Seesaw

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Split-arrows.svg It has been suggested that this page be split into the following: Seesaw, Teeter-totter. (discuss)
This article is about the recurring object throughout the Mario franchise. For the object from Wario: Master of Disguise, see Seesaw (Wario: Master of Disguise).
Seesaw
The Seesaw in the New Super Mario Bros. U style from Super Mario Maker 2
A Seesaw in the New Super Mario Bros. U style of Super Mario Maker 2
First appearance Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)
“GWAHAHA! I loaded my latest fortress with traps. I even threw some Seesaws in there. Good luck balancing those out. GWAHAHA!”
Bowser, Super Mario Maker 2

Seesaws in the Super Mario franchise are a platform object that usually tilt left or right, depending on where the player and/or enemies walk on them.

History[edit]

Yoshi's Island series[edit]

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island[edit]

Yoshi about to throw an egg at Lakitu in the level Watch Out For Lakitu.
Log teeter-totters in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Teeter-totters,[1][2] also referred to as seesaws,[1] first appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where one is first found in the hidden ! Switch area in The Cave Of Chomp Rock. In this bonus area, a Yoshi must tilt the seesaw to collect the coins; if he falls off, he can no longer reach them and is forced to leave the area. A seesaw also appears in Burt The Bashful's Fort and in King Bowser's Castle.

Another, shorter variant, also called a teeter-totter,[3] appearing as a bar of log similar to Spinning Logs, is found in later levels, first appearing in Watch Out For Lakitu. Each of these logs balances on a small point in the middle. Standing on them causes them to tilt and potentially fall unless a Yoshi is in the center. Most of the log-based ones are each situated on a post that ends in a wooden stake. The posts also sometimes have a different color like other posts, such as dark blue in cavern levels. Certain wobbling logs balance on other surfaces that are not dangerous to touch.

Yoshi's New Island[edit]

In Yoshi's New Island, both types of seesaws appear in the level Seesaw Scramble, with the larger variant also appearing in Gargantua Blargg Attacks!.

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS[edit]

Mario on the tilting platforms in Bowser in the Dark World
A seesaw in Bowser in the Dark World

In Super Mario 64 and its remake, a seesaw[4] that resembles a wooden bridge is located near the Chain Chomp on the Bob-omb Battlefield. Two seesaws appear in the final section of Bowser in the Dark World, two in The Secret Under the Moat, and one in Bowser in the Sky. Two seesaws made of stone appear in Rainbow Ride.

A turning platform similar to a seesaw appears in the initial section of Bowser in the Sky, and one is in the room that contains a bookcase in Big Boo's Haunt that drops the player into the merry-go-round area if they stand on it for too long. This same turning platform also exists in the center of the third room of Big Boo Battle, exclusive to the DS version.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, two seesaws appear in the World-e level A Towering Tour. Players can make them tilt left or right by placing themselves on the corresponding side, and the Seesaws can do a full 360° rotation.

New Super Mario Bros.[edit]

In New Super Mario Bros., two seesaws appear in World 1-2. One of them allows the player to access a gap at the top of the level, where the third Star Coin and the secret exit are located. They behave the same as the larger variant in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

In the Boo Moon Galaxy of Super Mario Galaxy 2, a crescent-shaped teeter-totter moon[5] appears suspended in the sky. It shifts back-and-forth based on where Mario is standing on it. During "Silver Stars Pop-Up", Star Chips appear above the teeter-totter moon that need to be collected to form a Launch Star. The moon otherwise appears in the game's credits.

New Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]

Seesaws return in New Super Mario Bros. 2, only appearing in World 2-2 and World 6-5. They behave as they did in New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe[edit]

While Seesaws themselves do not appear in New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, or their remake, a similar type of seesaw, the Seesaw Shroom, appears in the former game as a type of Mushroom Platform, along with a blue variant in the latter game.

Super Mario Maker 2[edit]

Seesaws appear as a course element in Super Mario Maker 2. They are colored orange in the Super Mario World style, and red in all other styles. In the Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World styles, they appear to be metallic, but in the New Super Mario Bros. U style, they are wooden. Like normal Lifts, their length can be changed, and they can be placed on tracks. They work similarly to their appearance in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (with the Super Mario Bros. 3-styled ones even resembling them), in that they tilt left or right depending on the player's or an enemy's position, but they can no longer do a full 360° rotation.

Seesaws can be abruptly tilted when a Thwomp falls on one side, throwing any playable characters and objects on the other side high into the air. This can also be achieved if a player Ground Pounds on the Seesaw (requiring a Dry Bones Shell to do so in the Super Mario World style and either a Dry Bones Shell or a big Goomba's Shoe in the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 styles). Furthermore, Bowser can perform this as well in the Super Mario Bros. 3 style using his Ground Pound attack.

The following is a table listing the different weights of each course element.[6]

Weight value Course element
Twister
0.5× Beach Koopa
Buzzy Shell
Dry Bones Shell
Koopa Shell
Spiny Shell
1-Up Mushroom
Blooper1
Blooper Nanny1
Bob-omb
Boo1
Buzzy Beetle
Chain Chomp
Coin2
Dry Bones
Fire Flower
Fire Piranha Plant
Frog Suit
Goomba / Galoomba
Goombrat / Goombud
Hammer Bro
Iggy
Koopa Clown Car / Fire Koopa Clown Car
Koopa Troopa
Larry
Lemmy
Link's bomb
Magikoopa
Mario / Luigi / Toad / Toadette
Master Sword
Mechakoopa / Blasta Mechakoopa / Zappa Mechakoopa
Monty Mole
P Switch
Piranha Plant / Jumping Piranha Plant
POW Block
Rocky Wrench
Rotten Mushroom
SMB2 Mushroom
Spike
Spike Ball / Snowball
Spike Top
Spiny
Super Acorn
Super Mushroom
Trampoline
Wendy
Yoshi / Yoshi's Egg
10-Coin2 / 30-Coin2 / 50-Coin2
Big Mushroom
Bill Blaster / Bull's-Eye Blaster
Boom Boom
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
Cannon
Ludwig
Morton
Muncher
Pokey / Snow Pokey
Roy
Shoe Goomba
Thwomp
Wiggler

1 - Only if stacked on top of another enemy.
2 - Only if dropped on the ground, primarily through a POW Block.
In addition to these weight values:

  • Variations of a course element almost always weigh the same as their parent. This includes different forms of the player character.
  • Applying the Super Mushroom modifier to a course element doubles its weight. Wings and parachutes, on the other hand, contribute nothing to the weight.
    • While Giant Eggs have an initial weight value of 2×, the value becomes 1× once Red Yoshi hatches from the egg.
  • Pokeys and Snow Pokeys in particular have their weight multipliers increase by one for each segment added.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World[edit]

In Yoshi's Woolly World and its port, seesaws appear in the levels Big Montgomery's Fort and Lava Scarves and Red-Hot Blarggs. They behave the same as in the New Super Mario Bros. games.

Unused appearances[edit]

While Seesaws do not appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, they appear without custom textures in the game's code, implying that they were originally meant to appear within the game.

Profiles[edit]

Super Mario Maker 2[edit]

  • North American website bio: "These are perfect for risky, tilt-centric courses."

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Seesaw[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese シーソー
Shīsō
やじろべえゆか(くい)[7]
Yajirobē Yuka (kui)
Seesaw

Balancing-Toy Floor (peg); for the smaller, wooden variant in the Yoshi's Island series

Chinese (simplified) 跷跷板
Qiāoqiāobǎn
Seesaw

Chinese (traditional) 蹺蹺板
Qiāoqiāobǎn
Seesaw

Dutch Wipplank
Seesaw
French Bascule
Seesaw
German Wippe
Seesaw
Italian Piattaforma mobile a dondolo[8]
Altalena basculante (Super Mario Maker 2)
Rocking moving platform
Tilting seesaw
Korean 시소[10]
Siso
Seesaw

Portuguese (NOE) Balancé[9]
Seesaw
Russian Качалка
Kachalka
Seesaw

Spanish (NOA) Subibaja
Seesaw
Spanish (NOE) Balancín
Seesaw

Teeter-totter moon[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese 月のシーソー[11]
Tsuki no Shīsō
Moon Seesaw

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Miller, Kent; Munson, Terry (1995). Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Player's Guide. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 28..
  2. ^ Williams, Drew (2002). Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Player's Guide. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 28.
  3. ^ Miller, Kent; Munson, Terry (1995). Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Player's Guide. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 123.
  4. ^ Pelland, Scott; Owsen, Dan (1996). Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 118, 122.
  5. ^ Browne, Catherine. Super Mario Galaxy 2: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville, Prima Games, 2010, p. 194.
  6. ^ Nintendo Unity (July 2, 2019). Super Mario Maker 2 - Who is the Heaviest Character? (Weight Tier List) (prior to version 2.0)]. YouTube. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  7. ^ 「任天堂公式ガイドブック ヨッシー New アイランド」 (Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook – Yoshi's New Island). Page 81.
  8. ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Page 92.
  9. ^ Nintendo Portugal (May 15, 2019). Super Mario Maker 2 Direct - 15/05/2019. YouTube. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. ^ 한국닌텐도 공식 채널 (May 16, 2019). 슈퍼 마리오 메이커 2 Direct 2019.5.16. YouTube. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors.『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』[Japanese source]. Tokyo, Shogakukan, 2015, p. 170.