Dash
- This article is about the move in general. For other moves with the same name, see Dash (disambiguation).
- Not to be confused with Dashell or Dash Attack.
Dashing in the Super Mario franchise is a standard move that allows a character to run faster than normal.
History[edit]
This section is a stub. Please consider expanding it to include any missing information. Specifics: Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! sections
Super Mario series[edit]
In games of the Super Mario series, the controls for dashing vary depending on the game. Earlier two-dimensional games require the player to hold the button while moving. Once games were released on systems with more than two face buttons, the input for two-dimensional games, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is changed to holding one of the
or
buttons. In games released for the Wii and Wii U, holding the
button causes the player character to dash when the Wii Remote is held sideways. If the Nunchuk is attached to a vertical Wii Remote, the
button is used instead.
When Mario, Luigi, and other playable characters dash, they can run over small pits, jump a bit higher, and jump farther. After running for a while, they sprint and reach their top speed; this move is called a Super Dash in Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and the respective style in Super Mario Maker 2. Three-dimensional sandbox games of the Super Mario series (excluding Super Mario 64 DS) traditionally do not have dashing determined by holding a button, instead using the distance that is pushed to determine speed of movement.
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 64 DS, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, each of the playable characters is capable of sprinting at different speeds after running for a while (or grabbing an object in Super Mario Bros. 2); the sprint quickness also varies in Super Mario 3D World, being inversely proportional to one's top speed (the faster runners take longer to sprint, and vice-versa). Additionally, the Cat form lets one sprint quicker than normal. In Super Mario 64 DS, the playable characters can also "charge up" a dash (when the player holds the run button while the characters stand still) to take off at top speed.
In Super Mario Odyssey, the speed of movement is tied to holding a button while in certain nonstandard situations. Mario does not have a dedicated dash button normally, but he does while under the effect of an 8-bit pipe. Many of the characters he can capture and control do dash when the or
button is held, and some others have dash-like actions performed by shaking the controller.
Super Mario Run does not allow the player to control their movement speed, as they run forward automatically. However, when movement speed is increased by various means, such as during a Coin Rush, being invincible, or while running down a slope, the player's animation switches to the "hands stretched behind them" version. Toad, due to naturally being faster than all other characters, uses this animation most of the time. One-block-wide gaps are instead passed over via vaulting.
Donkey Kong Country series[edit]
Donkey Kong Country Returns / 3D / HD[edit]
In Donkey Kong Country Returns (as well as its Nintendo 3DS port and its Nintendo Switch port), the gaits of Walk and Run are still present. The default control scheme is Control Stick/Circle Pad-based, and in this control scheme, light pushes to either device result in Walk and full pushes result in Run. However, the alternate + Control Pad-based control scheme makes Walk the default form of movement and Run tied to holding ,
, or
while moving, just as in prior games of the Donkey Kong Country series. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD removes the + Control Pad-based control scheme.
While the player is using Run and is not the startup period for Run, colliding with a wall while on the ground or past the peak of a jump makes them bounce backward a little. This is the same "recoil" animation that using the Barrel Roll or Cartwheel Attack into a wall causes.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze[edit]
The control scheme of Donkey Kong Country Returns is retained in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, allowing all characters to run.
Paper Mario series[edit]
Paper Mario[edit]
- Main article: Spin Dash
In Paper Mario, Mario is able to dash by using the Spin Dash, performed by pressing . Several Badges can be used to grant this move additional effects.
Super Paper Mario[edit]
In Super Paper Mario, Dashell can let the party members dash when the player holds , in a similar fashion as the 2D games of the Super Mario series.
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
Dashing is a key form of movement in the Super Smash Bros. series, having more utility than simply walking. Characters can also perform an attack while dashing, specifically called the dash attack. In the first five games, only up smashes, grabs, and special moves can be used out of a dash; in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, however, all ground attacks can be used out of a dash. All characters have an initial dash: This form of movement is usually very fast and short-distanced, and continuing to tap the Control Stick results in the initial dash either accelerating or decelerating into the character's consistent running speed.
Mario & Luigi series[edit]
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga[edit]
- Main article: Dash (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario and Luigi learn a Bros. Action named Dash. By igniting Luigi with Mario's Firebrand, the two can move very quickly in a straight line.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[edit]
In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario gain the ability to dash with the Dash Socks. The characters can dash when the player holds after a Team Jump. They can bloom Spinny Flowers for coins, use catapults, and catch characters that run from them, such as Paper Toads and Nabbit. Dashing into enemies initiates a First Strike, in which the trio dashes into the enemy from the field on the battle screen. Unlike with other forms of First Strikes, only that enemy is affected instead of all enemies. If that enemy has spikes, it negates this First Strike.
Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge[edit]
In Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge, the player can tap their Mini Toy to make it move faster for a short period of time. The section of the help menu explaining this is called Tap to Run, so the action is assumed to be Run. Mini Toys stop running instantly if they do anything except for reversing direction at walls; this includes falling onto lower platforms, jumping up steps, and sliding down slopes. Mini Toys cannot run while wielding a Hammer.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after Mario collects a Super Mushroom before attacking Bowser's minions with Donkey Kong, he dashes with his arms stuck out behind his back like in his dashing animation in several games of the Super Mario series.[1]
Mario Strikers: Battle League[edit]
In Mario Strikers: Battle League, characters dash when the player presses or
. They leave colored trails when dashing. Dashing while dribbling causes the character to kick the ball a little ahead of them, meaning the character loses possession of the ball until they catch up, which further allows an opposing player to easily obtain the ball. Dashing costs stamina.[2]
Profiles[edit]
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario 3D Land[edit]
- North American website bio: "In a hurry? This move puts some pep in Mario's step."
New Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]
- European website bio: "Use the Circle Pad or the +Control Pad to make Mario mosey at a leisurely pace. Hold the X or Y Button while moving to speed up and become a truly 'dashing' fellow!"
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS[edit]
- Digital manual description: "Move while holding
"
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[edit]
- Instruction manual description (overworld): "Hold
to charge the dash. Once it's ready, hold
in any direction and release
to start dashing in the direction you're holding."
- Instruction manual description (papercraft battle): "Press
to dash at enemies and slam into them. You can also use this to break blocks."
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Dash.
Names in other languages[edit]
Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Japanese | ダッシュ[?] Dasshu |
Dash | |
French | Courir Turbo[?] |
Run Dash |
|
Italian | Scatto[3] Corsa Accelerazione |
Dash Run Acceleration |
|
Portuguese (NOA) | Correr[?] | Run | |
Portuguese (NOE) | Acelerar[?] | Accelerating | |
Russian | Ускорение[?] Uskoreniye |
Acceleration | |
Spanish | Correr[?] | Run |
References[edit]
- ^ Illumination (March 9, 2023). The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Final Trailer. YouTube. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Nintendo of America (Jun 8, 2022). Mario Strikers: Battle League - Techniques + Strategy - Nintendo Switch ("0:18"). Youtube. Retrieved March 7th, 2025.
- ^ New Super Mario Bros. 2 Instruction Manual. Page 7.
- Moves
- Donkey Kong Country
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
- Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam moves
- Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move
- Mario Strikers: Battle League
- Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge
- New Super Mario Bros. moves
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 moves
- New Super Mario Bros. U moves
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii moves
- Nintendo Land moves
- Super Mario 3D Land moves
- Super Mario 3D World moves
- Super Mario Bros. moves
- Super Mario Bros. 2 moves
- Super Mario Bros. 3 moves
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels moves
- Super Mario Maker moves
- Super Mario Maker 2 moves
- Super Mario Odyssey moves
- Super Mario World moves
- Super Smash Bros.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
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- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
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