Super Mario Galaxy: Lives and The Essence of Mario

Nintendo has gotten into the habit of publishing really long interviews hosted by its president, Satoru Iwata, talking to some of the many people responsible for the Wii, its built-in channels and some Wii games. They’re interesting in the sense that they’re quite honest and go into a lot of depth.

Recently, the first two of four interviews with the creators or ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ were published, and again they’re very much worth reading.

Mario’s Lives

The following, something said by game director Yoshiaki Koizumi, grabbed my attention:

“Since we’re talking about the intensity of the game, I placed a rather bold suggestion for this game. I wanted to change the life meter’s maximum to 3. With this, Mario ends up losing more lives as a result, but at the same time we increased the number of 1-Up mushrooms that are available throughout the game, and created checkpoints. In Mario 64, the life meter’s maximum was 8. That meant it was rare to lose a life. The life meter’s maximum was also 8 in Super Mario Sunshine, but I felt that the life parameter didn’t really tie in to the intensity factor. Even when you find a 1-Up mushroom, you don’t think much of it. So this time, we changed the life meter’s maximum to 3, and it became a lot easier to lose a life, but you could get more 1-Up mushrooms to compensate.”

Ever since ‘Super Mario World’, where the player could save his or her progress for the first time in a Mario game, I’ve wondered about the need to track the amount of remaining lives. Sure, it’s a typical nostalgic game element, but do we really need it? After all, after losing his last life, the player can still continue where he left off.

It’s beyond me why the Super Mario Galaxy team wouldn’t just give the player an infinite amount of lives and take him back to the last checkpoint after he dies. It works for shooters like ‘Halo 3’, so why not do it here?

The Essence of Mario

Secondly, there’s a fun discussion at the beginning of volume two, where five junior team members are asked what the “essence of Mario” is. Of course, they all come up with things that are related to their responsibility.

Recently, I’ve been having a lot of arguments about Super Mario Galaxy at the office. Or, going by Monty Python terminology, they’re not really arguments – they’re contradiction. Personally, I think it’s going to be dynamite, but others are not interested at all. They find Mario’s looks unappealing and can’t seem to get over that.

I tend to agree that the character design is not that interesting. But then, I’ve said for a while that if you ask me, the essence of Mario can be found in his surroundings. A Mario game’s value is created by the worlds, obstacles, enemies and challenges around the player, and by the way he or she interacts with that world. Between all that, Mario himself is just a marionette…

If you look at the Mario games in this way, it’s hard not to be excited about Super Mario Galaxy, as evidenced by this quote from level designer Futoshi Shirai:

“[…] when I first heard the plans for this game, I thought about the kinds of planets that would look great when they’re floating in space. Ideas came pouring out, such as planets in the shape of ice cream and apples floating around, and being able to run around on them.

“We were coming up with all kinds of ideas which we would note down right away, and then stick them to the wall. I think another benefit that you can only get working with a spherical-shaped world is that because you are now able to look up to the stars and see all the different planets out there, you want to travel to those planets. You are also able to discover new things about those planets when you travel to the other side of them.”

October 30, 2007