That’s what 1996’s Super Mario 64 did that’s what Sunshine was responding to. At the time, the GameCube adventure was the new Mario, the one that would lead the brand for half a decade. In 2002, however, the discussion suddenly became moot when Nintendo abandoned this template for Super Mario Sunshine. Mario threads this needle far better than most mascots, but not perfectly. There are only so many level themes, and only so many ways they can be examined or mashed together. But it also has its limits, namely in that it can get a bit rote. Many of the level tropes of platformers (which love level themes more than any other genre) call back to the mainline Super Mario games. introduced the “grass,” “sea,” and “dungeon” levels to his repertoire back in 1985. Pictured: just a few of the subjects we might explore in “Center Stage.” Any look familiar?Ĭertainly, this system has served gaming icon Mario well for decades-and specifically, thirty-seven years since Super Mario Bros. This was the default structure for games for much of the medium’s history (and it’s still hugely important) we’ll be examining it plenty in this new series. You know, distinct sections in a story that may riff on each other but that we all know aren’t actually connected. The vast majority of games have this-they’re great for design and aesthetics-but it’s most associated with a certain type of game: one with levels. There’s the sweeping desert, the Christmastime snowscape, the haunted house, each one bursting with archetypes and feelings. One of my absolute favorite tropes of video games is the concept of the “level theme,” the way game spaces caricature real life climates. They may be as small as a room and as large as a world. They may be single levels, larger sandboxes, or broader settings. In “Center Stage,” Wolfman Jew discusses environments and level design across the games industry. Center Stage: Isle Delfino (Super Mario Sunshine)
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