Key Door
A locked door in Super Mario Maker in the New Super Mario Bros. U style
A New Super Mario Bros. U-styled Key Door from Super Mario Maker
First appearance Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987, overall)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, Super Mario franchise)
Latest appearance Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (2024)

Key Doors, also known as Locked Doors (or locked doors), appear in the Super Mario franchise as objects with the appearance of a regular Warp Door with a keyhole, and they cannot be entered without a key.

HistoryEdit

Super Mario seriesEdit

Super Mario Bros. 2Edit

Key Doors are objects in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2. They are first encountered in World 1-2. If the player character picks up a key for a Key Door, a Phanto will chase them. Once a Key Door is unlocked, it disappears, though in remakes, only the keyhole disappears by transforming them into normal swing-open Warp Doors.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DSEdit

 
A Key Door in Super Mario 64

Key Doors in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS are used to open certain doors to new courses. In the remake only, there are also Key Doors that hold Mario, Luigi, Wario, and a secret Power Star in the princess's room.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3Edit

While Key Doors do not appear in Super Mario Bros. 3, one can be found in the Game Boy Advance remake Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, in the World-e-exclusive level Doors o' Plenty.

Super Mario GalaxyEdit

Key Doors appear in the Ghostly Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy, where they automatically open as soon as Mario or Luigi obtains a key. In the case of the mission Matter Splatter Mansion, multiple Key Doors can be unlocked at once with one key.

Super Mario Maker seriesEdit

Key Doors are objects in Super Mario Maker as of the version 1.40 update and in the base game of Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS. They can be produced by shaking a Warp Door again after being shaken into a P Warp Door. Key Doors are also objects in Super Mario Maker 2, with the same role, though as of version 3.0.0 of Super Mario Maker 2, Cursed Keys can also be used to unlock Key Doors.

Super Mario RunEdit

Key Doors appear in Super Mario Run in the course Boohind Lock and Key. They can be opened only by using the key found in their room. If the player approaches a Key Door without a key, then the door wobbles in place. Once the player has the key, they act identically to Warp Doors. Key Doors resemble Ghost House doors from New Super Mario Bros. U but with keyholes in the center.

Super Mario Bros. WonderEdit

Key Doors are objects in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. They are based on their appearance in the Super Mario Maker subseries. Only two Key Doors appear in Color-Switch Dungeon: one requiring a red heart-shaped key, then another later on requiring a blue spade-shaped key, each indicated by the shape of the door frame and the emblem on the door.

Yoshi's StoryEdit

In Yoshi's Story, locked doors are found in the Lift Castle, Ghost Castle, and Magma Castle.

Mario vs. Donkey KongEdit

A regular door (left) and a chained door in multiplayer (right) in the Switch remake of Mario vs. Donkey Kong

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong and its remake, locked doors appear in all levels excluding the Mini-Mario levels and boss battles, and are designated with a giant keyhole on them. In the original game, they were referred to generically as doors[1]. The player (or Key Mini Mario in the Plus levels) must carry a Key towards the door to reach the next area of the level. In all Plus and Expert levels, doors act as the goal instead, with no new areas beyond it.

In the remake, doors are redesigned, with an additional red frame featuring a gold star symbol on top. Doors continue to retain their usual purpose, but the music does not stop and no victory fanfare is played when a player enters one, except in Plus and Expert levels. In multiplayer sessions, a player who is not close to the door at the time of its unlocking will be instantly warped inside of it with similar mechanics to Super Mario 3D World. Additionally, the door will be chained with a silver lock, bearing a resemblance to locked doors in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!. This requires obtaining a silver flying key in the level to unchain the door before the main key can be used on it.

Doors are succeeded by similarly functioning Goal Doors throughout the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, however most appearances do not always require the use of a key to go through them.

Captain Toad: Treasure TrackerEdit

Key Doors appear again in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, behaving like in previous Super Mario games.

MinecraftEdit

In the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft, there is a painting of Key Doors from Super Mario 64.

GalleryEdit

Additional namesEdit

Internal namesEdit

Game File Name Meaning

Super Mario Galaxy ObjectData/DarknessRoomDoorA.arc DarknessRoomDoorA Darkness Room Door A
Super Mario Galaxy StageData/ObjNameTable.arc/ObjNameTable.tbl 暗闇部屋の扉A (Kurayami Heya no Tobira A) Darkness Room Door A
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker content/ObjectData/DoorKey.szs DoorKey Door Key

Names in other languagesEdit

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese カギドア[?]
Kagi Doa
Key Door
Chinese (simplified) 上锁门[?]
Shàngsuǒ Mén
Locked Door
Chinese (traditional) 上鎖門[?]
Shàngsuǒ Mén
Locked Door
Dutch Gesloten deur[2] Closed door
French Porte verrouillée[?] Locked Door
German Schlüsseltür[?] Key door
Italian Porta chiusa[3][4] Locked/Closed door
Porta con serratura[5] Door with keyhole
Porta chiusa a chiave[?] Locked door
Portuguese (NOE) Porta fechada à chave[6] Locked door
Russian Запертая дверь[?]
Zapertaya dver'
Closed door
Spanish (NOA) Puerta cerrada con llave[?] Locked door

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Mario vs. Donkey Kong North American Virtual Console digital manual. Page 9.
  2. ^ Nintendo Nederland (March 9, 2016). Super Mario Maker - Gesloten deuren! Spijkerzuilen! Roze munten! (Wii U). YouTube (Dutch). Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Super Mario Bros. 2 Italian manual. Nintendo of Europe (Italian). Page 17.
  4. ^ 2010. Super Mario All-Stars Italian manual. Nintendo of Europe (Italian). Page 20.
  5. ^ November 15, 2018. Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 70.
  6. ^ Nintendo Portugal (March 9, 2016). Super Mario Maker - Portas fechadas à chave! Postes com espinhos! Moedas rosa! (Wii U). YouTube (European Portuguese). Retrieved January 11, 2021.