‘Arse Warp’ Is A Good Translation For Super Mario 64 Glitch

In Super Mario 64, the Backwards Long Jump trick has been used to refer to a glitch that’s known as Ketsu Waapu (ケツワープ). Surely, there has to be a better English translation. Turns out, there is.

In the original game, the glitch is used in Princess Peach’s Castle to get to the top of the Endless Stairs. But “Backwards Long Jump trick” is such a mouthful, and the abbreviation BLJ is also rather oblique.

スーパーマリオ3DコレクションのRTA事情として、現状マリオ64はマリオの声の高さなどから後期版がベースなのは確定なので、ケツワープは出来ない可能性が高いです。ぶっこわなどのすり抜け技は後期版でも可能なため、生きている可能性はあります。現場からは以上です。 pic.twitter.com/aIvvN3mXri

— RTAlabo (@RTAlaboinfo) September 3, 2020

Ketsu (ケツ) can mean “arse”, and is a bit rougher sounding than oshiri (お尻) or butt, while waapu (ワープ) is “warp.” This is why Tom James naturally came up with the following:

Today I learned that the backwards long jump technique in Super Mario 64 is just referred to as the “ass warp” in Japanese, which, honestly, way more practical and intuitive. https://t.co/6uhgyKLTEg

— Tom James, The Daigo Umehara of Dating Sims (@iiotenki) September 5, 2020

Official, this ain’t. After his tweet went viral, James astutely added, “I don’t try to tell other people how to do their jobs, but if the next person who interviews Miyamoto about Mario 64 doesn’t specifically say ‘arse warp’ so the Nintendo interpreter has to scramble to figure out what they mean on the spot, that reporter is doing it wrong.”

The Japanese site that originally published the article to which James referred (and that caused ketsu waapu to trend on Japanese Twitter) actually went back and did a follow-up, citing the Arse Warp tweet. Popular Japanese game site Hachima noted that “Arse Warp” wasn’t only funny, but had more flair than Backwards Long Jump. I agree! It’s a good translation.

Anyway, enjoy some Arse Warp fan art!

ケツワープ2020
#スーパーマリオ35周年 https://t.co/9wWUIPFoH1 pic.twitter.com/LwCwWGCBiR

— ネコロー (@EB8U0dq8YVz91zA) September 5, 2020

ところでヒロクニのマリ才はまともに見えるかもしれないけど、低画質（ポリゴン）の時にケツワープ多用していて突然高画質になった瞬間お尻を勢い良く壁にぶつけて痛がったりする事もあります pic.twitter.com/WsikFbGKAc

— 鏡餅みかん (@bksm_hero) September 4, 2020

ケツワープ pic.twitter.com/8rpLguB701

— しまねこ−島猫− (@simaneko_ML) September 3, 2020

As previously reported, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and other classic 3D Mario games are coming to the Nintendo Switch this spring.