User:Nintendo101

Casual Nintendo historian. Otherwise an artist and a professional zoologist. Bio degree. I've had an account here since 2012.

I wrote the character sections for Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. I contributed much of the article for Super Mario Sunshine and am currently working on Super Mario Galaxy.

I have been a fan of Nintendo since a very young age. My first Mario games (and three of the first video games I ever owned) were Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, Super Mario 64 DS, and Mario Kart DS. These games were good company for a young kid who moved around a lot and had difficulty keeping long-lasting friends.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I sequentially played some of my favorite games in the Super Mario series to 100% completion. This includes, in order, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. I will complete this marathon with Super Mario Odyssey. It's been really fun so far! These are great games, and I always wanted to marathon a series like this before but never had the time. It has been interesting to see where the series began and where it has ended up. The design philosophies, the characters, the art directions, world building, level design, narrative, etc. All good stuff. It might be fun to write something about it some day.

My favorite video game character is Yoshi.

Sandbox for current project

Setting

portal.

Outer space. Galaxy 2 emphasizes:

• Blue skyboxes (as oppose to the darker, more starry boxes)
  • This was to make areas look and "feel" less dark
• 2D levels
  • To simplify controls in some areas for more challenged players
• Switches that change level dynamics
  • Inspired by Majora's Mask!

Deemphasizes narrative overall and within individual galaxies, regardless of theme (i.e. Spin-Dig is a construction site type level, but nothing really happens here in it)

NPCs from Mario's past - Bob-omb Buddies and Piantas

Galaxies

Departure from proceeding 3D games - the hub is not a sprawling area with individual level access points - it is more like a home. On the Grand World Map, its a stand-in for Mario himself, similar to sprite icons in past games, moving from galaxy to galaxy

Simplified "world" layout comparable to those of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Yoshi's Island (rather unilateral: not as complex as Super Mario World or Super Mario Land 2)

Organization of levels becomes a little more complex with each world, but it always begins with a normal galaxy and ends with a boss castle galaxy; no worlds can be skipped over to reach the credits

Bonus "World S", similar in concept to Star Road or World 9 from NSMBW

Normal galaxies have two normal missions, a prankster comet, and two "needle in hay stack" styled Green Stars unlocked once all normal Power Stars have been collected

Prankster Comets

No galaxy has more than one non-green Prankster Comet

Starship Mario

Hub terraformed to look like Mario's head by Lubba

Rouge group of Lumas live on it, inc. Lubba and Baby Luma

As Mario progresses, power-ups are added to the engine room. Cloud Flower and Yoshi Egg become usable. Visual mark of progress.

Stowaways

Another mark of progress - NPCs permently board the ship once specific criteria are met (what are they? Just finishing certain missions or are they tied to Power Stars?)

The NPCs share tricks on level progression and actions: some allude to late-game secrets, or are marks of progress for the player

As the Starship becomes more lively, the music becomes more flourished and complex

(include mini list for NPCs, unlock criteria, and their quotes - no pictures. The pictures for characters are in the following section)

No Piantas :<