| Jet Pipe | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot from Mario Kart Tour | |
| First appearance | Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) |
| Latest appearance | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass (2023) |
| Effect | Expels water that pushes the player character. |
Jet Pipes,[1] originally referred to as bubble-jet pipes,[2] are underwater objects in the Super Mario franchise that debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3. They are a pipes that release strong currents of water. In the Super Mario series, the water pushes the player character and necessitates they rapidly press 
to maintain their desired trajectory. In some contexts, Jet Pipes can be used to avoid an oncoming enemy, such as Cheep Chomps or Mega Unagis. In the Mario Kart series, the pipes appear in the underwater portions of certain courses. Driving into their streams brings the player character to a higher routes, and can be used to avoid sinking down into pits.
Currents have appeared independently from Jet Pipes. In games where they cooccur, the natural currents are usually hazards that pull the player character into the level's abyss, costing them a life.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Bubble-jet pipes first appear in the underwater levels of Super Mario Bros. 3, in which they expel jets of water that push Mario or Luigi as they swim. All bubble-jet pipes are blue. The first one is introduced in Water Land's World 3-1. Mario and Luigi can overcome the currents if they are in their Frog forms by pressing 
, and some of them can even be physically entered like normal Warp Pipes to reach hidden sub-areas.
In Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the bubble-jet pipes are green, like the normal pipes found on land. In addition to the original levels, two bubble-jet pipes appear in An Aqueous Adventure in World-e.
New Super Mario Bros.
Currents in New Super Mario Bros. function as in Super Mario Bros. 3, though some levels have currents that can be turned off if the player presses a ? Switch.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Currents in New Super Mario Bros. Wii function identically to previous appearances in Super Mario Bros. games.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Currents in New Super Mario Bros. 2 retain their usual role of being obstacles, although are no longer limited to protruding from Warp Pipes, with some naturally occurring as well, as in Super Mario Bros. World 1-5's second Star Coin features a Super Mario Bros.–style downward current over a pit.
New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Currents in New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U function as usual, but like with New Super Mario Bros. 2, some currents occur naturally, such as the returning downwards currents featured in Tropical Refresher and Urchin Reef Romp.
Mario Kart series
Mario Kart 7
Currents in Mario Kart 7 are obstacles in Wario Shipyard and Piranha Plant Slide that push around racers, similarly to wind, though one current in Piranha Plant Slide allows players to reach the Dash Panel over the last Piranha Plant before the Glide Ramp.
Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Currents in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe appear in Dolphin Shoals, GCN Dry Dry Desert, and 3DS Piranha Plant Slide, acting the same as in Mario Kart 7. In the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, they appear in Tour Amsterdam Drift. A current also appears in Squeaky Clean Sprint, pushing racers forwards in the drain section of the course. The Bath Bombs in the course produce rising clouds similar to currents.
Mario Kart Tour
Currents in Mario Kart Tour are obstacles in the classic course 3DS Wario Shipyard and 3DS Piranha Plant Slide, where their behavior is the same as in Mario Kart 7. The currents which are blown out of Wario Shipyard's giant pipe can now allow the player to perform a Jump Boost. Large and small currents later appear in Amsterdam Drift 2, where they come from the vents in the waterway. They also appear in Piranha Plant Cove, Piranha Plant Cove 2, and the T variant of GCN Daisy Cruiser, where they come out of cracks which can be used to perform a Jump Boost, similarly to those of Water Geysers. The current in the drain and the clouds from the Bath Bombs in Squeaky Clean Sprint also appear, although the current is now present only at the drain's entrance. In the R variant of the course, a current comes out from another drain in the bathtub to launch racers out of it.
Mario Party 10
Currents in Mario Party 10 are interactive objects in Blooper Blastoff that can push away the player's Blooper submarine.
Gallery
Super Mario Bros. 3
Mario Kart 7
Mario Kart 8
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 土管水流[3] Dokan Suiryū |
Pipe Current | |
| 水流土管[4] Suiryū Dokan |
Current Pipe | Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros. 2 |
References
- ^ Stratton, Steve (2012). New Super Mario Bros. U: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville: Prima Games. ISBN 978-0-307-89690-2. Page 54, 55, 90, 120.
- ^ Bueno, Fernando (2009). New Super Mario Bros. Wii: PRIMA Official Game Guide. Roseville: Prima Games. ISBN 978-0-3074-6767-6. Page 28, 29, 75.
- ^ Sakai, Kazuya (Ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 119, 150, 216.
- ^ ---- (2015). 『スーパーマリオブラザーズ百科: 任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106569-8. Page 41, 200.