Nintendo is getting back in the game as the NES Classic Edition hits the market and Super Mario Run gets its release date. And as part of its marketing strategy, Nintendo released an English transcript of its interview with its veterans: Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, and Koji Kondo. In the interview, Miyamoto playfully discussed how they came up with the small and big Mario.
As the veterans chatted during the interview, they shared an interesting back story how Super Mario came to be as we know it now. Miyamoto said that small Mario came to be because of some problems they have regarding the game's viewing distance.
Miyamoto said that the original Mario was so big that they have to pull back to get a better view. However, if they do that, Mario becomes smaller. It was Toshihiko Nakago, president of SRD Co. which collaborated with the development of Super Mario, who came up with a brilliant idea. He said it would be more fun if there was a small Mario. Thus, they introduced the small Mario to make it easier for them to see what's ahead of the course.
"And then we decided that you'll lose a turn when the smaller Mario runs into an enemy, when big Mario runs into an enemy, he would just get smaller. That would be a brand-new game mechanic, and we decided to go with it right away in that meeting," Miyamoto fondly recalled.
His revelation disqualifies the story that the big and small Mario was inspired by a Super Mario manga where Mario gets bitten by a bug causing him to become a giant and only half of his body was displayed.
Aside from that, Miyamoto also explained why Mario starts small in the game instead of big. He said that players are happier when Mario starts small and gets big later. Furthermore, it also leaves a lasting impression to them.
Your favorite red jumper wearing mechanic will be back again with the launch of Super Mario Run on December 15. After the release date of the Super Mario Run was announced, Nintendo stocks rose up to 5.5 percent.
