Template:Quote2 Magic carpets[1] (also spelled Magic Carpets),[2] generally also known as flying carpets[3][4] or just carpets,[4] appear in the Super Mario franchise as interactive flying platforms that can be used by player characters.
History in the Super Mario franchise
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 2
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Pidgit’s carpets[5] are used by Pidgits to fly around. If the playable character grabs and throws or defeats the Pidgit, they are able to briefly ride it before it vanishes (Lakitu's Cloud would later act the same way, as of Super Mario World). Pidgit's carpets are colored black and red in the NES version, yellow and white in Super Mario All-Stars, and red and white in Super Mario Advance; they are also stretched in the latter version, and thus appear larger than they were in prior versions. In the game's data, however, they are still the same size.
Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
Magic carpets in Super Mario 64 and its Nintendo DS remake do not have anything riding them at first and remain in place until the player character steps on them. Magic carpets appear only in Rainbow Ride. When stepped on, the carpet will follow a set rail, which is styled like a rainbow. If the player remains off the carpet for too long, it will disappear and respawn back in its original position. Once it gets to the end of the line, it will fall into the abyss and then respawn back at where it started.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Magic carpets in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! are a recurring mode of transportation. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad and other characters use these carpets sometimes.
Magic carpets in the episode "Mario's Magic Carpet" appear to have a car-like protrusion on them. However, in the episode "Mario and the Red Baron Koopa", different carpets are seen. King Koopa is seen flying a magic carpet that has a warplane protrusion, while Mario and Luigi fly around on normal-looking carpets that have steering wheels. Later on in the episode, Mario, Luigi and Toad use two ordinary magic carpets together to construct the wings of the flying carpet biplane.
Nintendo Adventure Books
A flying carpet is used by Princess Toadstool, Mario, Toad, and (depending on which route the reader takes) possibly Luigi to enter Iggy Koopa's secret laboratory in Water Land in the Nintendo Adventure Book Leaping Lizards. Three weeks later, some flying carpets are used in the first event in the International Mushroom Games, the obstacle course.
In Koopa Capers, Bowser sends a magic carpet to Mario Brothers Plumbing to kidnap the Mario Bros., whom he is desperate enough to ask to help in the search for his missing daughter. The carpet captures only Luigi (who had at first assumed the carpet was a gift and "a Goomba pattern rug") and proceeds to bring him to Bowser's Castle through the Mario Bros.' personal Warp Pipe.
In Brain Drain, if Luigi punches the correct code into the KoopaFone in the Koopa Command Center's cafeteria, he will order a pizza from Magic Carpet Pizzas, a business run by Pidgits who deliver pizzas with their magic carpets.
Wario Land 4
In Wario Land 4, flying carpets[6] are found in the level Arabian Night. Wario can step on a carpet and fly by repeatedly jumping from it. Flying carpets can be maneuvered in a certain direction by walking on their edge. They disappear when they touch water but will respawn if Wario exits and re-enters the area. They are necessary to use throughout the level.
Mario Party series
Magic carpets in the Mario Party series have appeared a few times. In the minigame Random Ride from Mario Party 5, players can choose to ride a magic carpet from a list of machines. In Mario Party 9, a magic carpet simply titled the Flying Carpet is the starter vehicle of the Boo's Horror Castle board. In Mario Party: Island Tour, players use magic carpets to move through the Kamek's Carpet Ride board.
Mario Kart series
In Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour, Flying Shy Guys use magic carpets to move around the Shy Guy Bazaar course. In the latter game, magic carpets appear on their own in the Do Jump Boosts bonus challenge set in the same course, where the player can jump off of one for a Jump Boost.
Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
In Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, the magic carpet only appears in Flying-Carpet Cruise where there are a variety of carpets by color and size. All kinds have arrows on them pointing left and right, and standing on one side causes the carpet to move in that direction, similar to Switchboards. If Yoshi jumps off of it, it floats upwards, and if he crouches while on it, it floats downwards. One carpet requires a yarn ball to be thrown at it to be usable.
History in other games
Super Smash Bros. series
Magic carpets in the Super Smash Bros. series were introduced in two different Super Mario-themed stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mushroom Kingdom II and Rainbow Cruise, both in which they are usable platfomrs. In Mushroom Kingdom II, Pidgits sometimes briefly fly across the stage, but unlike them, their red carpets are 3D. Since they come and leave from the left and right sides of the stage, players are at risk of being KO'd while using one. In Rainbow Cruise, there is a magic carpet from Super Mario 64, functioning identically as before, but without the rainbow trails. However, more than one player can stay on a carpet, and as long as one player is on one, it does not vanish prematurely. As both stages return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (with the latter also returning in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), their respective magic carpets also come back, though the ones in Mushroom Kingdom II are now yellow (due to the stage's more Super Mario All-Stars-themed graphics).
Gallery
Cadillac-style magic carpet
Jalopy-style magic carpet
Warplane-style magic carpet
Magic carpet with steering wheel
Biplane with magic carpet wings
Model from Super Mario 64
Texture from Super Mario 64
Super Mario Maze Picture Book 6: Take down Wart!
A flying carpet in Wario Land 4
Rainbow Ride carpets in Super Mario 64 DS
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 空飛ぶじゅうたん[7][8] Soratobu Jūtan |
Flying Carpet | |
| French | tapis volant[10] | Flying Carpet | |
| German | Fliegender Teppich[11] | Flying Carpet | |
| Teppich[11] | Carpet | ||
| Italian | Tappeto volante[12][13][14][15] | Flying carpet | |
| Tappeto magico[16][17] | Magic carpet | ||
| Tappeto[14][18] | Carpet | ||
| Spanish | alfombra mágica[9] | Magic Carpet | |
| Alfombra[9] | Carpet |
Trivia
- In "Mario's Magic Carpet", it was established that carpeting is the favorite food of Pidgits.
- In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Sam Shalam of Cloud Land is a used magic carpet dealer.
- Yoichi Kotabe's first assignment as an employee of Nintendo was to animate the magic carpets ridden by the Pidgits in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic.
- The carpets are alluded to in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, when Mario, Angelica, Daniella, and four other women escape on a mattress out of Koopa's Tower. The mattress gently floats and glides down over Koopa Square before it makes a sliding landing.
References
- ^ Nintendo (2001). Super Mario Advance instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 31.
- ^ Pelland, Scott; Owsen, Dan (1996). Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 119-120.
- ^ Nintendo (1988). Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 25.
- ^ a b Nintendo (2001). Wario Land 4 instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (British English). Page 8.
- ^ 1989. Super Mario Bros. 2 Inside Out, Part II. Nintendo Power (American English). Page 9 and 10.
- ^ Fall 2001. Nintendo Power Advance Volume 3. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 66.
- ^ Nintendo (1987). Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 34.
- ^ Nintendo (2001). Wario Land Advance: Yōki no Otakara instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 11.
- ^ a b Nintendo (2001). Wario Land 4 European instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (European Spanish). Page 88.
- ^ Nintendo (2001). Wario Land 4 European instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (French). Page 48.
- ^ a b Nintendo (2001). Wario Land 4 European instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (German). Page 28.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 2 Italian manual. Page 25.
- ^ The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, "Mario e il tappeto volante" title
- ^ a b Nintendo (2001). Wario Land 4 European instruction booklet. Nintendo of Europe (Italian). Page 108.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Page 92.
- ^ The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, "Mario e il tappeto volante" dialogues
- ^ Nintendo (2001). Super Mario Advance European manual. Nintendo of Europe (Italian). Page 109.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Page 67.