Mechanic · environment · platformer

Springboard

A surface or object that launches the player higher than a jump, often higher still with a timed press.

stubAlso: jumpspring, spring, springs, trampoline, bounce pad, jump pad, launch padUpdated 2026-10-23
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A springboard launches whoever lands on it. Some give every bounce the same height; others launch the player higher if they press jump at the right moment, while the spring is compressed.

See also

Mentioned in

Games

GameYearHowNote
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels1986Timed pressa fresh press of A on the spring launches higher, and green springs launch far higher
Every claim about this mechanic, by game (2)
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels 1986Landing on a springboard sets both the held and the falling gravity to $70 and a launch speed of −7 px a frame ($F9). Over the spring's four steps it carries the player down 2 px a step, then up 2 px a step, and on the last step it launches them. A press of A, not held from before, in the second step or later raises the launch to −12 px a frame ($F4), or to −32 px a frame ($E0) on the green springboards of world numbers 2, 3, and 7, which the letter worlds share as B and C, since the test reads the world number without the letter-world flag. With both gravities at $70, the bounce rises and falls under one pull whether A is held or not, for Mario and Luigi alike. While the game's timers are stopped the spring waits.Code
Fireballs, the level timer and the stage objects (ProcFireballs through VineObjectHandler) are Super Mario Bros.'s with these changes: RunGameTimer tests the player's height with BPL instead of BCS and points at the timer digits' new place; WarpZoneObject no longer counts up WarpZoneControl; FlagpoleRoutine gives a life for the new sixth flagpole score; JumpspringHandler launches with the green springs' force on world numbers 2, 3 and 7; VineObjectHandler erases the vine and its metatiles once it goes off the left of the screen. ProcFireballs and ProcessWhirlpools differ only in their addresses, and SetupVine is byte for byte the same.Code

References

  1. ^Landing on a springboard sets both the held and the falling gravity to $70 and a launch speed of −7 px a frame ($F9). Over the spring's four steps it carries the player down 2 px a step, then up 2 px a step, and on the last step it launches them. A press of A, not held from before, in the second step or later raises the launch to −12 px a frame ($F4), or to −32 px a frame ($E0) on the green springboards of world numbers 2, 3, and 7, which the letter worlds share as B and C, since the test reads the world number without the letter-world flag. With both gravities at $70, the bounce rises and falls under one pull whether A is held or not, for Mario and Luigi alike. While the game's timers are stopped the spring waits.Codedoppelganger's SMB2J disassembly
    How we know
    11291ChkForLandJumpSpring:
11292        jsr ChkJumpspringMetatiles  ;do sub to check if player landed on jumpspring
11293        bcc ExCJSp                  ;if carry not set, jumpspring not found, therefore leave
11294        lda #$70
11295        sta VerticalForce           ;otherwise set vertical movement force for player
11296        sta VerticalForceDown
11297        lda #$f9
11298        sta JumpspringForce         ;set default jumpspring force
11299        lda #$03
11300        sta JumpspringTimer         ;set jumpspring timer to be used later
11301        lsr
11302        sta JumpspringAnimCtrl      ;set jumpspring animation control to start animating
⋮
    sm2main.asm lines 11291–11303 at 9c40114 · upstream ↗
    5574JumpspringHandler:
5575           jsr GetEnemyOffscreenBits   ;get offscreen information
5576           lda TimerControl            ;check master timer control
5577           bne DrawJSpr                ;branch to last section if set
5578           lda JumpspringAnimCtrl      ;check jumpspring frame control
5579           beq DrawJSpr                ;branch to last section if not set
5580           tay
5581           dey                         ;subtract one from frame control in A,
5582           tya                         ;the only way a poor NMOS 6502 can
5583           and #%00000010              ;mask out all but d1, original value still in Y
5584           bne DownJSpr                ;if set, branch to move player up
5585           inc Player_Y_Position
⋮
    sm2main.asm lines 5574–5620 at 9c40114 · upstream ↗
    12672       lda #$02
12673       ldy WorldNumber             ;if the world number is not 2, 3 or 7
12674       cpy #$01                    ;then use regular attributes for jumpsprings
12675       beq GrnJS                   ;which will paint them red
12676       cpy #$02
12677       beq GrnJS                   ;otherwise use alternate attributes
12678       cpy #$06                    ;to get the green superhigh jumpsprings
12679       bne RedJS
12680GrnJS: lsr
12681RedJS: sta EnemyAttributeData+$18  ;set jumpspring gfx attributes in the lookup table
12682       sta EnemyAttributeData+$19
12683       sta EnemyAttributeData+$1a
    sm2main.asm lines 12672–12683 at 9c40114 · upstream ↗
    6575MovePlayerVertically:
6576         ldx #$00                ;set X for player offset
6577         lda TimerControl
6578         bne NoJSChk             ;if master timer control set, branch ahead
6579         lda JumpspringAnimCtrl  ;otherwise check to see if jumpspring is animating
6580         bne ExXMove             ;branch to leave if so
6581NoJSChk: lda VerticalForce       ;dump vertical force 
6582         sta $00
6583         lda #$04                ;set maximum vertical speed here
6584         jmp ImposeGravitySprObj ;then jump to move player vertically
    sm2main.asm lines 6575–6584 at 9c40114 · upstream ↗

    Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-26.

    Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-26.

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