Miyamoto explains how to create Super Mario Bros. World 1-1

World 1-1. We all ran, jumped, bricked in that familiar first stage. It seems so simple and second to us now, but in the modern era of iterative entertainment, it is nearly impossible to convey the size of the Leap Super Mario Bros compared to everything before it. That cabinet, that game may also descend from outer space. Its art, music, stability and, most importantly, its horizontal design is smaller in years.

World 1-1 introduces the principles of game design and the geometry of movement, so it can be calculated so perfectly that this day is one of the great works of art form. But how does this miracle behave? Well, let's tell you with the help of its creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

The closest to the beginning of the plumber’s first solo adventure to date is the stiff but repairable screen coverage trap! There are also gorgeous but terrifying side-scrolling pac-lands. Both are early papers about game design: Trap! Showcased a two-story jungle with lots of enemies and obstacles to skip, but its flip screen progression, huge nonlinear maps, strict time constraints and unintuitive treasure placement make it more like solving the world's puzzles than a world to explore. The Pac-Land is beautiful, with one direction to see, scrolling in one direction, but the layout of the layers is occasionally frustrating and the controls are crazy.

Mario, by contrast, is like exploring a world of realization, unity and diversity. Each step reveals new threats and attractions. Jump over the enemy or land on them? What are these problem blocks? Is there a Starman? Waiting, hidden life? A secret underground treasure room with your own music? Wait, is there a spark? Can you hold the B and run or explode the turtle with a firework? What is this game? ? ? ? But to build all this madness, it first requires a solid foundation, and that's where the world 1-1 really gets into itself – teaching you the basics in the most elegant way.

Super Mario Bros. has little feeling. In fact, World 1-1 measures only about 15 screens, including underground rooms. It feels bigger because on two or three screens, the tone of the terrain changes, from the introduction section to crossing the pipe to the platform to the pit. However, in this tiny space, you can play all the power in the game, a hidden multi-core pellet, a pair of traversable pipes, an invisible 1, two enemy varieties and a secret firework display.

But maybe the biggest secret of 1-1 is that this is a school. The course is Mario 101. The team then considered how to teach the players several skills at once: how to avoid enemies, how to destroy enemies, the question of how to stop enemies and how to tell the enemy goomba from useful mushrooms. All three were done in the first step of this open level.

“If a suspicious enemy appears, the player will need to skip it,” Miyamoto said. Running forward to the first Goomba will only kill you, and a lesson only takes one time before finding yourself safer in the air. Then move forward and the player discovers some low bricks and problem blocks.

“If we have a problem barrier, they may also try to take advantage of this,” Miyamoto continued. “If they see a coin, that will make them happy and they will want to try again.” Knocking the second block will release the sliding mushroom and then bounce off the pipe to stab the character. The low ceiling makes it hard to avoid, and the mushroom hit Mario but did not harm him, but instead transformed him into Extremely good Mario. Within seconds, you've learned how rewards and dangers work through the rest of Super Mario Bros.

“We've been simulating what players will do,” Miyamoto explained. “So, even in that section, players understand the general concept of what Mario should be and what the game is.” Even small details are important. The first enemy in the opening screen was supposed to be Koopa troops, but the jump and kicking necessary to start was not much better than they expected. So they invented the simple footsteps Goomba (as per Tetzuka, during the game design process) to help players understand the basics first.

Another valuable course, running before the long jump, teaches B safely after two gaps after 1-1. Miyamoto pointed to the area and said: “Here we are preparing for the B ceremony.” He noted that the first gap was a pit, underfilled, a safe place to experiment and understand long jump without risking his life. Next, this jump is followed by a nearly identical variant, a pit that will die if the player falls, but by applying the skills they just learned, they will survive easily. “To do this, we want players to understand naturally and gradually understand what they are doing.” “The first course was designed for this purpose: so they can understand the whole thing about the game.”

Miyamoto further explained that the nature of the tutorials at the early stages usually occurs after the team develops more complex levels, so creators know the skills players need to develop. “Usually, when we have a very interesting course, they tend to be late levels.” “World 2-1, World 2-2, we create them first and then come back to create World 1-1. A lot of tests were done when building the game. I don't give them any explanations (players) just to watch them play and see how they do it, and I think in most cases they'll feel they'll be somehow or enjoy a certain way, and they don't end up doing it. So I have to go back and use it as feedback”.

The carefully crafted layout creates satisfying fantasy of choice and constant curves of progress. Miyamoto summed up this perfectly: “Once players realize what they need to do, it becomes their game.”

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