NSMB info
quote:
NP: Mario games have always had a lot of replay value. Is there anything specific in New Super Mario Bros. that will encourage gamers to play through multiple times?
TT (the heavenly Tezuka): The gameplay itself has a lot of replay value, I think. In addition, you won't be able to save your progress from level to level; you'll only be able to save when you reach the next world. So in that way, the game system is designed to challenge the player and encourage replay. Also, remember how in Super Mario 64 you needed to collect a certain number of stars to reach the next course? We're doing something similar to that. There are also similarities to Super Mario World in that different branches exist to different levels. By completing some task, you'll open a different branch.
quote:
On direction:
When developing this game, I really had the original Super Mario Bros. in mind. After that game, Mario evolved, of course, but it eventually became more difficult and suited more toward hard-core gamers. That wasn't the intention, but that's how the series naturally evolved. I didn't want to continue in that direction. That's not to say this game isn't for hard-core players, but I want to recapture the spirit of the original Super Mario Bros.
On characters:
All of the characters you mentioned will show up except for Yoshi (laughs). Because we're trying to get back to the spirit of the original Super Mario Bros., Yoshi doesn't really fit.
On powerups:
In addition to the standard Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and those kinds of things, there are quite a few new items. There's a mushroom that turns Mario tiny. Another kind of mushroom that turns Mario into a giant if you collect three of them. There's also a Koopa Mario, he wears a shell and can slide back and forth like a Koopa to hit enemies. We can't reveal all the new power-ups at this time, however.
On music/sound:
Mr. Koji Kondo is doing some music for the game, but this time the main composer is Ms. Asuka Ota, who did the soundtrack for Yoshi Touch & Go. The music will be mainly classic Mario themes with new arrangements. In terms of other sound elements, you know, the last few Mario games have included voice samples and stuff. But this time, we want to go back to the sound style of the original Super Mario Bros. There will be no voices, the jumps will sound similar to those in the original game, etc.
More on direction:
The first thing was that we wanted to make a Mario game for the DS. Since there's already a 3D Mario on the DS (Super Mario 64 DS) we wanted to make something different. At the same time, the team had spent a long time working on the Mario Advance series, so we also wanted to create something new. That's one of the reasons we rendered the characters in 3D; to make it look new and different for a Mario side scroller. And again, we wanted to go back to the original fun of the Super Mario series. We don't want the gameplay to be so complicated that it excludes everyone but hardcore gamers. It may not match the popular trend of doing a completely 3D game, but a side scroller is more intuitive for most people. It's easier to understand how to get from the beginning to the end[of a level].
On 'polygon over sprite' decision:
It makes certain types of expression easier. We can rotate characters, make them bigger, make them smaller, etc. Those types of things are more difficult with 2D sprites. Also, current developer tools tend to favor 3D graphics.