Spinning Heart
Artwork of a Spinning Heart from Super Mario 64.
Artwork from Super Mario 64
First appearance Super Mario 64 (1996)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)
Effect Replenishes lost health when the player runs through it
You can also recover power by touching the Spinning Heart. The faster you run through the heart, the more power you'll recover.”
Sign on the Bob-omb Battlefield, Super Mario 64

A Spinning Heart (also referred to simply as a heart)[1] is a supportive object seen in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS. Spinning Hearts are translucent red hearts that slowly revolve on the ground. When Mario runs through one, the Spinning Heart quickly replenishes his Power Meter. The heart spins proportionally to the speed Mario runs through it, gradually slowing back to normal. While the heart is spinning faster than usual, Mario heals one sector each full turn the heart makes.[2] In Super Mario 64 DS, Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario can also use a Spinning Heart to recover health. In Super Mario 64, the Spinning Heart is just a translucent sprite rendered in the 3D scene with collision data. In Super Mario 64 DS, it is an opaque 3D model.

A total of 15 Spinning Hearts appears in both games, with one in Tick Tock Clock and the one in Goomboss Battle being exclusive to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, respectively. Spinning Hearts are often found in areas with greater risk of damage or before boss battles. The following Spinning Hearts appear in the following locations:

Image Course Location
Spinning HeartMario next to a Spinning Heart in Bob-omb Battlefield Bob-omb Battlefield Near the top of the mountain, next to a sign
The Spinning Heart in Cool, Cool Mountain Cool, Cool Mountain Underneath the Star for Wall Kicks Will Work
The Spinning Heart in Hazy Maze Cave Hazy Maze Cave Super Mario 64: On a ledge beside the bottomless pit in the boulder area

Super Mario 64 DS: Within the gap in the wall next to the boulder path
The Spinning Heart in Lethal Lava Land Lethal Lava Land On a floating platform among multiple within the volcano, just after the hidden smasher
The Spinning Heart in Shifting Sand Land Shifting Sand Land Inside the pyramid, between the Spindel and the vertically oscillating stairs
The Spinning Heart in Tick Tock Clock Tick Tock Clock Under the group of rotating bars

Super Mario 64 only: Beside the pole with the orbiting Amp, before the elevating platforms
The first Spinning Heart in Rainbow Ride

The second Spinning Heart in Rainbow Ride
Rainbow Ride On one of the four large spinning platforms

At the Red Coin maze, below the area that requires wall-kicking
The first Spinning Heart in Bowser in the Fire Sea

The second Spinning Heart in Bowser in the Fire Sea
Bowser in the Fire Sea At the bottom level on a platform with three Goombas

At the top level, before the rising and sinking poles
The first Spinning Heart in Bowser in the Sky

The second Spinning Heart in Bowser in the Sky
Bowser in the Sky Halfway up, along the path of the moving arrow platform

Just before the pipe, in the windy area
The first Spinning Heart in Goomboss Battle

The second Spinning Heart in Goomboss Battle
Goomboss Battle
(DS only)
Next to the entrance to Goomboss

At the base of the long vertical cage where Mario must wall-kick to reach a Star Sphere

GalleryEdit

Names in other languagesEdit

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese クルクルハート[?]
Kurukuru Hāto
Spinning Heart
French Cœur-toupie[?] Spinning-heart
Italian Cuore Rotante[3] Spinning Heart
Cuore[4] Heart
Spanish Corazón[?] Heart

TriviaEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ August 1996. Nintendo Magazine System (UK) Issue 47. Page 19.
  2. ^ UncommentatedPannen (July 21, 2016). HP. YouTube (English). Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  3. ^ 2005. Super Mario 64 DS European manual. Nintendo of Europe (Italian). Page 106.
  4. ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Page 92.