The iconic plumber brothers, Mario and Luigi, could have taken a more rugged path in their latest game, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, but Nintendo opted for a different direction. Dive into the fascinating journey of the game's art direction and the creative decisions behind it.
Mario & Luigi Was Rough And Rugged Early On
Experimenting With Different Styles
Image from Nintendo and Acquire
In an insightful Ask the Developer article published on the Nintendo website on December 4th, the developers of Mario & Luigi: Brothership from Acquire revealed that they initially experimented with a more edgy and rugged look for the beloved duo. However, Nintendo felt this departure was too significant, risking the loss of Mario and Luigi's iconic identity.
The developers interviewed included Akira Otani and Tomoki Fukushima from Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning & Development Department, and Haruyuki Ohashi and Hitomi Furuta from Acquire. Their goal was to create "3D visuals that would bring out the unique appeal" of the series, setting it apart from other Mario games. This led them down a path of exploration, resulting in the temporary adoption of an edgier Mario and Luigi.
"And in our search for a new Mario & Luigi style, at one point we ended up trying to present an edgier, more rugged Mario instead…" designer Furuta recounted with a chuckle. Following feedback from Nintendo, which emphasized maintaining the characters' recognizability, a meeting was convened to realign the art direction. Nintendo provided a detailed document outlining the core elements that define Mario and Luigi within the series. "Although we'd enthusiastically pitched this rugged version of Mario, when I considered it from a player's perspective, I started to worry about whether it really represented the Mario that players would want to play," Furuta added. With Nintendo's clear guidance, the team found their direction.
"We were able to narrow down our focus to how we could combine two things: the appeal of illustrations featuring, for example, solid outlines and bold, black eyes, and the charm of pixel animations depicting the two characters moving around comically in all directions. I think that's when we finally started to develop an art style that's unique to this game," Furuta explained.
Nintendo's Otani added, "While we wanted Acquire to have their own unique style, we also wanted them to preserve what defines Mario. I think it was a period when we were experimenting with how those two things could coexist."
A Challenging Development
Acquire, known for developing less colorful and more serious games like the JRPG Octopath Traveler and the action-adventure series Way of the Samurai, faced unique challenges. Furuta admitted that left to their own devices, the team would naturally gravitate towards darker, heavier themes typical of RPGs. Working with a globally recognized IP like Mario & Luigi also presented a new challenge, as Acquire typically creates games with their own original characters.
Ultimately, the collaboration proved fruitful. "Although we were still getting to grips with the mood in the Mario & Luigi series, we decided on this direction so we wouldn't forget that it's a stage for fun, chaotic adventures. This doesn't only apply to the game's world, but we learned a lot from Nintendo's unique design perspective about making things easier to see and understand. The world turned out brighter and easier to play due to the insights we gained," Furuta concluded.
