In a recent interview on Nintendo’s official website ‘Ask the Developer’, the development studio Acquire of ‘Mario and Luigi RPG: Partners in Time’ shared some interesting stories about their design of Mario. The development team once tried to give Mario a more ‘tough’ image, but ultimately this idea was not approved by Nintendo. Hitomi Furuta, the designer of Acquire, said that initially she designed an appearance for Mario that was different from his past image, but Nintendo believed that this design did not match the art style of the ‘Mario and Luigi RPG’ series.
‘Our challenge is to develop 3D visual effects that can not only highlight the unique charm of the ‘Mario and Luigi RPG’ series but also distinguish it from other Mario games.’ ‘To be honest, at the beginning of development, we didn’t realize this, which led us to take a detour.’ She added with a smile: ‘In the process of looking for a new style, we once tried to make Mario look tougher and rougher. ‘ However, Nintendo feedback said that this style did not match the recognition degree of the ‘Mario and Luigi RPG’ series and asked them to reconsider the art direction. Nintendo’s producer Akira Otani explained that from Nintendo’s perspective, Acquire’s character design is not like Mario. Instead, it gives people a feeling of ‘like Mario, but not entirely’. Therefore, Nintendo decided to convene a meeting to re-evaluate the design direction. ‘Probably at that time, we tried to explore how to find a balance between Acquire’s unique style and Mario’s classic elements.’ Nintendo’s producer Akira Otani said. ‘Although we hope that Acquire can have its own unique style, we also hope that they can retain Mario’s core characteristics.’ In that meeting, Nintendo showed the definition files of the protagonists in the ‘Mario and Luigi RPG’ series to Acquire’s designers. ‘Although we were keen to promote this tougher Mario image, from the player’s perspective, I began to worry whether it can really represent the Mario that players want to play,’ Hitomi Furuta said. After receiving Nintendo’s clear direction, they finally understood: ‘Oh, this is the direction of 3D visual style we should pursue this time.’ And they were able to determine the basic design direction.This article is produced and released by gamehiving. Reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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