Super Mario Run: Shigeru Miyamoto interview, gameplay footage (off-screen)
In just a week, Super Mario Run will be released on iOS devices, and so Nintendo has started promoting the game in earnest. Today, The Verge published a rather lengthy interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, where he explains quite a few things about Mario’s very first mobile outing.
Shigeru Miyamoto feels that it’s Mario that introduced millions of people to video games, and he believes that he will keep on playing that role in the future, especially with Super Mario Run.
About the “one-button” gameplay of Super Mario Run, Miyamoto explains that Nintendo has been toying with that idea ever since the Wii, and that’s how it became the basis of the very first Mario game on smart devices. The goal was pretty simple… bring Mario games to as many people as possible:
Nintendo has been making Mario games for a long time, and the longer you continue to make a series, the more complex the gameplay becomes, and the harder it becomes for new players to be able to get into the series. We felt that by having this simple tap interaction to make Mario jump, we’d be able to make a game that the broadest audience of people could play.
About the synergy between mobile games and Nintendo’s dedicated gaming platforms, Nintendo was expecting such a thing, but they were really surprised by its scale with Pokémon GO. Naturally, the company is expecting the same to happen with Mario, but also Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing who are both getting a mobile game (and new game(s) on the Nintendo Switch).
Shigeru Miyamoto also notes that some franchises, such as Nintendogs, could work better as mobile.
As for his role in the development of Super Mario Run, Shigeru Miyamoto explains that he was more involved this time around (compared to other Nintendo games). Here’s what he said about working with Takashi Tezuka, just like in the good ‘ol days:
It’s sort of like the two of us are working together again like back then, designing stages and things like that. It’s been a lot of fun.
But naturally, things were not quite like the good ol’ day, and the development team for Super Mario Run was quite big: in fact, there was one for each team. Miyamoto thought that development would be more simple on smart devices, but it wasn’t really the case after all…
Following the launch of Super Mario Run, millions of people will be introduced to “the fun of Mario”, and Nintendo will have to think about what’s next for all those players: a traditional platformer? A 3D platformer like Super Mario Galaxy?
Finally, here’s a quote from Shigeru Miyamoto about Nintendo and innovation:
I hope people will continue to recognize the areas where Nintendo has taken that first step. […] And hopefully someday people will look back on the Wii U and think ‘Oh wow, I remember when Nintendo did that, and now look at what’s come of that.’
Click here to check out the full article!
As an extra, here’s two gameplay video (off-screen) for Super Mario Run, courtesy of Famitsu:
Super Mario Run (iOS) comes out on December 15th. The Android version will follow at a later date.
