Hayashida: Kuribo’s Shoe proposal rejected for Super Mario Galaxy, Mario 3D Land talk, more
IGN has published a series of interviews with Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida. For the most part, Hayashida responses pertained to Mario’s latest outing.
However, he did share a noteworthy piece of information about Super Mario Galaxy. Hayashida mentioned that he came up with an idea of bringing back Kuribo’s Shoe for the project, but Yoshiaki Koizumi – the director of that title – rejected his proposal.
All of Hayashida’s comments can be found after the break.
Hayashida on the decision to make a 2D/3D Mario hybrid…
“We felt that there was something missing in the evolution of Mario gaming between Super Mario World and Super Mario 64. This feeling gave us the idea that we could create something interesting by applying 2D Mario rules to the 3D Mario know-how that we had accumulated.”
Hayashida on the game’s camera…
“In terms of camera movement and player control, I think we were able to make the Galaxy series such that players could play without moving the camera themselves, but this time we went one step further and made it so that anyone can play the game without worrying about the camera.”
Hayashida on the return of the flagpoles…
“…the decision to return to the concept of flags sprung from the idea that if, instead of creating a game centered around searching we created a game in which players could always reach the goal by moving forward or to the right, the game would be easier for a wider variety of players to get into.”
Hayashida on the star medals…
“As you progress through the game, it does become necessary to collect star medals. Collecting star medals involves the same type of search-based gameplay involved in collecting stars. This game is designed to progress in a way that naturally connects to the gameplay of other 3D Mario games.”
Hayashida on the inspiration behind the Boomerang Suit…
“We created the Boomerang Suit after the boss character Pom Pom started throwing a boomerang. We thought that it would be interesting if the player could throw a boomerang too. There’s a Hammer Mario in Super Mario Bros. 3, so one way of looking at it is that the thing that Mario throws has changed from a hammer to a boomerang.”
Hayashida on the revamped Tanooki Suit (float rather than fly)…
“The Tanooki Suit was introduced as a means of supplementing Mario’s jump with the power to float. Many people asked us if we could make Mario fly, but when you can fly anywhere in a 3D space, a lot of problems come up. …(the team intended for players to) use the Propeller Box to experience the joy of flight.”
Hayashida on a return of Kuribo’s Shoe/other power-ups…
“Our team always considers bringing back elements of past games. I myself proposed bringing back Kuribo’s Shoe for Super Mario Galaxy, but tragically, my idea was rejected by the director, Mr. Koizumi.”
Hayashida on putting a new spin on elements that are brought back…
“Just like Boomerang Mario can be thought of as a modification of Hammer Mario, we try not to bring things back exactly like they were, but to instead change things up a bit and add some freshness. With the Propeller Box, we could have just borrowed Propeller Mario from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but we decided to go with different controls and a new expression of a similar concept.”
Hayashida on new technology…
“We are always able to do more and more things as the technology improves. This time, some of the many new ideas we incorporated include 3D tricks, binoculars that use the gyroscope, a variety of StreetPass ideas, and, at the really detailed level, the ability to blow on dandelions to send them flying. We want to create a game that Mario fans will enjoy while also continuing to pursue Mario’s new possibilities.”
Hayashida on the process behind choosing who Mario would be facing off against…
“The fundamental question that we start with is ‘what type of gameplay do we want to create?’. We created a test in which Bowser blows flames from in front of the character in 3D space, and we liked it, so we decided that we wanted to have Bowser appear multiple times.”
Hayashida on how Boom Boom made it into Mario 3D Land…
“…when Tanooki Mario appeared, some members of the team wanted to include Boom Boom and the Koopalings. Then we created a type of gameplay where the enemy follows as you run around the room, and we thought this would be interesting, so we used Boom Boom to put it into the game.”
Hayashida on how the Zelda level came about…
“The Zelda tribute level was born from tests we did to determine what type of expressions would be effective in stereoscopic 3D. We determined that looking down on a room from above would be a good match for 3D, and when we created a level in which Mario walks from room to room, we ended up saying, ‘this seems oddly familiar… it’s Zelda!” he added with a laugh. “Having taken things that far, we decided to add a number of ideas from Zelda. Since it was the 25th anniversary of Zelda, we could have made the Zelda tribute level 2-5, but we didn’t think it would be a good idea to put the level in too early, so we made it level 5-2 instead.”
Hayashida on the difference between making a console/portable Mario…
“From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to create a simple game that would be easy to jump into. We wanted to make a game that people could play quickly in small bits of free time.”
Hayashida on the Super Mario Galaxy-like experiments done for Super Mario 3D Land…
“When we started developing the game, we displayed Super Mario Galaxy 2 on a small TV monitor and found that Mario looked like a speck and that the game was difficult to play. This led us to look into the camera and terrain types that would be conducive to playing on a portable screen with a relatively large Mario. If we were making a console game, from the very start, we wouldn’t have been thinking about any of those things, and I think the game would have probably been a lot different.”
Hayashida on on the systems implemented to keep Mario 3D Land challenging for more skilled players…
“There are eight whole Special Worlds for more skilled players to enjoy in this game. I would like for those who aren’t beginners to think of the completion of the Special Worlds as the true ending. If you master everything, the number of stars for your saved game will reach the maximum number of five. Please try to see if you can get the maximum number. …I should point out that skilled players should be aware that just making an assist block appear will make your stars stop shining. For those who are familiar with Super Mario Galaxy 2, the final stage that you would expect is there at the very, very end.”
