By Pete Deol
I'm sure for most people, their first memories of the NES are fond ones. The reason for that would probably be Super Mario Brothers. The biggest video game craze in the 80s became cemented as a certified phenomenon through the 1990s. Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64 all were huge hits and also took video gaming to new heights. With Gamecube on the horizon, Nintendo knows all they need is a new Mario game to get the NGC under millions of Christmas trees next year.
Yes, we're interested in seeing Miyamoto's new franchises as well as other updates to classic Nintendo franchises, but Mario was, is, and always will be the main course for a new Nintendo console. You'd think after all these years that Mr. Miyamoto would be running out of ideas, and just in case he is (which is about as likely as Battlefield Earth II), N-Sider would like to offer some helpful pointers.
Levels, levels...and more Levels
Yes, we would enjoy it if EAD dropped the "8 big worlds" concept. While it's great for exploration, large worlds can get boring and redundant -- a common complaint in Rare's Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Super Mario 64 had fairly well sized levels. Not too big, not too small. We'd like to see more levels on the whole however. How about two or three times the amount of 3D "areas"? A mini-DVD is 190 times the size of the 8MB Super Mario 64. We're not asking for 190 times the explorable area or distinct levels, just more variety. Mr. Miyamoto has already gone on record and expressed a desire to have the new Mario appeal to all gamers. More levels with added challenge would be a huge step in that direction.
More Mature...Or Not
Much has been made about Miyamoto's comments on a more "mature" Mario. This has probably been blown out of proportion. The Japanese have very different ideas about character design and are a more attune to subtle changes in character. For instance, Sega believed that Sonic the Hedgehog had also become too cartoony over the years and changed his design to be more "mature" for Sonic Adventure. Can you spot a dramatic difference? This is probably what Miyamoto-sensei has in mind.
Infact, Miyamoto's original Mario drawings for Donkey Kong are more Popeye-ish. We think the environments and design for the new Mario will be a bit "harder" so it's just as accessible to older gamers. You'll note that the first Mario NES title has a much starker design aesthetic than the more cartoony Super Mario Bros. 3. We think this is what Miyamoto is getting at, and we're fine with that.
More Enemies!
Overall, Super Mario 64 was a brilliant transition from 2D to 3D, and that was certainly no small feat. One of the things missing, however, was the plethora of Koopa baddies that would attack Mario from all angles in the 2D incarnations. Because the Gamecube is obvioulsy far more powerful, it would definitely be great to see more enemies on screen.
The Mario 128 demonstrated 128 Marios on screen with basic phyiscs, and while the NGC Mario wouldn't require that many characters onscreen, having 5-6 enemies attacking Mario would be a nice change of pace from the N64 version. Maybe Miyamoto could even take the Mario 128 demo and have Mario try to push 127 Koopas off a floating platform as part of a boss stage.
Collect This
Another big difference between Super Mario 64 and previous Mario games were the level objectives. Instead of the standard "run-to-the-end-of-the-level" formula in the 2D Mario games, the N64 version required the player to collect stars. Instead of focusing too much on collecting, we suggest EAD take a more Super Mario World type approach. Have a basic linear way to complete a level (do a task, beat a boss). You could add extra tasks that can unlock other levels and secrets ala Super Mario 64, but keep the focus on completing a task instead of standard collecting. This would also give a real incentive for players to come back to game levels once they've completed their basic tasks.Dynamic Worlds
One of the coolest elements the now defunct 64DD brought to the table was dynamic game worlds. Wouldn't it be great if every level in Mario Cube was some how different each time you entered it? Dynamic game worlds would definitely be revolutionary, and Miyamoto would find ways to exploit the feature in some very interesting ways. The problem is the Gamecube doesn't use rewritable 64DD type disks. There are ways around the problem. The most obvious way would be the Panasonic 64MB SD Memory Card. Each copy of Mario Cube could ship with a unique SD Card -- each SD Card could even contain slightly different data so that every copy of Mario Cube is different.
Some kind of internal hard drive or small memory "module" would also suffice, but we don't know if Nintendo plans on offering a small built-in storage option for rewritable game data. SD Cards are great, the only big drawback is they're pricey. The memory cards go for a whopping $180 a pop these days, and while that price will come down, it still might be too costly to include one with a game come summer 2001.
Mario Advance
Game Boy Advance compatibility is going to be a very cool feature -- everyone knows that. We know legions of Nintendo diehards would kill for a new 2D Mario platformer on the GBA. Nintendo's EAD Game Boy division might be a bit too busy to create a new 2D Mario to go with
an NGC version, however. Most fans would be more than happy with a Mario All-Stars collection for the Game Boy Advance. The NES and SNES Mario titles have already been revamped for the 16-bit Super NES, and we'd hope that Nintendo would also update Mario's Game Boy adventures with new 32-bit GBA color visuals as part of the package. To add some replay to a GBA version of Mario All-Stars, Nintendo could program some extra "rewards"
for players who complete certain tasks.
You'd be able to use these rewards to unlock hidden areas or characters in Mario Cube. EAD's new N64 title Animal Forest also allows you to play classic Nintendo titles such as Donkey Kong; it might be a nice gesture if you could unlock some classic Mario games on your Mario Cube disc on Nintendo's part.
Playable Characters
We all remember the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2. It was certainly quite different from every Mario game before it and every Mario game since. One reason why Super Mario Bros. 2 is considered so unique is because the player can play as 4 different characters instead of just Mario or Luigi. Miyamoto has commented that at one point, a
sequel to Super Mario 64 was planned for the N64. During the planning stages of this sequel, EAD had Luigi running around on the Mario 64 engine. So it's a very safe bet you'll be able to play as Luigi in Mario Cube. The Princess, Toad, and Wario would be other candidates for playable characters. EAD might want to be careful about the multi-character option, however. It didn't work too well in Donkey Kong 64, so perhaps Mario should remain the main character, with other controllable characters chiming in every once in a while.
Mario Story
It's no secret that the Gamecube can push tons of polygons. The Mario 128 demo had 128 Marios on-screen consisting of 700 polygons per character using about 1/3 of the Gamecube's overall power. Those Mario's looked quite smooth, but the character models in Mario Cube can be much more detailed because the NGC won't have to push 128 characters on screen at one time. If you slapped 10 of those Mario models from the Mario 128 demo into one Mario, you'd get one single model made up to 7000 polygons.
At 60 frames per second that translates to 420,000 polygons just for Mario, more than enough to give the plumber a very "smooth" and seamless look. The NGC can handle much more than those numbers, but we're being conservative and assuming Miyamoto wants to tax the NGC with some high-end physics, lighting, and onscreen enemies. Since the basic Mario character is quite plain, many of these polys could be allocated to Mario's face. That opens the door for tons of Mario animations. The Luigi character model in the Luigi's Mansion video was almost "CG-ish" already, but those NGC demos were done very quickly. Expect the real deal to look even better. Drooling yet?
Physics on 'Shrooms
One of the best aspects of Super Mario 64 was the arsenal of moves at Mario's disposal. With some simple controller manipulation, Mario could pull off jumps and flips that would make Jackie Chan jealous. Mario Cube should take everything to the next level. The mustachioed plumber should be able to interact and respond to his environment in new and exciting ways. The game press got a glance at some very funky physics in the Mario 128 demonstration. One of the more memorable snippets featured a Nintendo rep 'flipping' the Gamecube game board and causing the the various Mario characters to fly into the air. This has been nicknamed the "fried rice" effect, because it looked like a chef flipping friend rice into the air out of a frying pan.Powerups
Mario games are famous for their powerups. Whether it's the basic fire flower or the more elaborate powerup "suits" found in Super Mario Bros. 3, most Mario games have unique and inventive upgrades for Mario and Luigi. Super Mario 64 gave Mario a ton of unique moves, but alas, there were no really interesting powerups. Granted the mettalic Mario looked cool enough, but you can't really fault a person for expecting a tad more. The fire-flower and Yoshi must definitely make a comeback. We wouldn't mind seeing the racoon and tanooki suits back from the NES-graveyard as well. Super Mario Land for the Game Boy even allowed Mario to pilot a submarine and a plane. That was a very unique feature, and maybe Mario could use similar vehicles in his Gamecube debut.
Map or Castle
This one is a toss up. From Super Mario Bros. 3 onward, every console Mario title has featured some kind of overworld. In the 2D Mario games it was a game board styled map. For Super Mario 64, the overworld was changed to Princess Peach's castle. The 2D overhead map has great nostalgic value, no question about that. The 3D castle approach, however, is probably better suited to a 3D game. This one's too close to call, so we'll be happy with whatever decision Miyamoto makes here -- even if it's something entirely new.Game Over
Most of all, we want Mario. We want Mario as soon as possible. Miyamoto's comments on how easy the Gamecube is to program for is music to our ears. For would-be importers, a new Mario is likely only 8 months away. Can Mario Cube live up to its predacessors? We're betting on "yes". Mario on Gamecube? Life shouldn't be this good...