Swimming appears as an action that can be used by several characters. Swimming is typically done in water, sometimes with an associated air meter, with other substances able to be swum through infrequently.
History
Super Mario series
Swimming is a staple mechanic of the Super Mario series, first being possible in Super Mario Bros. and going on to be in every mainline title except Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Land, and Super Mario Run. In the 2D games, swimming mechanics have remained largely unchanged; Mario naturally sinks in water and swims upwards when the player presses the jump button, preserving his forward momentum. There is no air meter, allowing Mario to stay underwater indefinitely.
In the 3D games from Super Mario 64 through Super Mario Galaxy 2, the swimming mechanics are different. Mario is aimed in any direction by using the Control Stick, with the jump button propelling Mario forward in that direction. He does not naturally sink in the water when not actively swimming. Additionally, an air meter is added, which causes Mario to take damage and eventually drown if he is underwater for too long without collecting coins or an air bubble. In Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario can use the Star Spin to propel through the water faster than normal swimming. When the player plays as Luigi, he loses air with every Star Spin. Both brothers can also quickly dive directly downwards while underwater when the player uses 
. Yoshi can also swim on the water's surface in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but he cannot dive.
Starting in Super Mario 3D Land, the swimming mechanics are changed to imitate the mechanics of the 2D games. Mario gains the ability to ground-pound underwater, replacing the Super Mario Galaxy games' diving move. Super Mario Odyssey maintains the rising-and-sinking swimming, but it includes the air meter. Mario can also use the new Quick Swim move with 
and 
, which propels him forward similarly to the Star Spin in Super Mario Galaxy.
Several items and power-ups allow Mario to swim faster or with more control. The Frog Suit in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Maker 2 and the Penguin Suit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. U, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe both allow Mario to stay in place underwater and automatically swim much faster when the player holds down a direction and/or the jump button, akin to the early 3D games. Nabbit and Toadette can also swim in a similar manner in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe without the need for a Penguin Suit. The Blue Shell in New Super Mario Bros. increases Mario's swimming speed and precision. In the 2D games from Super Mario World onwards, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, grabbing a Koopa Shell allows Mario to automatically swim forward in the water very quickly. In Super Mario Sunshine, using the Hover Nozzle underwater propels Mario forward. In Super Mario Odyssey, capturing a Cheep Cheep allows Mario to swim through the water quicker and without regard for the air meter. Super Mario Bros. Wonder features the Dolphin Kick badge, which gives Mario better swimming speed and control with 
.
In Super Mario Maker 2, in the nighttime version of the castle theme, Mario and the other playable characters are able to swim in midair with the same mechanics as water.
Wario franchise
Wario can swim underwater in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario Land II, and Wario Land 4. However, in Wario Land 3, he can swim only on the water's surface until he receives a pair of Swimming Flippers from the Gray Chest in Tower of Revival. In addition, Prince Frog's Glove, received from the Green Chest in Out of the Woods, allows him to swim faster, enabling him to traverse currents. Likewise, Wario can swim only on the water's surface in Wario Land: Shake It! However, one of the missions each in Foulwater Falls, Soggybog River, and Riverbloat Rapids tasks him to clear the respective levels without swimming. Although Wario cannot swim on the water's surface or underwater in Wario: Master of Disguise at all, Dragon Wario can safely swim in lava.
Donkey Kong Country series
Diddy Kong riding Enguarde, with Donkey Kong swimming behind, in
Donkey Kong CountrySwimming has been a part of the Donkey Kong Country series since the first game. In the SNES games, the Kongs can swim through the water just as Mario does in the 2D Super Mario games. They are helpless underwater without the help of Enguarde, who can move only with 
, as well as dash forward and stab enemies with his sharp bill.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong cannot swim in Donkey Kong Country Returns; the Kongs drown and simply lose a life when they fall into water. Swimming is brought back in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, where the Kongs can swim in 360°, as well as use a new spinning attack when the player presses the roll button, though they now have an air meter, which is refilled with bubbles. Dixie Kong can propel faster underwater with her hair. If two Kongs are paired up, they can perform an infinite Kong Corkscrew; in the Nintendo Switch port, Funky Kong can also do so on his own. Funky also has no air meter, as he wears swimming goggles.
Yoshi franchise
This section needs Yoshi improvement. Specifically:
- Add info about Yoshi's Story
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In the platform games of the Yoshi franchise, Yoshis are usually able to swim. However, they can swim only on the surface of water, with areas that lie beneath the waves inaccessible to them. Poochy, a companion character available in certain levels, can also swim in this way, though he has the additional ability to swim across lava. A Yoshi can jump on Poochy's back to ride him across water or lava. The Poochy Pups can also swim. Various forms and items are available to help a Yoshi access areas below the surface in various games. In any case, the Yoshi does not have an air meter to restrict his ability to swim.
In Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, a Yoshi's feet turn into a propeller while he is swimming. He moves much slower compared to walking. In Mellow Mode, Winged Yoshi's wings flap as they swim. A Yoshi cannot create yarn balls or throw yarn balls and Poochy Pups while swimming. A Yoshi cannot jump as high when leaving water. These mechanics can be counteracted by standing on Poochy while he swims across the water. If a Yoshi lands in water from a height, or uses a Ground Pound to enter water, he ends up below the surface before floating back up. This can allow the Yoshi to cross some barriers that are at the surface or slightly dip into the water. Mermaid Yoshi has the ability to freely swim underwater, and he can jump quite high out of it. In Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World's Poochy Dash mode, only Zippy Lagoon has water. Poochy can swim under the same rules, though he cannot ground-pound. If Poochy bumps into a wall while swimming or jumping out of the water, he does not bounce off and drop beads as he does on land. Poochy can enter a whirlpool in this course to stay under the surface in a certain section. While Hotheaded Lava Fields has lava, Poochy runs through it rather than swimming.
In Yoshi's Crafted World, Yoshis cannot swim, instead drowning if they jump in water. Poochy and the Poochy Pups can still swim.
Mario Party series
Several minigames throughout the Mario Party series feature swimming as the alternate means of controlling a character. Oftentimes, instead of simply tilting the control stick to move, players need to rapidly tap the button to push their characters forward. How the control stick's Y-axis works can vary, with some minigames having inverted Y-axis controls (meaning pressing up on the control stick causes the character to move down, and vice versa). While in most minigames, players can freely swim indefinitely, Sink or Swim in Mario Party 6 has an air meter that forces players to surface. Mario Party 6 also features swimming in outer space, where the medium is altered, but the controls and animations are identical to those of swimming.
Deep Bloober Sea from Mario Party 3 includes a giant Blowfish that, when a particular event is triggered, attempts to suck in the player. The player can escape suction by repeatedly pressing 
; otherwise, the Blowfish inhales them and spits them in a direction indicated by the arrow on its head.
Pyramid Park from Mario Party 7 has a board event where players swim to avoid Klaptraps.
A list of all minigames with swimming is below; minigames where players are on transportation devices or have non-swimming peripherals such as waterskis are excluded:
WarioWare series
WarioWare: Get It Together!
In WarioWare: Get It Together!, Dr. Crygor's ability is swimming through the air in any direction as long as the 
button is held. This defeats any enemy or pushes any object he swims directly into. His turns are slightly loose. Releasing the button while in the air makes Dr. Crygor fall straight down. Dr. Crygor stands and falls upright, so if he is grounded and he is not given a direction when the player holds , or if he is falling in air when the player holds , he swims straight up. If he is swimming and the player stops providing a direction, he continues to swim in the last inputted direction. While doing so, he bounces off any walls he collides with, changing direction in the process.
Swimming is one of the game's stronger attacks. It breaks the bag in Level 1 of Strike Gold in three hits, where some other attacks require four or five hits to do the same. Still, certain attacks are stronger than it, breaking the same bag in only two hits.
Mario Tennis series
Mario Power Tennis
Waluigi's Defensive Power Shot, the Swimming Return, involves Waluigi's spawning a pool and swimming on it to return shots that are otherwise out of reach.
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Waluigi's Swimming Return is in Mario Tennis: Power Tour. Clay and Ace can learn the Shark-Bite Save, a comparable Defensive Power Shot which has water wash over the court so that they can swim as a shark and return the ball with.a bite.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Similar to his Swimming Return from Mario Power Tennis, Waluigi swims midair to the hoop while performing his Twist Dunk.
Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, fighters are able to swim across water. However, they will drown if they remain in the water for too long and lose a stock, the time required based on the character's percentage. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Charizard, Sonic, Inkling, and Incineroar take a small amount of damage while swimming, referencing their weakness to water in their home series. There are stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS that include water; however, fighters simply fall through it. These stages' water is made swimmable in their Super Smash Bros. Ultimate incarnations.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and its ports of the same name for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS, Captain Toad and Toadette can swim, with unique animations for doing so. They swim faster if the player holds down one of 
, 
, 
, or 
, as per the game's running controls. These are changes from how Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade function in Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, as they walk and dash while underwater. However, Captain Toad and Toadette are incapable of moving as they are falling through water and rising while underwater under their own power, just as Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade are in those games. Additionally, Captain Toad and Toadette cannot pick up or hold items, turn their headlamps on or off, or spin while underwater. Entering water while holding an item forces them to immediately throw it. This means all Captain Toad and Toadette can do while underwater is move across terrain at one of two speeds, fall straight down when they are not directly above a surface, rotate in place while falling, pluck objects, dig with the Super Pickax, and use objects. This is near identical to the duo's grounded and aerial controls in this game, save for the three disallowed actions. Digging with the Super Pickax overrides Captain Toad and Toadette's swimming animations.
Profiles
Yoshi's Story
- Instruction booklet description:
- English:
When in the water, tilt the Control Stick in the direction you want to go. Yoshi doesn’t need air while swimming.[1]
- Other languages:
- French:
Une fois dans l’eau, incliner le stick dans la direction où vous voulez aller. Yoshi n’a pas besoin d’air pendant qu’il nage.[2]
(Translation: When in the water, tilt the Control Stick in the direction you want to go. Yoshi doesn’t need air while swimming.)
- Message Block:
- English:
Use the Control Stick to steer Yoshi while swimming.[3]
- Other languages:
- French:
Utilisez le Stick pour vous déplacer sous l’eau . Simple, non?[4]
(Translation: Use the Stick to move underwater. Simple, isn't it?)
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Swim.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|
| Japanese | 泳ぐ
Oyogu | To swim | | [5] |
| Dutch | Zwemmen | To swim | | [6] |
| Finnish | Uida | To swim | | [7] |
| French | Nager | Swim | | [2][4] |
| German | Schwimmen | To swim | | [8] |
| Italian | Nuotare | To swim | | [9] |
| Korean | 헤엄치다
Heeomchida | To swim | | [10] |
수영
Suyeong | Swimming | | [11] |
| Norwegian | Svømme | To swim | | [12] |
| Spanish | Nadar | To swim | | [13] |
| Swedish | Simma | To swim | | [14] |
| Thai | ว่ายน้ำ
Wâaináam | Swim | | [15] |
See also
References
| Links to related articles
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