Jumping is Mario's most commonly used move. While it was originally only used to evade obstacles in the original Donkey Kong game, it has been Mario's primary method of attacking since Super Mario Bros. Depending on the type of game, Mario and other characters jump for a variety of different purposes. When Mario jumps, he makes a fist in the air and splits his legs at the same time.
Because Mario can jump in several Mario games, most notably in the Super Mario series, only significant examples are mentioned. This also goes for the respective Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong franchises.
In the original arcade version of Donkey Kong, Mario has to jump over the barrels that Donkey Kong throws at him. He can only jump high enough to leap right over the barrel, in contrast to the impossibly high jumps in the Super Mario Bros. series. If Mario lands on a barrel in the game, he dies. In the early concept of Donkey Kong, Mario originally was not able to jump. It was implemented when Shigeru Miyamoto and his team thought, "If you had a barrel rolling towards you, what would you do?"[1]
In Donkey Kong on the Game Boy, Mario has a greater variety of moves related to jumping. If the player jumps then presses down on , Mario does a handstand. From the handstand position, Mario could perform high jumps and wide jumps depending on the situation. Mario could also backflip by walking and then immediately pressing the opposite direction and the jump button, resulting in him going high into the air backwards. Unlike all other 2D Mario titles, Donkey Kong also punishes the player for falling too far, resulting in Mario losing a life. This jump system has also been used in Mario vs. Donkey Kong.
In Mario Bros., jumping is the primary attack of Mario and Luigi and the only way to defeat enemies. By jumping from below to hit the platforms on which the enemies stand, the player can stun the enemies or turn them around. The enemies then have to be finished off with a kick. Unlike later games, stomping on enemies is deadly in Mario Bros. Because of this, the Shellcreepers have been changed to Spinies in all remakes of the game to remind players not to stomp on them.
In Super Mario Bros. 2, jumps served a different purpose than in all other games, due to the game using the only slightly altered Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic as its engine. The characters in the game could not defeat any enemies by stomping on them. Instead, they could stand on them and pick them up by pressing . Players could even land on Birdo's eggs and throw them at Birdo. Enemies and items could be picked up and thrown to knock out other enemies. This system has been carried over to Donkey Kong on the Game Boy.
While the standard jump (or Regular Jump[2]) remains mostly unchanged in Super Mario World, Mario is also now capable of spin-jumping. It trades height for offence, as it can break blocks (as Super Mario) and destroy enemies that are usually more durable. It also allows Mario to bounce off certain enemies, notably those with spines, where he would usually take damage.
Super Mario World is the debut of Yoshi, a dinosaur-like creature Mario can ride. His jump is greater than Mario's, but it defeats enemies as quickly as the Spin Jump, and Yoshi even bounces on spiny enemies, too. While on Yoshi, Mario or Luigi can perform a Yoshi Boost[3] (also named Double Jump[4]), which gives him a second, higher jump off Yoshi. Doing so leaves Yoshi alone unless Mario or Luigi hops back onto him.
The playable appearance of Yoshi, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, introduces multiple aspects on top of the jump. By holding the jump button, Yoshi will Flutter Jump, which stalls him momentarily, allowing for careful landings and covering greater distances. Pressing down makes him Ground Pound, an offensive move that is stronger than landing on enemies. These are all new to the franchise, with Ground Pounding becoming a staple of Super Mario Bros. games, and Flutter Jumping being an iconic move of Yoshi's.
In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario's jump can defeat most enemies. When using F.L.U.D.D.'s Hover Nozzle, Mario can float higher and longer. In addition, if Mario loses health, his jumps become weaker[citation needed]. Also, if Mario jumps over a pit, his jumps are different.
Throughout most games in the Mario Kart series, players can make a short hop to begin a drift. Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit feature many narrow hazards which can be hopped over, such as puddles or cracks in the road. Otherwise, the series generally implements Dash Panels and ramps within courses to enable higher and further jumps. Mario Kart Wii introduced tricks, which allow racers to perform stunts when jumping from ramps to receive a brief speed boost upon landing. In Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Feather item allows players to jump over obstacles and racers.
As of Mario Kart Tour, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is the only game in the series where racers cannot hop. Drifting is still executed in a similar fashion to the other games.
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Jump is a special move that requires 3 Flower Points. It does additional damage as a Timed Hit, and its power increases with the Jump Shoes. Mario can use this move from the beginning of the game. Mario's jump is also used by many characters in the game to verify his identity. Everyone also seems to think of it as his most defining characteristic.
In the Mario Party series, characters usually jump to hit Dice Blocks. Characters can also jump in various minigames. Sometimes characters can jump on their opponents to stun them temporarily (and to jump higher in a few minigames). In some minigames, such as Coin Cache, stunned characters have a lower jumping ability.
In Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, jumping is Mario's primary attack he can use from the beginning of the game. It can be used to defeat any kind of generic enemy like the Goombas, but some enemies like the Spiked Goombas prevent jump attacks with spikes, and the player then has to use the Hammer attacks instead. Jumping is also used on the overworld for platforming elements. In both games, Mario can increase his jump power and abilities with the Super Boots and the Ultra Boots. Doopliss also uses Mario’s jump attack in battle when he copies Mario.
In Super Paper Mario, all four characters have the ability to jump on foes as their primary means of attack.
Paper Mario: Sticker Star features multiple Jump stickers that can be used in battle, each with various strengths. There are seven different types of Jumps, each with their own variations: the Jump, Iron Jump, Hopslipper, Infinijump, Line Jump, and Clone Jump. All of these types except the Infijump and Clone Jump reappear as cards in Paper Mario: Color Splash, along with a new variation, the Spin Jump.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions[edit]
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga used the same concept for jumps as the Paper Mario series. In addition, the player controls both Mario and Luigi simultaneously using , with Luigi in tow following Mario's movements. Each brother has their own corresponding button – for Mario and for Luigi – and it is necessary to use both to get both brothers over pits. On the overworld, Mario and Luigi could also perform the High Jump and the Spin Jump to reach higher areas. Many Bros. Attacks also use jump moves. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions retains this.
Some enemies and bosses resist jump or hammer attacks, even if they are spiky.
In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the jump command was identical to how it was in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, however, the piggyback jumps with Baby Mario and Baby Luigi increased the number of jump commands in-battle. The Spin Jump returns, and later on the bros learn the Baby Spin move which allows them to Spin Jump into the babies to launch them even further upwards and makes it possible for them to cross large gaps along with the adult bros. Like Mario and Luigi, the player controls both Baby Mario and Baby Luigi simultaneously using the while they are separated from their older selves. The two babies also have their own corresponding button - for Baby Mario and for Baby Luigi.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey[edit]
Mario jumping towards Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, jumping in battles works similar to how it did in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time when the adult brothers are with their infant counterparts; Mario and Luigi can perform two jumps with a well-timed action command, dealing twice the damage to enemies. In the overworld, jumping functions the same as it always had in previous games, though there are also 2D side-scrolling segments that take place inside Bowser's body, where the jumps use the mechanics of Mario & Luigi jumping in a typical Super Mario Bros. setting.
Instructions on how to jump in battle from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the Jump attacks for Mario and Luigi are identical in gameplay to the ones in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, down to the 2D areas, although in the Dream World, successful Jump attacks cause several Luiginoids to fall on to surrounding enemies after Mario attacks for extra damage. In the overworld, this game uses the Jump field action as usual for the series, and features the Spin Jump and the Ball Hop, a move very similar to the High Jump from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and seems to be a combination of the aforementioned move and the Ball Bros. move from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. The Luiginoid Generator also uses the Jump action while in the Luiginoid Stack formation.
The Jump attack is also used during the Giant Battles by Giant Luigi, the result of Dreamy Luigi and many Luiginoids' combination. This involves Luigi first bobbing down as if he was about to spring into the air, where the player must wait until Luigi flashes to slide up quickly on the Touch Screen. Perfect timing allows Luigi to land firmly on the target and perform a second jump on them if the player succeeds in repeating the command. Perfect timing with both jumps yields an Excellent! rating, perfect timing on only one yields a Great! rating, sliding up at the wrong time results in a Good! rating and not sliding up at all results in an OK! rating. Also the Jump command block shows a Boot rather than an arrow.
In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario and Luigi's jumps remain the same, but Paper Mario is unique due to having as his jump button. In battle, Paper Mario and his copies can jump on enemies many times depending on how many copies he has. The Papercrafts can also perform a jump move to stomp on enemies, though the player has to retrieve the Papercraft after jumping.
In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Luigi can jump while he is sucking up a ghost to avoid attacks from other ghosts. This is executed by pressing the button while using the Poltergust 5000 to suck up the ghost.
Mario performing a Midair Jump in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In the Super Smash Bros. series, a jump can be performed by all characters. Each character has a different jump height and speed. A major mechanic in the series is that players can jump again while airborne, and some characters can do so multiple times. Also, Mario, Luigi and Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch is executed similarly to the conventional jumps in the Mario games.
Virtual Console manual description:Press to jump. To jump higher, press and hold or press while running. You can adjust the direction of the jump by pressing while in the air.
Instruction manual description (overworld; basic actions):Hit blocks and other things from below, and jump while moving to climb up platforms. When you're in the water, you can swim.
Instruction manual description (overworld; crossing gaps):Press and at the same time while moving with to jump across gaps.
Instruction manual description (battle):If you time your jump attack right, you can stomp an enemy twice.
European website bio:Press the A or B Button to jump, hold the button down to jump a little higher, or jump while dashing to go higher still! To perform Double Jumps or Triple Jumps, dash and jump twice or three times in a row. The timing is pretty exact, but you can make some mighty leaps!
Instruction manual description (overworld):Jumping can help you reach higher places or hit blocks.
Instruction manual description (battle):If you press the action button just before you land on an enemy, you'll jump off and repeat the action for additional damage.
Instruction manual description (Paper Mario):If you press when a Paper Mario copy stomps on an enemy, the next copy in line will perform a stomp. This repeats until the copies run out or you miss a button press.
* Exclusive to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. • ** Exclusive to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions. † Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to the main game. • †† Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. • ††† Enemy variants differ in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions.
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