While New Super Mario Bros. received universal praise in 2005, there was a general feeling that the game was on the easy side. Nintendo was aware that the game wasn’t entirely challenging, however. In an Iwata Asks interview, Shigeru Miyamoto pointed out that it was hard to come up with the right balance for the game’s difficulty, but Nintendo considered releasing “an enhanced version of New Super Mario Bros., for those people who wanted to play a Mario that demanded more skills.”

Miyamoto
If I had to point out one aspect, I’d say that the difficulty level was a little…

Iwata
While you succeeded in coming up with a Mario title that anyone could play, for those players who were seeking a bit more of a challenge, it may have been a touch too easy.

Miyamoto
As you can imagine, no matter how hard you try, it just isn’t possible to settle on a difficulty level that will satisfy everyone ranging from people who haven’t played a game in years right through to players who know all the Mario games inside out. You have to focus it on either one or the other.

Iwata
I like to describe the series of action games that you and your team come up with, most famously Mario, as being “sports tournament games”. What I mean is, by pushing yourself harder and harder, you make progress, and then just when you have the goal in sight, you slip up. Then a voice seems to come from above that tells you: “Right! Give it another try!” Then you try again, and fail yet again. But by doing that, and failing again and again, you will steadily build up experience and as a result, when you do succeed, the feeling of satisfaction is incredible. That’s why I think they’re reminiscent of a sports tournament.

Miyamoto
That’s why we even discussed releasing an enhanced version of New Super Mario Bros., for those people who wanted to play a Mario that demanded more skills. With the Wii version of New Super Mario Bros. this time round, its biggest single defining feature lies there. We didn’t just want first-time players to enjoy it; we wanted to make a new Mario game that players looking for a stiffer challenge would be able to relish.

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This is yet another snippet from the New Super Mario Bros. Wii Iwata Asks interview…

“I think a game has to become just like a trusty tool that people get used to using and always have to hand. Also, it needs to have those elements that people can discover every time and want to tell other people about…It’s important that the other person knows what you’re talking about, and that you’re discovering new things. That way, even if you play for a while and then put the game away, when a friend comes round, you’ll want to dig it out again and play it again. I also think it’s incredibly important that the sensation of playing the game is one you can’t forget and that it gives you something that you can’t get from other games. I suppose you’d call that the atmosphere of the game, or the ‘smell’… I think ‘smell’ is getting close to it.” – Shigeru Miyamoto

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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)

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Wow, that footage looked pretty great!

Arkanoid Plus! (WiiWare) – Recommended
Driift Mania (WiiWare) – Grumble Grumble
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare) – Recommended
Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare) – Recommended
Pokemon Rumble (WiiWare) – Recommended
Gravitronix (WiiWare) – Grumble Grumble
Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem (WiiWare) – Hmmm…
Word Seacher (WiiWare) – Hmmm…
Altered Beast (VC) – Hmmm…
Final Fantasy (VC) – Hmmm…
Final Fight 2 (VC) – Hmmm…
Rygar (VC) – Hmmm…
Art Academy: Second Semester (DSiWare) – Hmmm…
Dragon Quest Wars (DSiWare) – Recommended
Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (DSiWare) – Recommended
Thorium Wars (DSiWare) – Hmmm…
Crash-Course Domo (DSiWare) – Hmmm…
Hard-Hat Domo (DSiWare) – Hmmm…
Pro-Putt Domo (DSiWare) – Recommended
Rock-N-Roll Domo (DSiWare) – Recommended
White-Water Domo (DSiWare) – Grumble Grumble

“Right now we have just completed Spirit Tracks, [and] I am in the mindset that we have created the most enjoyable Zelda game ever.” – Eiji Aonuma

I know one thing for sure: Spirit Tracks is much, much better than the CD-i Zelda games! I also have a feeling that Spirit Tracks will be more enjoyable than Phantom Hourglass, for me at least. I’m very pleased that you can skip previously cleared areas in the Spirit Tower. Being forced to go through the same places in Temple of the Ocean King over and over was one of my main gripes with the last DS Zelda.

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Nintendo has been slouching on N64 releases for the Wii Virtual Console, but it looks like things are beginning to change. The original Super Smash Bros. is already confirmed to be releasing this year and Ogre Battle 64, a classic Nintendo 64 game, has been rated by the OFLC. This is an Australian rating, but it could mean that the title will release in other territories in the near future.

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