Fortress
Fortresses, also known asforts, appear in theSuper Mario franchise as fortified buildings appearing usually at the end oflevels in thenamesake series, behindGoal Poles, and are entered byMario orLuigi after the level is cleared. Most games feature levels set inside fortresses.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. /Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
InSuper Mario Bros. andSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, fortresses are usually made from brown bricks (except for the one at the very beginning ofWorld 6-3 in the former game andWorld 7-3 in the latter game, which are colored gray like the rest of the level), and are usually located at the end of most levels, except for the third and fourth levels of each world, which end with acastle and take place inside that castle respectively. They also appear at the very beginning of underground and underwater levels, where Mario or Luigi enters the level via a Warp Pipe. Additionally, castles appear to be a fortress stacked upon a larger section.World 5-1 inSuper Mario Bros. begins with Mario or Luigi outside a fortress, despite the level before taking place inside a castle;World 1-1 inThe Lost Levels also begins in front of a fortress.
Super Mario Bros. 3
InSuper Mario Bros. 3, fortresses, also known asMini-Fortresses,[1] are levels usually found in the middle ofworlds. They featureBoom Boom as their only boss, and he must be defeated to openLocked Doors and gain access to other parts of the world.
In theFamily Computer andNintendo Entertainment System version, fortresses (barringWorld 2-
Fortress andWorld 6-Fortress 2) can have any of three different color schemes:
- Gray wall and red pipes. (P-Switches in this palette are colored light gray.) Lava is often found in areas with this palette.
- Cyan wall and white pipes. (P-Switches in this palette are colored light blue.) Areas with this palette sometimes have a checkered floor.
- Blue wall and green pipes. This palette is exclusive to the World 3 fortresses and can have water.
Some parts of some fortresses (all in Worlds 3, 5, 6, and 7) have light that usually has the same color as the pipes in whatever color scheme the appropriate part of the fortress uses. An exception is in the last interior room ofWorld 5-
Tower, where the light is gray rather than white.
InSuper Mario All-Stars andSuper Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the blue/green palette was taken out, with the affected fortresses using the blue/white palette instead. The cyan walls in the blue/white palette became darker blue. In addition, each fortress now has the same color scheme for all rooms, whereas in the NES original, rooms often alternated color schemes, most noticeable inWorld 8-Fortress.
Super Mario World
InSuper Mario World, fortresses are guarded byReznors but are far less common, as there are only four in the game, and onlyone of them is mid-world. Fortresses are normally inaccessible after being completed, unless the player presses
while holding
and
when at it on the map (does not apply to the Japanese version). TheGBA version lets players re-enter fortresses freely after defeatingBowser;Dragon Coins have also been added to them. Like with castles,Yoshi cannot enter fortresses.
New Super Mario Bros. series
The end-of-level fortresses return inNew Super Mario Bros.,New Super Mario Bros. Wii,New Super Mario Bros. 2, andNew Super Mario Bros. U and reprise their earlier role from the firstSuper Mario Bros. game, allowing the player to continue to the next level. Black fortresses appear as parts of secret exits, except in the originalNew Super Mario Bros. Their role fromSuper Mario Bros. 3 as mid-world levels is replaced bytowers, which inNew Super Mario Bros. Wii are called fortresses;[2] however, one of theMario Vs. Luigi courses in the originalNew Super Mario Bros. is a fortress.[3]
Super Mario 3D Land
Fortresses return inSuper Mario 3D Land, but only inWorld 2-3 andSpecial 1-3, where they look as they did inSuper Mario Bros. As in that game, they appear behind the levels' Goal Poles and can be entered, this time for a1-Up Mushroom.
Super Mario Run
- “A replica of the fortresses that Bowser builds. That flat roof is perfect for napping in the sun!”
- —in-game description,Super Mario Run
InSuper Mario Run, courses do not end in Fortresses. In World Tour and Remix 10, castles that are notBowser's Castle have fortress icons. Bowser's Fortress is a fortress replica that appears as aKingdom Builder decoration.
Super Mario Maker series
InSuper Mario Maker,its 3DS port, andSuper Mario Maker 2, the castle theme in theSuper Mario Bros. 3 style is based on the gray-wall color scheme of the fortresses from the original game. The fortresses ofSuper Mario Bros. andNew Super Mario Bros. U return in their respective game styles.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
InSuper Mario Bros. Wonder,Castle Bowser turns somePoplin houses into fortresses with black domes and white horns in the game's intro, imprisoning the Poplins inside. They appear at the end of most levels and are turned back to normal when the player touches the Goal Pole.
Yoshi franchise
This section is astub. Please considerexpanding it to include any missing information.
Forts also appear in theYoshi franchise as the mini-boss levels of each world.
Super Smash Bros. series
TheMushroom Kingdom stage inSuper Smash Bros. Melee features a classicSuper Mario Bros.-style fortress in the background. InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl,Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, one also appears in theMushroomy Kingdom stage, in the same place as inWorld 1-1 ofSuper Mario Bros.; however, it is in the background, so fighters cannot enter it. It also appears in theFinal Destination versions of the stage, as well asUltimate'sBattlefield version. Like the rest of the stage, it has a more realistic and withered appearance.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
InPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, fortresses appear at the end ofWorld 1 andWorld 2.
Mario Kart series
A Fortress appears as the starting line of3DS Piranha Plant Slide, based on its appearance inSuper Mario Bros.. Although it is replaced by a castle inMario Kart 8, it returns in the course's appearance inMario Kart Tour. AMii Racing Suit based on a fortress, known as the Castle Mii Racing Suit, was added toMario Kart Tour during the2022 Anniversary Tour. The suit returns inMario Kart 8 Deluxe as one of the Mii Racing Suits added in Wave 6 of theBooster Course Pass DLC.
Mario Golf: World Tour
InMario Golf: World Tour, a fortress makes a small cameo on the background of hole 5 of theBowser's Castle golf course.
Mario Strikers: Battle League
InMario Strikers: Battle League, a goal based on a fortress appear in the Strikers Club customization options forMushroom Hill. A fortress appears in the background of the same stadium as well.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
InThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, a fortress can be seen in the background whenMario is transported to theMushroom Kingdom. A restaurant inBrooklyn, namedCastle Burger, is shaped similarly to a fortress fromSuper Mario Bros.
Appearances in other media
InMario Ice Capades, during the whole show,King Koopa rode a moving fortress. A fortress also appeared in the background of the show as a prop. InThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, a fortress appears only in the intro.
In theSuper Mario Bros. Monopoly, Fortresses serve as the game's stand-in for hotels.
InAnimal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the fortress as it appears inSuper Mario Bros. could be obtained as special furniture in Fishing Tourney #12 (themed after theSuper Mario franchise in celebration ofMAR10 Day 2019), after passing the 4,900; 5,900; 7,100; 8,300; or 9,800 cm milestone.
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Fortress.
Super Mario World (destroyed)
Super Mario All-Stars (Super Mario Bros.)
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 砦[4][5] Toride | Fort | |
| Dutch | Toren[?] | Tower | |
| French | Forteresse[?] | Fortress | |
| German | Bollwerke[?] | Stronghold | |
| Turm[?] | Tower | ||
| Italian | Fortezza[?] | Fortress | |
| Portuguese | Fortaleza[?] | Fortress | |
| Russian | Крепость[?] Krepost' | Fortress | |
| Spanish | Fortaleza[?] | Fortress |
References
- ^1990.Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet.Nintendo of America (American English). Page 22.
- ^2009.New Super Mario Bros. Wii instruction booklet.Nintendo of America (American English). Page 9.
- ^Loe, Casey (May 15, 2006).New Super Mario Bros. Player's Guide.Nintendo of America (American English). ISBN1-59812-009-3. Page 121.
- ^1988. スーパーマリオブラザーズ3 (Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Surī) instruction booklet.Nintendo (Japanese). Page 20.
- ^Super Mario World Japanese instruction booklet (foldout)
