- This article is about the Mario Kart object. For the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Event, see Halfpipe.
A half-pipe[1][2] (also known as a halfpipe-style boost ramp)[3] is a structure signaled by vertical dash panels[4] (also known as half-pipe boost pads)[5] that appears in the Mario Kart series, first appearing in Mario Kart Wii. It allows players to jump off the side of a course and perform a Jump Boost to gain a speed boost upon landing. Its panels are cyan, blue, and purple with scrolling white arrows on them and stripes across them, resembling those of a Glide Ramp, and despite the half-pipes' former North American name, they have only a signaling function, not giving any speed boost when touched. Said speed boost rather happens when the player lands after the jump, regardless of whether the vehicle landed on the half-pipe or not. Half-pipes may sometimes cause the player to be sent backwards.
Although they are referred to as "half-pipes", most of them are technically quarter-pipes as they only appear on one side of the track. A true half-pipe would be two ramps on opposite sides of the track, like on DK Summit.
History
Mario Kart Wii
Half-pipes are introduced in Mario Kart Wii, in which they are known in North America as halfpipe-style boost ramps.[3] They appear in the new courses DK Summit, Wario's Gold Mine, Koopa Cape, Maple Treeway, Dry Dry Ruins, Bowser's Castle, and Rainbow Road, as well as the retro courses Template:Classic-link and Template:Classic-link. They also appear in the battle courses Funky Stadium and Chain Chomp Wheel. When a player jumps off of one of these ramps, it is possible to perform a trick to receive a longer speed boost. The trick performed is the same one that is performed when the player jumps off a Dash Panel.
Mario Kart Tour
After being absent from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, half-pipes return in Mario Kart Tour, first appearing on Wii Maple Treeway and later appearing on Wii DK Summit, Wii Koopa Cape, N64 Yoshi Valley, GCN DK Mountain, and Wii Rainbow Road. In this game, their mechanics are slightly altered in that the Jump Boost is automatically performed as soon as the vertical jump starts, but if the jump is high enough, a second trick, named a special trick, is performed. When this happens, the speed boost received upon landing is longer.
A different type of half-pipe, known as a super half-pipe, is introduced in this game and appears only in Merry Mountain. It visually differs from a regular half-pipe with its magenta color. Compared to a regular half-pipe, a super half-pipe leads to a longer boost upon landing without the need of a special trick, which cannot be performed when a player jumps from a super half-pipe. The super half-pipe also has a unique sound effect.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, half-pipes appear exclusively in courses added in the Booster Course Pass DLC. They appear on Merry Mountain[6] (replacing the super half-pipe present in the Mario Kart Tour version of the course) and Template:Classic-link,[7] in the same positions as in the previous versions of these courses. In this game, half-pipes appear as curved Antigravity Panels, and briefly enable anti-gravity while the player is airborne.
Gallery
The half-pipe in DK Summit in Mario Kart Wii
The super half-pipe in Merry Mountain in Mario Kart Tour
The half-pipe in Merry Mountain in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | U池技巧[?] U Chí Jìqiǎo |
U Pool Skills | |
| German | Halfpipe[?] | Half-pipe | |
| Italian | Rampa a U Super rampa a U[?] |
Half-pipe; lit. "U shaped ramp" Super half-pipe |
|
| Korean | 하프파이프[?] Hapeupaipeu |
Half-pipe | |
| Portuguese | Rampa em U[?] | U-ramp | |
| Spanish | Rampa en U[?] | U-ramp |
References
- ^ Mario Kart Tour in-game name
- ^ "The giant cannon that fires you to the mountaintop is just the first part of an incredible trip on this snow-covered track. Avoid the deepest drifts and look out for snowboarders as you pull off stunts on the half-pipe!" - Mario Kart Wii DK Summit official European website description
- ^ a b "A challenging downhill course with a long series of halfpipe-style boost ramps for tricking over heavy snow banks." - Mario Kart Wii DK Summit official North American website description
- ^ David S. J. Hodgson (April 27, 2008). Mario Kart Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games. Pages 60, 64, 72, 76, 84, 92, 96, 128, and 156.
- ^ "The plentiful bumps and hills - plus new half-pipe boost pads - make this the best track for tricks." - Mario Kart Wii GCN Waluigi Stadium official North American website description
- ^ Nintendo (September 13, 2022). Nintendo Direct 9.13.2022. YouTube. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- ^ Nintendo (November 21, 2022). Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass - Wave 3 Release Date - Nintendo Switch, YouTube, retrieved November 22, 2022.
Template:MKW may refer to:
- Template:Mario Kart Wii, covering Mario Kart Wii.
- Template:Mario Kart World, covering Mario Kart World.
| This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages associated with a particular title. Please follow one of the links above, or search to find the page you were looking for if it is not listed. If an internal link referred you here, you may want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page. |
| show Mario Kart Tour |
|---|
| show Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
|---|
