Ever wondered why Nintendo games - Mario ones in particular - are able to hook you in so effectively? Well wonder no more, as the excellent YouTube channel Game Maker's Toolkit is here to explain exactly why these sublime experiences are so compelling.
In the case of Super Mario 3D World, Game Maker's Toolkit - which is run by UK games journalist Mark Brown - asserts that it's the four step stage design which grabs you from the start and gives each level such a satisfying arch.
Gameplay concepts are first introduced in a safe environment - so at the start of a level you can experiment with them without the risk of losing a life. Next, you're given the same mechanic but in a dangerous situation. Thirdly, the concept is given a unique twist which makes you look at it from a different perspective - in Super Mario's case, that might be mastering a mechanic while trying to avoid another threat. Finally, there's a conclusion - that usually involves hitting the top of the flagpole at the level's end, but using the skills you've learned during the stage.
Speaking to Gamasutra about Super Mario 3D Land back in 2012, Director Koichi Hayashida explained this structure:
First, you have to learn how to use that gameplay mechanic, and then the stage will offer you a slightly more complicated scenario in which you have to use it. And then the next step is something crazy happens that makes you think about it in a way you weren't expecting. And then you get to demonstrate, finally, what sort of mastery you've gained over it.
It's very similar to a narrative structure that you find in four-panel comics. Something that's talked a lot about in Japanese manga, for example, is a phrase, kishōtenketsu, where you introduce a concept, and then in the next panel you develop the idea a little bit more; in the third panel there's something of a change-up, and then in the fourth panel you have your conclusion.
It's a fairly obvious when you think about it, and Nintendo certainly isn't the only developer to use this system - but few companies are able to make it work so effectively in the context of a single level.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 23
I'm very sure I knew Goombas were the enemy and Mushrooms were the (at least) good ones...
But I don't love Mario games...
Good to see how the design has evolved. This does explain the things that have made me feel SM3DW is a step up from SMG (small albeit) when I played it, seeing this makes clear to me why I felt the level design was better.
That's why I always preferred SMG2 over SMG1 despite SMG1 introduce the game mechanics I always felt SMG2 to be more fitting on how the levels were design.
@RainbowGazelle Same. I'm honestly not a big fan of Super Mario platformers at all (especially the recent Wii U games), I prefer the spinoffs.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 I would agree. The spin-offs tend to have more innovation and interesting stories.
I love mario Games
I was playing Kirby's Mass Attack recently and wondered about the same thing: why are Nintendo games so fun to play? They use the same characters (Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Yoshi, etc) same environment (forest, desert, underwater, etc) for decades with their games, but it's the simplicity and little element of surprise that make the games so delightful.
Nintendo wants to build their own hardware so they can fully exploit it's possibility. While playing Mass Attack, I am in awe of their use of the touchscreen and stylus to create such an intuitive method of gameplay. It is basically a Locoroco inspired game using touchscreen, but with so much more depth. This game can easily be made for the smartphone but no smartphone games out there can replicate it's entertaining content. Why? Mobile games developers should dissect Nintendo games and study them in details. It's not the graphics that make them good, it's all in the design.
Many developers were overly ambitious, making epic games with realistic graphics and huge environment but came up short with the design, resulting in a boring game that looks good but taste bad. Nintendo is the opposite, they are not into cinematic or realistic graphics, the games are simple which gave them time to focus on the details of the game design that make games fun to play. Games are meant to be fun, if people want cinematic, hyper real graphics they should just watch a movie.
My plan, when I get my hands on Mario Maker, is - of course - to create entire levels based on a single gameplay concept. It served me well during my level-creating-and-sharing time on Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, and will do the same again with MM. We'll see.
This was actually surprising to watch, as playing all the mario games that he mentioned I have never once realized this. Yet it makes absolute sense and perfect. I love it
Code name: Steam uses this 4 step design in spades !!!
I'd still like to see a Mario game set in a museum where famous paintings are the levels like they did with the Painted Swampland level in NSMB U.
Imagine how crazy a level they could make using Escher's endless stairs!
@Tazcat2011 Excellent idea - Escher levels in particular would be awesome - but those works are usually heavily copyrighted so it would be a legal nightmare and expensive.
But isn't this Basic Game Design 101 that everyone should know? Although I always thought of it as three steps: introduce game mechanic --> make players use said game mechanic in various ways, upping difficulty step by step --> Boss/hard level/something really challenging
Simple but effective. Seriously, it's just like growing up and studying or training. It's supposed to be this way. Doesn't make game design any easier, though. And Nintendo does it really well, most of the time!
@Mk_II Yeah, I'm sure you're right. The Louvre app Nintendo created for the 3ds made me think that they may have some sort of arrangement already.
As I said on the forums, this strategy is nothing new. Donkey Kong Country games have used it too. Hell, someone in the comments on the Youtube page even cited that strategy dating as far back as Mega Man in the 80's.
That strategy doesn't even apply to 3D World. (The special worlds require stuff like the backflip / spin jump / long jump and there is no practice for those in the easier levels).
Maybe they potentially could be but putting a cat suit in that level just spoils it.
The best difficulty curve is still Super Mario Bros 3. (Doesn't waste any of the game).
Huh, interesting... I feel like the Donkey Kong Country games, and many others for that matter, apply here, too. I'll try to keep this in mind if I ever develop any games.
@RainbowGazelle Then there's something wrong with you . . . lol just kidding.
Arin Hanson talks about this concept for a bit in his Megaman Sequelitis video.
Is this why I like Mario Galaxy 2 more...and I never knew why? This makes you really appreciate 3D World though.
Ah, so that's why I find the recent games formulaic - it is a formula.
At least SM64, SMS, and SMG1 had the decency to make it an adventure.
@TeeJay Yeah, he actually explains it VERY well.
MEGA MAN! MEGA MAN!
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