Midway Gates are an object which appear in Super Mario World and its remake Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2.
Description[]
Midway Gates are checkpoints found in nearly all levels except those that are auto-scrolling or underwater or take place in the Star World or Special Zone. Midway Gates resemble Giant Gates in that they have a blue and white-striped pole with a white piece of tape in the center, but a Midway Gate's tape does not move up and down. Mario or Luigi can activate a Midway Gate by going through the piece of tape, which then disappears. If either Mario or Luigi goes through a Midway Gate while in their Small form, they turn into their Super form.
As a checkpoint, a Midway Gate is where Mario or Luigi restart the level from if they lose a life. The Midway Gate's effects wear off if either the player gets a Game Over or if the player activates the Giant Gate at the end of the same level. As such, the player can freely exit that level and clear another level and when they go back on it, they will be back at its respective checkpoint.
Midway Gates appear to have been replaced by Checkpoint Flags in later Super Mario series titles, including Super Mario Maker's Super Mario World style.
