Why Mario's Triple Jump Animation Is So Good

Hello,
and welcome to New Frame Plus!

This is a series
about game animation,

and today I would like to look at
just one animation from Super Mario 64

(technically three animations, I
guess, depending on how you count).

We are going to look
at Mario’s triple jump.

But first, for context,
a brief history lesson!

Mario’s jump is the most
important action in his move-set,

and in prior games, the animation
of that jump had always been simple.

In the original
Super Mario Brothers,

the jumping animation consisted
of just a single key pose;

one frame of animation that Mario would
hold on from the moment he left the ground

to the moment he landed.

That jump got its first animation
upgrade in Super Mario Brothers 3.

Now if you were small Mario the
jump was basically the same,

but if you were big Mario, then that jump
was given an additional frame of animation.

One pose for ascending,

and then a second pose with his
arms tucked back in for the descent.

Still simple,
but this is a nice addition!

It lends the move a
hint of physicality.

It also adds a subtle visual indication for when
Mario has reached the peak of his jumping arc.

By Super Mario World,

not only did both versions of Mario
now have those two frames of animation,

but that second pose was sweetened
with some nice extra detail!

This time, Mario’s descending pose
actually suggests some overlapping motion,

with his hat, feet and other hand
trailing behind his center of gravity.

Which is not bad for a
16x24 clump of pixels!

So how does this
jump translate to 3D?

Well the jump didn’t
evolve so much as multiply.

One of the biggest fundamental
changes Nintendo made

to Mario-style platforming when they
adapted it to 3D environments

was to give Mario a
variety of jumping actions:

back-flips, long
jumps, wall kicks…

a whole kit of verticality tools, each with
specific strengths and situational utility.

Even the standard
jump became three,

a succession of jumps that a skilled player
could use to reach even higher ledges.

This is the triple jump. Press A
and Mario will do his standard jump.

Press A again the instant Mario lands,

and he’ll follow that up with a
second, even higher jump.

And if you happen to be moving forward
when you land and you Press A one more time,

Mario will do a third,
even higher jump.

And each of these jumps has a unique
animation, so let’s just go one by one.

The first jump in the set is basically Mario’s
classic jump animation adapted to 3D.

It’s not exactly the same
pose, but it’s pretty close.

And the animation is even structured
somewhat similarly to the classic jumps

in that it's fundamentally
built from just two poses:

first this (kind of
awkward) anticipation pose

that Mario snaps to as soon
as he leaves the ground,

and then this final pose which he
reaches at the top of the jump.

It’s still just two key poses,

only now the 3D character is able to
smoothly interpolate between them.

And Mario will hold on that second
pose until he hits the ground.

Then comes the second jump.

Mario starts out a little hunched
over with his elbows raised,

and then he extends his entire body, as if he's
reaching for every inch of air he can get.

And this time, he shifts to
a third pose as he descends,

his arms and one leg
trailing behind the body

as he looks down toward where he’s about
to land and extends a leg to catch himself.

Now, if you don’t press A to keep this
chain going after either of these,

Mario will either play a short landing
recovery animation when he hits the ground OR,

if you happen to be pressing
in any direction on the stick,

Mario will snap into his running
animation almost right away.

But if you do keep that chain
going, you’ll get to the third jump,

which is my favorite: a
triumphant double front flip.

Or... technically a front layout, front tuck? I...

I don’t know gymnastics, I'm sorry.

But I do love the
variation here!

Having Mario’s first flip be a
layout with his body fully extended

and then having him tuck
into a ball for the second

lends this third jump this
wonderful midair texture

that keeps it visually
interesting throughout.

And if you happen to land without
running on this third jump,

you will get a new landing animation,
a flourishy gymnast’s salute.

Just so you can recognize
how good he did.

Now, there are some
nitpicks worth making here,

and most of them have to do
with the first jump in the set.

I like that this animation is trying to
evoke the feeling of Mario’s classic jump

(at least in theory), but I don’t
really love either of these two poses.

This starting pose
feels especially weird.

Like, this is an awkward pose to hit: left
leg raised, torso twisted to the right,

right arm in the air,
head tilted down…

the upper and lower body seem to
be doing two disjointed things.

The line of action on this pose is…
non-existent, as far as I can tell.

I recognize that this is meant
to set up the main pose later.

Like, it’s sort of a windup before he
punches his fist in the air... kind of?

But it’s not really
working for me.

And honestly the main pose
could be stronger too.

The silhouette is
pretty muddy here.

The right arm is almost
lost behind the head,

and his left arm
gets lost in the leg.

Things do look a little better if
you have the camera rotated around

to his side or to his front, but the
silhouettes still aren’t great there.

And besides, the gameplay camera is going to
be positioned behind Mario most of the time,

so that is the angle you are most often
going to be seeing this animation from.

Ultimately, it’s FINE.

Like, this pose being a little bit weak

isn’t going to have a negative
impact on gameplay or anything.

It could just look a
little nicer is all.

And really, that minor flaw is far outweighed
by everything this animation does right!

One of my favorite things
about this triple jump

is that it is intentionally not animated
like an person jumping on solid ground.

It’s animated like someone
jumping on a trampoline.

Each successive jump
gives Mario more height.

The second jump is,
like, textbook posing for

“I’m jumping on a trampoline trying
to get as high in the air as I can”.

This animation is operating
on pure cartoon logic,

BUT it’s cartoon logic that
perfectly reinforces the mechanics of

how this triple jump works in
game, and I love that.

I also love how the landing
animations can sort of double

as a crouch leading into
the next jump in the chain,

which gives them the feeling
of an anticipation (kind of)

without sacrificing
responsiveness.

And I love how each jump
builds in excitement,

going from basic jump to trampoline
bounce to a big acrobatic flip,

and with Mario himself audibly having
more and more fun the higher up he gets.

MARIO: "Hoo-hoo!"

MARIO: "Wa-haaaaa!"

Seriously, despite its age, and despite
how primitive these graphics might be,

this animation succeeds
on just about every level!

It’s visually
appealing to look at.

It gives the player all the
visual feedback they need.

It feels pretty darned
good to control.

AND, on top of all
that functional stuff,

it even manages to express
character personality!

Even factoring in my
little nitpicks before,

this animation succeeds in just about
every way I would expect an animation to

in a game released today.

It is SO successful
that the triple jump

became a mainstay of 3D
Mario games after this.

It even found its way into
some of the 2D Mario games.

And I think the greatest testament to
how strong this original animation was

is the fact that they have changed so
little about it, even 20+ years later!

Look at the triple jump
in Super Mario Odyssey.

Sure, there is a lot more
detail in there now.

Mario's got animation on
his hands and fingers.

There’s some bounce on his nose, and his
hat can flop up and down on his head,

which looks AWESOME.

But underneath all of those polishy
details, it’s the same three jumps!

Classic jump, trampoline
jump, double flip.

The biggest change they’ve
made is to that first jump,

which actually fixes all the
problems I had with the original!

It still succeeds in evoking
that classic jumping pose,

but this final pose reads WAY
clearer than the Mario 64 version

and is pretty appealing
from just about any angle.

This anticipation
pose is less awkward

and it works way better for the
end pose he’s headed toward.

Having Mario’s feet spread wider
apart in midair looks great,

and having him reverse which foot is in
front as he punches his fist in the air

helps to tie everything his body is
doing together in a really nice way.

Other than that? Basically the exact same
move, working just as well decades later.

It is amazing to me how many of Mario’s
animations in Super Mario 64 work this well.

And that Nintendo pulled this
off on their first attempt

at building a 3D platformer
is pretty incredible.

But I think that'll do it!

Thank you very much to Zach
Vaul for suggesting this topic!

If you would like suggest an
animation for a future analysis video,

then considering supporting the show
like all of these lovely folks here.

Thanks for watching,
and I will see you next time!

[music]