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SM3DL's lack of Raccoon & Fire Mario, Statue Mario's inclusion, series' DLC options, Wii U talk and Galaxy 3 chances
A portion of a GamesRadar interview with Nintendo's Koichi Hayashida...
GR: 3D Land brought back the full Tanooki suit from Super Mario 3, but that game also featured Raccoon Mario with just the tails and ears. Did you ever consider putting that item in 3D Land?
KH: When development had just begun on the game, we had created the ears and tail version as well as the full body suit, as well as one more that was in-between the two. We were testing all of these, asking the team members what they liked, but it seemed like they were choosing based only on visual appearance. We had to revert to a more functional mentality, deciding that the easiest one for the player to understand visually as a power-up was the full Tanooki suit.
GR: Playing 3D Land you notice a lot of love for Super Mario 3, but were there any elements of Mario 3 you wanted to add but couldn’t?
KH: I think we were able to get everything that we really wanted in 3D Land, though I have to say that the Statue Mario power barely made it in. (During development) whenever people saw the full body suit, without fail people would ask, “Oh, he’s going to turn into a statue, right?” So with a little bit of time left in our schedule, we were able to include it as a sort of reward for people that made it through first set of worlds. I was really happy with how that turned out.
GR: Recently Nintendo began to add download content to its game, like in the upcoming (in Japan) Fire Emblem for 3DS. Do you see that feature working for future Mario titles?
KH: Of course there’s some possibilities there. As with any new Mario game we have to look at what sort of potential new technology can present, and think about how that matches with Mario gameplay to make something interesting and compelling. For example, for 3D Land we looked at the stereoscopic display and StreetPass and tried to think of what type of possibilities exist in a Mario world for those types of things. We’re always looking for things that match up like that, and if we find a particularly compelling combination it is, of course, something we’d pursue. Finding that match is part of my job, so it’s something I’m always thinking about.
GR: As a developer, what interests you about the potential of the Wii U?
KH: I certainly think it’s interesting hardware with many possibilities. If I had to share just one idea from my own personal experience, it would involve when my family is watching TV together. If I want to play games on the Wii I can’t, but if I had a Wii U I could use that smaller display to play a game while they watch TV. That’d be really good for someone with a family like me.
GR: Ok, that solves that. Were there any power-ups from Galaxy you wanted to bring to 3D Land but didn’t?
KH: There was certainly some talk when adding Fire Mario to 3D Land if it would be temporary like in Galaxy, or a permanent ability. Obviously we sided with permanent. Ultimately these games have such different designs that we didn’t find much that was transposable from one to the next. When talking about the transformations to add to 3D Land, if something had fit I think we would have used it.
GR: Galaxy 2 began development with ideas that couldn’t fit in Galaxy 1. After finishing the second game, were you left with any ideas that could appear in a possible third game?
KH: When we worked on Galaxy 1 we came up with a mountain of ideas. Of course, the ideas that made it in to the final product were the ones at the very top. Those ideas that were most compelling or could be implemented most easily and effectively. The other ideas were a little bit rougher. Ideas we weren’t positive that’d be as effective, or might have been much more difficult to include.
When you think about trying to make a game like Galaxy 2 from that large group of ideas that we had already decided were on the rough side, that becomes a very difficult project. The only way that we got through the development of Mario Galaxy 2 was by coming up with entirely new ideas. I think of that as a very challenging project when I look back on it.
From that perspective, to say we’d make another game using the ideas left over from Galaxy 2, it’s very difficult for me to imagine. I feel like we really did research the field very well for possible ideas and we used everything that was reasonably easy to implement.
Super Mario 3D Land interview - We talk with the director about secrets, Tanookis, and Mario's future - full interview here
GR: 3D Land brought back the full Tanooki suit from Super Mario 3, but that game also featured Raccoon Mario with just the tails and ears. Did you ever consider putting that item in 3D Land?
KH: When development had just begun on the game, we had created the ears and tail version as well as the full body suit, as well as one more that was in-between the two. We were testing all of these, asking the team members what they liked, but it seemed like they were choosing based only on visual appearance. We had to revert to a more functional mentality, deciding that the easiest one for the player to understand visually as a power-up was the full Tanooki suit.
GR: Playing 3D Land you notice a lot of love for Super Mario 3, but were there any elements of Mario 3 you wanted to add but couldn’t?
KH: I think we were able to get everything that we really wanted in 3D Land, though I have to say that the Statue Mario power barely made it in. (During development) whenever people saw the full body suit, without fail people would ask, “Oh, he’s going to turn into a statue, right?” So with a little bit of time left in our schedule, we were able to include it as a sort of reward for people that made it through first set of worlds. I was really happy with how that turned out.
GR: Recently Nintendo began to add download content to its game, like in the upcoming (in Japan) Fire Emblem for 3DS. Do you see that feature working for future Mario titles?
KH: Of course there’s some possibilities there. As with any new Mario game we have to look at what sort of potential new technology can present, and think about how that matches with Mario gameplay to make something interesting and compelling. For example, for 3D Land we looked at the stereoscopic display and StreetPass and tried to think of what type of possibilities exist in a Mario world for those types of things. We’re always looking for things that match up like that, and if we find a particularly compelling combination it is, of course, something we’d pursue. Finding that match is part of my job, so it’s something I’m always thinking about.
GR: As a developer, what interests you about the potential of the Wii U?
KH: I certainly think it’s interesting hardware with many possibilities. If I had to share just one idea from my own personal experience, it would involve when my family is watching TV together. If I want to play games on the Wii I can’t, but if I had a Wii U I could use that smaller display to play a game while they watch TV. That’d be really good for someone with a family like me.
GR: Ok, that solves that. Were there any power-ups from Galaxy you wanted to bring to 3D Land but didn’t?
KH: There was certainly some talk when adding Fire Mario to 3D Land if it would be temporary like in Galaxy, or a permanent ability. Obviously we sided with permanent. Ultimately these games have such different designs that we didn’t find much that was transposable from one to the next. When talking about the transformations to add to 3D Land, if something had fit I think we would have used it.
GR: Galaxy 2 began development with ideas that couldn’t fit in Galaxy 1. After finishing the second game, were you left with any ideas that could appear in a possible third game?
KH: When we worked on Galaxy 1 we came up with a mountain of ideas. Of course, the ideas that made it in to the final product were the ones at the very top. Those ideas that were most compelling or could be implemented most easily and effectively. The other ideas were a little bit rougher. Ideas we weren’t positive that’d be as effective, or might have been much more difficult to include.
When you think about trying to make a game like Galaxy 2 from that large group of ideas that we had already decided were on the rough side, that becomes a very difficult project. The only way that we got through the development of Mario Galaxy 2 was by coming up with entirely new ideas. I think of that as a very challenging project when I look back on it.
From that perspective, to say we’d make another game using the ideas left over from Galaxy 2, it’s very difficult for me to imagine. I feel like we really did research the field very well for possible ideas and we used everything that was reasonably easy to implement.