Time Limit

The time limit in Super Mario 3D World

A Time Limit (or simply Time) is a staple of the main Mario franchise platformer games, and its basic purpose is to notify the player of how much time is allotted to complete a level or task; if the timer reaches zero, the player loses a life regardless of power ups, including invincibility from a Super Star (and if time runs out when the player has no more lives left, they receive a Game Over). A timer's count is approximately 0.6 or 0.7 seconds in most games.

When the time limit decreases to below 100 seconds, the "hurry up" jingle plays to warn that the player is running low on time and the level's music plays at a faster speed. In Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario 3D World, the time limit glows red when it goes below 100, and also beeps for every second at the last 10 seconds.

Once the player finishes a level, the remaining time is multiplied by a number (usually 50) and then added to the player's score (or coin total in Super Mario 3D Land).

In most games, it is impossible to increase a level's time limit. However, some games including Super Mario World, Super Mario 3D Land, and Super Mario 3D World feature a collectible such as the + Clock that allow the player to increase it.

Time limits additionally appear in several other games such as in the Mario Kart series, Mario Party series, Super Smash Bros. series, and various Mario sports games where they function as a simple timer for a given game session.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros.

In Super Mario Bros., one in-game count lasts 0.4 seconds, which is 24 frames in 60Hz NTSC or 20 frames in 50Hz PAL

Most stages in this game have a time limit of 400, which is 160 seconds in real time (2 minutes 40 seconds). Athletic levels and castles have a time limit of 300 (120 seconds in real time).

Super Mario Bros. 3

In Super Mario Bros. 3, most stages have a time limit of 300 seconds, due to the game having much shorter levels. World 6-5, World 8-Fortress, and World 8-Bowser's Castle are the only stages that had a time limit of 400 seconds. All of the Hammer Bros. Enemy Courses and some very short stages, such as World 2-Desert, have a time limit of 200 seconds.

Super Mario World

In Super Mario World, most levels have a 300-second time limit. Some levels, like most Ghost Houses (bar the Choco-Ghost House and Valley Ghost House), Yoshi's Island 2, Donut Plains 1, Donut Plains 2, and 2 Morton's Castle have 400 seconds. Switch Palaces, the Top Secret Area (in the GBA version only), and Funky have only 200 seconds; it is possible to increase Funky's time limit by having Yoshi eat a Green Berry.

In the GBA version, Bowser's Front Door time limit of 400 seconds is doubled to 800, his Back Door goes from 400 seconds to 600, and the timer keeps running in the final battle.

New Super Mario Bros.

Starting with New Super Mario Bros., time limits vary depending on the level type. Short levels have time limits of 300 seconds, most normal stages and Ghost Houses have a time limit of 400 seconds, while longer levels, fortresses and castles have a time limit of 500 seconds.

In this game, Bowser's Castle has a time limit of 800 seconds.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

The Time Limit reappears in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where time limits once again depend on the level type. Bowser's Castle has a time limit of 700 seconds, which carries on to most other versions of the level in the New Super Mario Bros. series.

Additionally, respawning at a Checkpoint Flag after losing a life causes the Time Limit to be reduced. This behavior carries on to future games, excluding the Super Mario Maker series.

Super Mario 3D Land

In Super Mario 3D Land, the icon for the Time Limit is a + Clock. Unlike most other games, where a bonus is applied to the score based on remaining time when reaching the end of the level, a bonus is added to the coin count.

The Time Limit can be increased by collecting a + Clock. The amount added depends on whether it is a cyan clock (10 seconds) or green clock (100 seconds).

In this game, the time limit's indicator starts to glow red when the timer falls below 100 seconds. When there are only 10 seconds remaining, the indicator beeps every second.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

The Time Limit reappears in New Super Mario Bros. 2. The time limit's indicator glows red under 100 seconds and beeps every second for the last 10 seconds, just like in Super Mario 3D Land.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

The Time Limit reappears in New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.

Every level in New Super Luigi U starts at 100 seconds. 100 additional seconds are added to the timer when entering a boss door, while 250 additional seconds are added before fighting Bowser. Each in-game count lasts one second in New Super Luigi U.

If one of the characters being played is Nabbit or Toadette in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, an additional 100 seconds will be added to the timer. If both characters are present, no additional time bonus is given.

Super Mario 3D World

The Time Limit reappears in Super Mario 3D World, where it can be increased by collecting a + Clock, like in Super Mario 3D Land. It also glows and beeps like in Super Mario 3D Land.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS

The Time Limit reappears in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, where each count lasts exactly one second. The time limit of a level can be set in the editor from 10 to 500 counts and can only be a multiple of 10.

Super Mario Maker 2

The Time Limit reappears in Super Mario Maker 2. Like previous games in the Super Mario Maker series, each in-game count lasts exactly one second. In the online multiplayer mode of this game, if the time limit reaches zero, all players restart the course in Multiplayer Co-op, while in Multiplayer Versus, it is considered a tie.

In the Super Mario 3D World style, the indicator glows red when the timer is below 100 seconds but does not beep for the last ten seconds.

Mario & Wario

In Mario & Wario, a variation of the usual timer called the Time Gauge (タイムゲージ) appears, which is represented by a bar rather than numbers.

See also

• Countdown Timer

Trivia

• A glitch in Super Mario World involves letting the timer drop below 100 seconds to make the music speed up, then using Yoshi to eat a green berry to bring the time limit back above 100 seconds. When the timer reaches 100 seconds again, the music will speed up a second time; this can be repeated several times to make the game music play very fast.
• In older Super Mario Bros. games and Super Mario World, if there are 1000 or more seconds to complete the level, the first digit on the timer can be a letter, a blank space, or a piece of terrain (usually this glitch is present only in glitch levels, and in Super Mario World only by hacking). For example, if the timer displays █00, and the █ represents 36, this means the player has 3600 seconds left to complete the level. From 4000 to 4099 seconds, the timer will have a negative number, because the - represents 40. The maximum time is 25599 seconds.
• In the original Super Mario Bros., running out of time as Fire Mario will result in the player seeing a dead Mario sprite in Fire Mario's colors, seen nowhere else in the entire game.
• Super Mario Bros. 2 is currently the only 2D Super Mario game without a time limit, as it was a reskin of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, though Subspace has a time limit for how long one can stay.
• In earlier Mario games (up until Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3), when the time limit reaches zero, the text "Time Up" ("Time-Up" in the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 3) is shown; however, recent games' English versions (starting from New Super Mario Bros.) instead show "Time's Up!", as the former phrase is Engrish.
  • In the Super Smash Bros. series, the phrase is instead "Time!" in the English versions since Super Smash Bros. Melee.