The bounding box is the area of a sprite or 3d model that is checked for collisions. Usually, in 2D games, the bounding box is smaller than the sprite. The image below shows what the bounding box (in red) of Joe 6502 may be if he was a real platform game character. Notice that the bounding box goes all the way down to the bottom of his feet to ensure that collision with platforms is detected properly and he doesn't "sink" into a platform.

Note, in the case of 3d models, the bounding box is actually a "bounding cube".

Related Pages

• area
• boundary
• collision detection