Remember when I decided to make my own Mario game? It feels like it was 10 years ago even though it was last month? We were both so young then…
Well, a lot has happened since then—quick recap for those who are just joining: I’m making a short Mario game using my short Mario design that has been seen in art shows, Nintendo Power, t-shirts, ect.
The game itself is simple. The player jumps up through Mario’s history, from his arcade beginning (1981’s Donkey Kong) to the end of the NES era(1990’s Super Mario Bros. 3) while collecting as many coins as they can in 2 minutes. It includes a select few enemies and power ups that I thought would go nicely together, BUT like all the best laid plans… (see previous newsletter).
all too much
Needless to say I was about to scrap the whole idea. But, it was almost Game Night! What’s Game Night? Glad you asked.
Every month I host a game night at my house. Close friends gather for a chosen theme or games. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to keep in touch with everyone. I’ve been doing it for years. This month’s game night was days away and I promised to have this Mario game for them to play. There was only problem, I just barely got in the last of Mario’s abilities! No levels, no end game state— NOTHING!
As you can imagine those following 2 days were filled with sweat, tears, and cramming in as much as I could. I designed, tested, reworked, and debugged all new levels for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. My mantra? “I just need SOMETHING in here and forget about if it all works together, just get in ANYTHING!”
I literally got the last build done 1 hour before Game Night. I set it up, tested the equipment, and finished 20 minutes before the first guests arrived. <Phew>
I gave them the controller with no set up or instructions, and guess what? THEY GOT IT! All the doubt and apprehension melted away as soon as they actually started playing it. To them, it was obvious. The levels were short and good enough but most importantly, I went out of my way to separate all the clashing Mario rules. Each one of Mario’s games were on different screens and when it switches to the next game, so do the rules.
game night play
A few thing I learned from my friends:
“More secrets!”
“Bigger ending!”
“When can I play it again?!”
There were other VERY minor bugs found and the best part—the game didn’t crash once! So what’s next?! Is it done?! No, but now is one of the hardest parts of gamemaking— FINISHING. The game needs an “ending”, also some menus, and bug fixes. Speaking of an ending, what better way to end a Mario game…?
uh oh
See you again in 2 weeks with more details, especially one that you might be wondering: how YOU can play this game.