Super Mario 3D World devs on game’s creation and more; new concept art

EDGE has published its full Super Mario 3D World interview/article with directors Koichi Hayashida and Kenta Motokura as well as producer Yoshiaki Koizumi. New concept art from the game is now available as well.

You can find some quotes from the three Super Mario 3D World devs below (with even more on EDGE). The concept art is posted above.

Hayashida on how plans were set in motion after Super Mario Galaxy 2 was completed…

“We decided we should make an entirely new title, rather than another in the Galaxy series. Up until that point, we had only been working on games for the home console, so you might expect that we’d go on to develop a game for Wii U. In fact, we got really interested in creating a 3D Mario game that could be played with the 3D effect of 3DS. That’s why we chose to develop for the handheld system instead. Saying that, though, at that same point we also planned on making a version for Wii U. So, in that sense, you could say the game was in development for over three years.”

Motokura on the large amount of ideas discussed during development…

“We discussed and discarded a huge number of ideas during development. Sometimes you just can’t tell if an idea is good or bad by looking at it on the drawing board; when this happens, we try it out in-game. If we don’t find the idea fun, it won’t make it into the final product. There was a lot of back and forth on the course designs due to this.”

Koizumi on surpassing fan expectations…

“We do feel a need to keep delivering games that will surpass our audience’s expectations. As creators, we try to fill our games with as many unique elements as possible. Moving into the future, we want to continue to deliver even more surprises as fast as we can so that it never feels like there aren’t enough.”

Hayashida on the balance Nintendo has wrestled with in terms of combat within the context of a 3D platform game…

“[This] is why you had the punch in Super Mario 64 and the 360-degree spin attack in Super Mario Galaxy. Since Super Mario 3D Land, though, with the 3D effect, jumping on enemies has become a lot easier, but we still decided to add in the claw attack to give Cat Mario an advantage. Then, of course, there’s Rosalina, the unlockable character for this game, who can perform a spin attack without needing a transformation. I think, when playing as her, you’re really able to feel the difference in playstyles.”

Motokura on how Mario’s moves/handling in Super Mario 3D World came about from the desire to hark back to the simplicity of older Mario games…

“Back when we were discussing the character abilities for Super Mario 3D Land, we thought about what was the simplest bit of fun that could be had using Mario’s regular abilities. We decided it was jumping across a series of platforms without falling – think back to the doughnut blocks and rotating platform courses in previous games. This decision helped us make comparatively intricate courses for Super Mario 3D Land and 3D World. In contrast, in a game like Super Mario 64, I think the fun needs to be on a slightly larger scale, hence why the triple jump worked so well there. It’s not that one ability is better than the other, it’s just that we use ones that best fit the design of the game.”

Hayashida on lessons learned from Super Mario 3D Land helped in making 3D World…

“With Super Mario 3D Land, we developed the game with the premise of having the 3D effect, but we also had to make sure the game was still fun to play when this effect was turned off; that made things much more difficult. Through a lot of tweaking, I think we managed to make a game that’s also fun to play even without using the 3D feature. We took the lessons we learned here and used them in making Super Mario 3D World.”

Hayashida on the difficulty in incorporating four-players simultaneously for 3D World…

“We had to make sure none of the players would feel left out, even if all four players are moving in different directions. We combined multiple types of camera movements that would adjust to the layout or a given feature in the courses. It was a lot of work setting all this up!”

Hayashida on Miyamoto’s presence…

“We used the Goal Pole in Super Mario 3D Land, but it was quite a challenge for us. We tentatively asked Mr Miyamoto if we could change this, but he was pretty sure that the Goal Pole is a staple of Mario games. It’s definitely a clear marker, and is easily visible even from afar.”

Final comments from Koizumi…

“For Super Mario 3D Land, we strove to integrate the best elements of 2D Mario games into a 3D Mario game. In a sense, you can also say that we created Super Mario 3D World by rethinking traditional Mario game ideas. In addition to doing this, we went all out inserting elements [that allow] players to further enjoy the sprawling environments. There’s still a lot more room for discovery and invention, and we’ll continue to propose new and exciting game mechanics going into the future.”