Cage

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Cage
Squared screenshot of a glass cage in Super Mario Galaxy.
Screenshot from Super Mario Galaxy
First appearance Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)

Cages[1][2][3][4] are containers in the 3D Super Mario games. They usually resemble cloche domes. Though superficially similar to breakable glass objects, cages cannot be physically broken with any attack from the player character. In most appearances, they open only when a nearby task is completed, most often the acquisition of a key. Though their contents vary within the games they appear in, they chiefly contain the tokens of their respective titles (i.e., Power Stars, Power Moons, and Cat Shines), similar to the Star Spheres in Super Mario 64 DS.

History[edit]

Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

Cages (also called force fields[5] or cases[1]) first appear in Super Mario Galaxy. In many galaxies, they function as a barrier between areas by trapping pipes or Lumas that transform into Launch Stars after being freed. Opening a cage varies. In many galaxies, Mario (or Luigi) must find a key on the same planet as the cage. Collecting one automatically causes the cage to dissolve. In some contexts, cages are encircled by electric rails and Mario must disengage the rails to make the cages disappear. This often requires knocking a Spiky Topman into it, or striking a nearby switch. In some instances, cages guard Power Stars and Grand Stars.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, cages more consistently hold Power Stars and Grand Stars, though one obstructs a diggable water spout from Mario in Cosmic Cove Galaxy. Similar objects called glass cases appear in both games, but these can be directly broken and usually only hold collectible items.

Super Mario Odyssey[edit]

Within Super Mario Odyssey, four Moon Cages[4] prominently appear in the Seaside Kingdom during The Glass Is Half Empty!, during which collecting a nearby Power Moon causes a cage to fall away and grant Mario access to the ground-pound switch it covered. In the Luncheon Kingdom, a Moon Cage holds a Power Moon directly and covers a Moon Pedestal,[6] a plate that Power Moons often appear above.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[edit]

Cages guard Cat Shines in the Bowser's Fury campaign of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. They are impervious to all attacks, including those from Fury Bowser, and can be destroyed only by opening with a collected key. If Mario or Bowser Jr. attacks a cage, it only shakes slightly. In this game, cages resemble birdcage-like cat baskets made of iron.

Cages appear near the entrances of Scamper Shores, Pounce Bounce Isle, Slipskate Slope, Pipe Path Tower, and Roiling Roller Isle, when the mission Key to the Cat Shine is available on each island. To obtain the Cat Shine inside, Mario must find the key in the surrounding area and bring it in front of the cage, either by walking into it or throwing the key at it. When the key makes contact with the keyhole, a short cutscene where the key opens the cage plays. Mario can then obtain the Cat Shine and complete the mission. After Key to the Cat Shine has been completed on an island, if Mario leaves and returns, the cage is no longer present.

If hacks are used to place a Cat Shine outside its closed cage, it still cannot be collected until after the cage has been properly opened. Additionally, if hacks are used to place Mario inside a cage, which is normally impossible, he is able to walk out of it. This is due to collision properties being applied only to the outside of the object and not the inside.[7]

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: Name from the Japanese release of The Art of Super Mario Odyssey ("Seaside Kingdom" section, p. ~224). Names from Japanese material associated with Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 would be ideal - the Shogakukan encyclopedia only informally describes this object as a 「仕掛け」(gadget, mechanism) under the description for keys (pp. 136, 169.).

Language Name Meaning
Japanese ネコカゴ[8]
Neko Kago
Cat Cage (Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury)

Italian Gabbia gatto
Cat cage (Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Black, Fletcher. Super Mario Galaxy: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Collector's Edition, Roseville, Prima Games, 2007, p. 110.
  2. ^ Browne, Catherine. Super Mario Galaxy 2: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville, Prima Games, 2010, pp. 36, 42, 96.
  3. ^ Walsh, Doug and Joe Epstein. Super Mario Odyssey: Prima Collector's Edition Guide. Roseville, Prima Games, 2017, p. 200.
  4. ^ a b Kanmuri, Yukari Tasai, Rachel Roberts, and Jenny Blenk, editors. "Seaside Kingdom." The Art of Super Mario Odyssey [digital]. Translated by TransPerfect, First English Edition, Milwaukie, Dark Horse Books, 2019, p. 224.
  5. ^ Fletcher, pp. 268, 274.
  6. ^ Kanmuri, Tasai, Roberts, and Blenk, pp. 82, 86.
  7. ^ ZXMany. "I put Mario in jail in Bowser's Fury! [Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury modding]." YouTube, 9 Mar. 2021. Accessed 15 May, 2021.
  8. ^ Famitsu Book Editorial Department. Super Mario 3D World + Fury World Perfect Guide [Japanese source]. Tokyo, Kadokawa, 2021, p. 438.