Iwata, Miyamoto on the origins of Mario’s overalls, mushrooms
This is a snippet from the latest Iwata Asks interview regarding New Super Mario Bros. Wii…
First, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto discussed how it was decided that Mario should wear overalls:
Miyamoto
But when you come to draw the body using the remaining pixels, there’s a limit to what you can do. Furthermore, because we wanted him to run properly, we needed to animate him and we were only able to use three different frames for this. When Mario is running he moves his arms, but in order to make that movement easier to see, I thought it would be best to make his arms and his body different colors. So I wondered whether there was a type of outfit that was like that…Iwata
And that’s how you came up with overalls! (laughs)Miyamoto
Right! Overalls were the only option! So that’s how we ended up giving Mario overalls. Fortunately, the game was set on a construction site so we thought we had no other option but to make him a carpenter! (laughs)Iwata
There’s a sense of inevitability about all of this! (laughs)
Next, the two discussed the origins of the mushroom in Mario games…
Miyamoto:
We started off by doing tests to see how it would feel for the player to control a large character, double the size of Mario. As it felt really good, we continued to develop the idea. But then we discovered that it was more satisfying if Mario only increased in size partway through the game, so we decided to make a small Mario as well.…
Miyamoto: Right, you run away. This gave us a real headache. We needed somehow to make sure the player understood that this was something really good. That’s why we made the mushroom approach you.
Iwata:Yes, that’s right. If you play the game for the first time with no prior knowledge, you’re going to run into the first Goomba and lose a turn.
Miyamoto: Right, which is why you have to teach the player in a natural way that they need to avoid them by jumping over them.
Iwata: Then when the player tries to jump and avoid them, there are going to be times when they get it wrong and end up stamping on the Goomba. By doing that, they learn in a natural way that by stamping on them, you can defeat them.
Miyamoto: As long as you stamp on them, you have nothing to fear from Goombas.
Iwata: But if you avoid the first Goomba and then jump and hit a block above you, a mushroom will spring out and you’ll get a shock. But then you’ll see that it’s going to the right so you’ll think: “I’m safe! Something strange appeared but I’m okay!” But of course when it goes against a pipe up ahead, the mushroom will come back! (laughs)
Miyamoto: Right! (laughs)
Iwata: At that point, even if you panic and try to jump out of the way, you’ll hit the block above you. Then just at the instant where you accept that you’re done for, Mario will suddenly shake and grow bigger! You might not really know what’s just happened, but at the very least, you’ll realize that you haven’t lost the turn.
Miyamoto: But you’ll wonder why Mario suddenly got larger.
Iwata: You’ll try jumping and see that you can jump to higher places and smash through the ceiling, so it’ll be clear that you’ve become more powerful.
Miyamoto: It’s at that moment that you first realize that the mushroom is a good item.
Iwata: That’s the reason why it’s designed so that whatever you do, you’ll get the mushroom.
Miyamoto: Of course it’s because we wanted the player to realize that this item was different from a Goomba.
Iwata: When I first realized that this had all been designed with that purpose in mind, I was really taken aback. When you tell people who weren’t aware of it that the start of Super Mario Bros. was designed with this intention, it’s rare that they won’t be impressed.
