8-bit character: Difference between revisions

|image=[[File:SMO Screenshot 8-bit Cat Mario.jpg|200px]]<br>Screenshot from ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]''

'''8-bit characters'''<ref name=art>{{cite|author=Sakai, Kazuya, kikai, Rachel Roberts, and Jenny Blenk, editors|date=2019|title="Metro Kingdom". ''[[The Art of Super Mario Odyssey]]''|format=First English Edition|location=Milwaukie|publisher=[[Dark Horse]]|page=175}}</ref> are animated sprites in the 3D ''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]'' games and ''[[Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker]]''. They resemble two-dimensional sprites from the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom]]-era of various characters. The attributive noun "'''Pixel'''" is usually applied to different sprites. 8-bit characters are not the same exact individuals they resemble, who often cooccur with these sprites. For example, '''Pixel Luigis'''<ref name=pixel>{{cite|author=@NintendoAmerica|title=To celebrate #SuperMarioOdyssey’s one-year anniversary, Pixel Luigis and Pixel Captain Toads have been hidden around the festival area in New Donk City! Can you find all 39 of them? Do a Ground Pound in the correct spots to also collect some coins.|archive=https://nitter.poast.org/NintendoAmerica/status/1056236608872169472#m|archiver=Nitter|language=Japanese|publisher=Twitter|date=27 Oct. 2018}}</ref> are found throughout ''[[Super Mario 3D World]]'', in which [[Luigi]] himself is a playable character. The relationship between 8-bit characters and the individuals they resemble is not conveyed.

While allusions to the animated sprites of the original ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' are near ubiquitous in the ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' franchise, 8-bit characters only occur in 3D platformers, appear as flat images in the environment, and move as if they are alive. In most contexts, an 8-bit character can be directly interacted with.

Pixel Luigis appear throughout ''[[Super Mario 3D World]]'' in commemoration of the [[Year of Luigi]]. They can be found on the sides of walls, or as 2D figures in the 3D environment. They are of a wide variety of sizes and behaviors, with one snowflake-sized Luigi blowing in the wind and a whale-sized one swimming in the sea. There are no tangible incentives given to the player for encountering a Pixel Luigi.

[[File:SMO Captain Toad sprite.jpg|thumb|200px|Mario alongside a Pixel Captain Toad in the [[Cap Kingdom]].]]

In ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', the most prominent 8-bit characters appear on the walls of terrain, often obscured or behind an obstruction. Striking one with a [[Cap Throw]] causes it to release an item before disappearing. It reappears in the same spot when the kingdom is exited and revisited. The most recurring 8-bit characters are '''8-bit Cat Mario''' and '''8-bit Cat Peach'''.<ref name=art/> They are hidden within all but two kingdoms, the [[Cloud Kingdom]] and [[Ruined Kingdom]]. They are based on the powered-up [[Cat Mario|Cat forms]] of the same name that debuted in ''Super Mario 3D World'', but are otherwise absent in ''Super Mario Odyssey''. Striking an 8-bit Cat Mario awards [[Mario]] with ten [[coin]]s. An 8-bit Cat Peach releases a [[Heart (item)|Heart]]. Likely as an homage to ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', an '''8-bit Rosalina'''<ref name=art/> is hidden on the [[Dark Side]] and [[Darker Side]] of the [[moon]]. Striking her releases ten coins, like Cat Mario. 8-bit Cat Marios sometimes fall out of [[flower (environmental object)|bushes]] when they are walked through, seemingly caught on a breeze before disappearing.

In the original release of ''[[Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker]]'', scanning the [[amiibo|Toad amiibo]] causes a Pixel Toad to appear in a course, with which the player character plays Hide and Seek. This functionatelity is unlocked through normal progression in the [[Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Nintendo Switch / Nintendo 3DS)|port]] released on the [[Nintendo Switch]] and [[Nintendo 3DS]].

SMO 8bit Cat Mario.png|Sprite from ''Super Mario Odyssey'' (8-bit Cat Mario)

===8-bit Cat Mario===

|JapM=Dot [[Captain Toad]]