Super Mario Creator Is Obsessed With Fun and Accessibility

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By Chelsea Stark2013-10-24 17:08:57 UTC

Super Mario 3D World results from the evolution of a lot different Mario games, its creators say, and they hope it's the most fun and accessible title in the long series.

When fans first get their hands on this new Mario title, out Nov. 22 for Wii U, they'll notice it feels like the culmination of a lot of different ideas. You'll see the free-roaming movement from single-player games like Super Mario 64, and the chaotic multiplayer of recent titles like New Super Mario Bros.

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"The 3D Mario games, up until Super Mario Galaxy, had really been a separate series for us, but after Galaxy we began to explore the relationship back to these 2D side-scrollers. In the case of Super Mario 3D World, we've figured out a way to evolve these elements," Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario's creator and producer of almost all his games, told Mashable. "Our goal right now is to expose as many people as possible to this type of gameplay in a 3D world."

Accessibility is something Miyamoto thinks about for Nintendo's flagship franchise a lot, it turns out. Mario has big shoes to fill, as he often represents gamers' introduction to a Nintendo console, and even gaming in general. A role it has played in the U.S. since 1985, when Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System was introduced.

"Every time we had a new hardware generation, the first thing that I would think about was, 'What would this do for a Mario game?'" Miyamoto said. "At the same time you really have to think about, 'What is the experience of someone who is playing a game like this for the first time?' There are new and younger generations each time and we have to think about what their entry point into this series or universe or might be. So that's why, instead of only chasing down new technological ideas, we're also thinking about how to make it easy to play for all sorts of different people."

Of course, the fans who have grown up with Mario since the beginning and have mastered every ground-pound and shell toss have to be considered, too.

"You'll have, with each new game, advanced players looking for all the strategies of how to get through a level, as well as new players who are looking for a more comfortable play experience. The challenge before us is to make games that suit all of their needs," he said.

To do that, the design team spent a lot of time coming up with brand new ideas for the game, based on what would be fun and also what could best take advantage of the Wii U's HD graphics.

"We came up with a list of lots of fun ideas and allowed that to drive the way we were designing gameplay," said director Kenta Motokura. "We talked about all these different ideas in the ways players experience them, what do people find to be fun, what do people consider to be cute."

That has led to the addition of plenty of new gameplay elements, like clear pipes so players can see where their character is going, a Double Cherry power-up that will copy the character up to four times, and the ability to pick up Piranha plants and wield them.

The 'cute' factor helped generate Mario's most talked about costume yet: Cat Mario. While each Mario game includes a animal costume with special powers, Cat Mario is a radical design change because of the different powers it gives Mario and team — he can now run on all fours, climb walls and swipe to kill enemies.

"The joy of the 3D Mario game comes from the freedom to move any direction and enjoying lots of types of actions, but I thought the addition of this cat functionality might attract new people who are interested in new types of play styles," said game producer Yoshiaki Koizumi.

Also accommodating to different play styles are the four playable characters in Super Mario 3D World. Players can select from Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach, who has had a long hiatus as a playable character. Each has its own ability: Peach can float short distances, Toad is faster, Luigi jumps higher and Mario is a balanced character.

"Each one can have a different way of getting through the same level. You may find yourself choosing the character based on what the challenges are in a certain course," Motokura said.

Up to four players can inhabit these characters. Unlike the New Super Mario Bros. series, which was designed with a multiplayer experience in mind first, Motokuna said the single-player experience was their first consideration when designing 3D World.

But when people did decide to play with friends, Miyamoto said it was important for that experience to happen in the same room.

"What we really wanted to do was to create something that people could experience fully while playing comfortably with others nearby," Miyamoto said. "The answer to this question might change in 10 years time, if there is a future game where we decide that it's not important to see the face of the person you're playing with, but right now our focus is really on a comfortable experience with people who are in the same room."

Each of these deliberate design decisions is part of helping extend Mario's legacy for future generations, long after Miyamoto has retired. He compared Mario's trajectory to Disney's icon Mickey Mouse. When Mario came out, his instant popularity was measured on the fact that a much-quoted poll said he was more recognizable to children than Mickey.

"I really love Mickey Mouse, so I never would have thought of him and Mario as enemies. In fact, I took a little bit of encouragement from the fact that Mickey Mouse evolved as a character, along with all the other animated films that he appeared in, but still managed to retain a place in people's hearts. My hope for Mario is that while would continue to evolve through the changing technology, is that he would still retain a place in people's hearts as well."

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Image: Nintendo

Topics: Entertainment, Gaming, Nintendo, super mario bros, Wii U