The Progression of Mario Game Play, Super Mario 64 Stars and Super Mario Sunshine Shine Sprites
Super Mario World 2
Super Mario World 2, or Yoshi’s Island, was released in 1995, also for the Super Nintendo. The game was set in Mario’s past when he was still a baby. The Yoshis were the heroes of the story as they carried baby Mario through colorful and challenging levels in search of his brother, Luigi, who is being guarded by baby Bowser. Yoshi is able to swallow enemies whole to make eggs, which can be thrown at enemies or at objects to activate new events in the level. Baby Mario rode on Yoshi’s back most of the game, but could jump off and run through sections of a level after Yoshi collected a star power-up. The levels were not timed, and had many collectibles hidden along the way, giving players the goal of getting a perfect 100 score for each level.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 was the first Mario game to feature 3D models. Released in 1996 along with the Nintendo 64 console, Mario was given a three-dimensional world to explore and a voice that has been identified with Mario ever since. This time, Peach invited Mario to the castle to eat a cake she baked for him. When Mario arrived, the castle had been taken over by Bowser, and a new adventure started.
All throughout the castle, Mario could jump through paintings to get to new worlds, each with different challenges. As the gamer continued to play Super Mario 64, stars were awarded upon completion of each challenge, and helped unlock more doors in the castle. Mario had three special caps that would let him fly, turn invisible to walk through thin walls, and turn into metal for easier movement underwater.
Super Mario Sunshine
After the creation of the Nintendo Gamecube, the second 3D Mario game was introduced in 2002. The game’s plot focuses on Mario’s vacation to Isle Delfino. After Mario’s arrival, a stranger bearing a resemblance to Mario is seen spreading goop and graffiti across the town by the local townspeople. Mario is ordered to begin cleaning the town, armed with a water spraying device called FLUDD (which stood for “Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Ddevice”).
FLUDD has several attachments that allow for hovering and dashing, along with the default attachment that douses the goop found around the island. The device requires a supply of water to work, and there are usually quite a few water sources in the area for when FLUDD needs a refill. Yoshi makes another appearance, and can be ridden by Mario in some levels.
New Super Mario Bros.
In 2006, New Super Mario Bros. was released for the handheld DS console. The game featured 3D models in a 2D, side-scrolling format that made it reminiscent of the first Super Mario Bros. games. New power-ups were introduced, like the Mini-Mushroom that shrank Mario to fit into small pipes and run across water without sinking, the Mega-Mushroom that briefly gave Mario the ability to crush everything he ran into while huge.
The game had a simple two-player mode featuring Mario and Luigi competing to grab the most stars within a time limit, and other mini-games that could be played using the touch screen. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are the main villains in the game, with other large creatures serving as bosses at the end of each world.
Screenshots, pictures and references: Screenshots from Super Mario World 2 and Super Mario 64, respectively. References from Wikipedia and author’s own experience.
This post is part of the series: Super Mario’s History
From jumping over rolling barrels to hopping from planet to planet, follow Mario’s journey through the Super Mario game series.
