Games Radar has published an editorial with former Rare Ltd coder Chris Sutherland who has talked about the magic of Mario’s controls over the years. Chris Sutherland worked on the wonderful Donkey Kong Country, which was naturally inspired by Super Mario Bros and Super Mario World and other 2D platforming video games. He talked about how Nintendo perfected Mario’s controls and how his various abilities became so iconic and highly influential.
Super Mario Bros.
“In Donkey Kong, Mario would jump in an arc, but you had more control in Super Mario Bros. There was also risk/reward, because you had to get close enough to the enemies to jump on them, but if you mistimed it you might get hit. You had control over the height of the jump too, depending on how long you pressed the button. Then with Koopas, jumping on them knocked them to one side instead of destroying them. So the same move had various different outcomes.”
Super Mario Bros. 3
“I guess the suits were there to emphasise the moves the developers gave Mario, and they also provided entertainment value!” Chris beams. “But they could have easily transformed him into other forms, like in Super Mario Bros Wonder where he transforms into an elephant. The other alternative would have been to just give him the moves, but that would have been less cute and entertaining. Even then, something visual would still have been needed to let players know that he had them.”
Super Mario Land
“The simple backgrounds didn’t become blurry when they scrolled, so you could easily see Mario jumping in front of them. Then, as long as the game had the analog-ness of the jump and the enemies that came along, it was all going to work. Those probably had to be a bit slower because of the size and clarity of the screen, but you still got the experience that you got on the NES, only it fitted in your pocket.”
Super Mario 64
“The developers wanted to give you the ability to freely move around and explore, run in circles, jump and backflip, and do all the new moves. It was an experience that nobody had ever had before, and because it was so enjoyable I don’t think anybody minded that they hadn’t replicated the 2D Super Mario games. Also, jumping on things in 3D could be frustrating, because judging depth is quite tricky, so they gave Mario attacks like punches instead.”
