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Super Mario 3D Land director talks sequel chances, SM64 remake chances, new Mario ideas

by rawmeatcowboy
22 March 2012
GN Version 4.0
A portion of a Game Informer interview with director of Super Mario 3D Land, Koichi Hayashida...

GI: Would you be interested in doing a Super Mario Galaxy 2-style sequel to Super Mario 3D Land?

KH: I guess I have to say first of all that Super Mario Galaxy 2 development was really, really hard for us. We usually have the opportunity to look at technological innovation in a new piece of hardware that can drive us to new play experiences for people who love Mario. When you have to make a second Mario game on the same hardware generation, you don’t have that same driving force to push you into completely new experiences based on unique hardware capabilities. The burden was on us in the case of Super Mario Galaxy 2 to try and come up with ideas that could surprise people without the technological innovation pushing us as it would have normally.

GI: I saw during your GDC 2012 presentation that you used levels from Mario 64 to test out the 3DS’ stereoscopic 3D. Fans were really excited by Super Mario Galaxy 2’s Mario 64 tribute level, Throwback Galaxy. Would you ever consider a 3D Super Mario 64 remake?

KH: That early test that we did on the Mario 64 level when we were beginning development of Super Mario 3D Land was actually just to see how that game might play with stereoscopic 3D. What we figured out very quickly was that that way the levels were all designed was going to create so many stereo window violations – where an object would come in between Mario and the camera – that we knew we were going to need a different approach. So at the very least, we did rule out a remake of Super Mario 64 in stereoscopic view on the Nintendo 3DS.

GI: Are there any scrapped Super Mario 3D Land ideas that you would be excited to see in a future Mario game?

KH: It’s hard to say, because I feel like we did use every single good idea that we thought of for Super Mario 3D Land. I often think back to that time on Super Mario Galaxy development when Mr. Miyamoto told us we came up with so many ideas that we should use the ones that didn’t make it into the game for a sequel. But now as a director when I look back on those brainstorming thought processes I realize that you come out with a huge amount of ideas, but what you decide to use are the ones that floated to the very top. The ones that seem like they’re going to be especially effective and are going to implement well. What you’re left with are a bunch of ideas that are maybe a little bit more difficult to implement or don’t seem like they’d be as effective which can be quite a challenge if you’re making a game based off that set of ideas.

But this time around we didn’t even have that situation because I don’t feel like we left very many ideas at all, if any, on the cutting room floor of Super Mario 3D Land. Maybe if we hadn’t been able to include statue Mario that could have been an element that could’ve came forward to another game, but as it turned out very late in development we did have the chance to include statue Mario as a reward for players who were able to reach the special worlds.

Full interview here