#not lore

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎

‎‎

‎

Thwomps are common enemies in the Mario series, first debuting in Super Mario Bros. 3 in 1988, and are fairly simple design-wise: they hang in the air and when the player comes close, they fall down in an attempt to squash them. Early games also had Thwomps moving sideways, but that functionality has mostly been abandoned in modern games.

Thwomps have also gone through a variety of design changes over the years. In Super Mario Bros. 3, they started out as grey rectangles with chiseled edges and this appearance carried on through the days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment system. But as gaming became three-dimensional, Thwomps instead became blue blocks with faces, starting in Super Mario 64, likely due to technical limitations of the day. This lasted until the early 2000s, discounting remakes and some minor titles, until Super Mario 64 DS reintroduced the classic design to the main Super Mario series. Since then, Thwomps have taken two forms, one with spiked edges and one more flat edges, usually determining whether or not they can be walked on.

A design quirk that emerged partially from this history of designs is that some games now feature Thwomps with two faces. In the Mario games from before 1996, there was never a need to show the backs of Thwomps, as the games were two-dimensional. The blue cubes from the Nintendo 64 and early GameCube era also always have bare backsides.

However, in the late 2000s, some games started featuring Thwomps with two faces, one on their back and one on their front. Why this design change was made is not entirely clear, but it could have been for game design purposes: Thwomps change their expression just before falling down. If Thwomps have two faces, it can be telegraphed from any vantage point when they are about to fall.

I was curious which games after 2004 feature Thwomps with a single face and which feature Thwomps with two faces, which I have compiled here.

Games where Thwomps have two faces

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2

Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)

Mario Kart Tour

Mario Kart World

Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

Mario Strikers Charged

Super Paper Mario

Modern games where Thwomps have one face

Thwomps with one face just have a bare back, which can easily be seen most of the time. All Thwomps from the Nintendo 64 and early GameCube era (a.k.a. the blue cubes) have one face as well.

In the Super Mario series, Thwomps have one face in Super Mario 64 DS, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World.

In the Mario Kart series, Thwomps have one face in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7.

In the Mario Party series, Thwomps have one face in Mario Party 7 and Mario Party 8.

In the Mario Golf series, Thwomps have one face in Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario Golf: Super Rush.

Some funny patrols from one of my non story related clangen

Sometimes I forget how much I love to make art. And then some stupid guy drags me back into it and I fall in love all over again.

Catalyst 1.2 coming soon I swear