top row, one had to warp from World 1, accessing the middle row was possible by warping from Worlds 2-4, and the last world from later on. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 referred to the Warp Zone as World 9 Warp Zone.
In New Super Mario Bros., secret exits in levels 1-File:Fort Icon.png, 2-A, 3-
, 4-, and 5- lead to Warp Cannons which launch Mario or Luigi to a later world (the first two to World 5, then 6, 7, and 8, respectively). Advancing to a new world regularly was probably replaced by the World Map.
In some cases, a Warp Zone may simply be a connection of some sort between two points, in place of a standard Warp Pipe, like the Vases in Yoshi's Story.
The Warp Zone also appears in the game Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World. They are in the same places as they were in the original Super Mario Bros., in World 1-2 and World 4-2. However, there is only one orange pipe, and they only warp the player to the next world.
Trivia
- The Warp Zone is mentioned by a defeated Warping Pipe in Super Paper Mario, who believes it to be a fabled place where great warriors (apparently people with incredible skill over Warp Pipes) tread. A model of a Super Mario Bros.-style Warp Zone could also be found in the underground section of Chapter 3-1 (itself a recreation of Super Mario Bros.'s World 1-2) in Super Paper Mario, though this Warp Zone took the player to other parts of the current level rather than different worlds. It didn't serve any real function other than to take the player back to the overworld.
- While not directly appearing in Super Mario Bros. 2, a warp zone of sorts appeared since throwing Magic Potions on certain Vases allows the Player to skip Worlds.
- A glitch can be triggered in World 1-2 which leads the player to the Minus World. The Minus World glitch also makes Mario or Luigi take the Warp Pipe that leads to World 4-1. This was fixed in Super Mario All-Stars.
