Hoopster

Hoopsters are large, ladybug-like insect enemies that first appear in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 2
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Hoopsters are found in a few levels and first appear in World 1-1. They are always found crawling up and down vines. Hoopsters speed up if the player's character (either Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, or Toad) is near or on their vines. If the character touches a Hoopster from the side or below, they get injured. The character can jump on the Hoopster to ride up the vine it is crawling on. The character can defeat a Hoopster by either throwing a vegetable at it, touching it while under the Starman effect, or simply picking it up and throwing it.

In the original version and the Super Mario All-Stars remake, Hoopsters are red with black dots, while their Super Mario Advance sprites depict them as yellow with red dots. The artwork for all versions, however, depicts them as red with a lighter shade of magenta for their spots.

In the ending's cast list for the original version and the Super Mario All-Stars remake, Hoopster's name was misspelled as Hoopstar. This was corrected in Western versions of Super Mario Advance.

Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, both remakes of Super Mario Bros. 3, the king of Desert Hill is turned into a Hoopster with his own magic wand by Morton Koopa Jr.

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Hoopsters are featured as enemies in the e-Reader level, Rich with Ropes, acting the same as in Super Mario Bros. 2. They have the same sprite as in the main game.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Several Hoopsters appear as minions of King Koopa in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Mario and the Beanstalk", being sent by King Koopa to attack Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad and their goose ally on a giant beanstalk. These Hoopsters are defeated by Mario, who throws several Garbanzo Beans at them.

Nintendo Adventure Books
When Mario first arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom in Double Trouble, he spots some Hoopsters (most of them presumably sand clones created by the GLOM) fighting for room on a hill. Later, Mario casually mentions that he hates it when the beetles ruin his picnics by stealing the food.

In Leaping Lizards, Hoopsters are used in the second International Mushroom Games event, the Beetlebowl, in which the goal is to catch and dunk Hoopsters into an opposing team's bucket. The gold trophy awarded to the winner of the tournament is also described as being based on a Hoopster.

In Pipe Down!, Ludwig von Koopa can use his giant pipe organ to summon some Hoopsters and other enemies to swarm the Mario Bros. if they attempt to attack him directly during one portion of the book. In Dinosaur Dilemma, while traveling through a forest, Yoshi spots some Hoopsters crawling around a tree trunk, and eyes them hungrily.

Profiles

 * Super Mario Bros. 2 manual: "He is a creature about the size of a basketball. He resembles a ladybug. He lives on vines and crawls up and down."
 * Super Mario Advance manual: "You'll find Hoopsters hanging on vines and ropes. They're real speedsters, so step lively!"

Trivia

 * In the Japanese manual, Hoopster is likened to a soccer ball, whereas in the English one, it is compared to a basketball (likely referring to the "hoop" in its name).