Warp pipe
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- For the Warp Pipe tunneling software, see Warp Pipe (Software Developer);
Warp pipes are fictional pipes, usually green or other bright colours, that can be found throughout the Mushroom Kingdom in the Mario series of video games. Their primary purpose is to transport users from one place to another very quickly. Their existence is linked to the fact that Mario and Luigi are plumbers, though pipes existed in Yoshi's Island, which took place (chronologically) before the brothers became plumbers.
[edit] Appearances
Pipes were first featured in Mario Bros., where they were situated two on each side of the screen, and they sprouted enemies for Mario and Luigi to dispatch, and coins for them to pick up. If an enemy entered a pipe at the bottom of the screen, it would pop back out of a corresponding pipe at the top of the screen. These pipes are similar to the warp pipes featured in later games, although Mario and Luigi could not use them.
Warp pipes appeared in Super Mario Bros. dispersed throughout levels. Many served no function or only held Piranha Plants, but certain warp pipes allowed Mario to enter bonus "coin rooms", underwater sections, or shortcuts (in warp zones). They were replaced in Super Mario Bros. 2 with vases, which acted similarly: the character would shrink and enter the vase, and such areas were usually similar to places Mario might reach with warp pipes in the preceding game. The original Warp pipe design reappeared in Super Mario Bros. 3. In fact, the seventh 'world' of levels in the game featured a warp pipe motif, and was consequently a jungle of warp pipes. Super Mario World introduced the different colored (non-green) warp pipes.
Warp pipes also appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, the original Super Smash Bros., and the Mario Party and Paper Mario series. They also appeared in Super Mario RPG instead of typical RPG stairwells. Warp pipes also appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as giant pipes that players could drive through and also made some appearances in Super Mario Sunshine. Warp Pipes also appeared in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour as objects that would transport the ball from one place to another. More recent Mario games don't feature many warp pipes, and some dedicated Mario fans are hoping for the return of warp zones, pipe plazas, and so on, in future games. However, the recent DS game New Super Mario Bros. also featured warp pipes, in a similar way to the older Super Mario Bros. games. Pipes are also available as furniture decorations in the Animal Crossing series.
[edit] Trivia
- Psychedelic rock band Warp To World from Anoka, Minnesota based their name on the classic RPG, Paper Mario.
