A translation site has dug-up a treasure trove of incredible Super Mario 64 stories.
A translation site named shmuplations has uncovered a set of Japanese strategy guides that contain never-before-heard stories regarding the development of Super Mario 64.
Along with the usual helpful tips and incredible artwork that made strategy guides so popular back in the day, these particular guides contain an incredible amount of information related to the making of Super Mario 64 that goes well beyond developer anecdotes and kitschy "Did You Know?" pieces of trivia.
For instance, Shigeru Miyamoto reveals in the guide that Mario's movements all center from the character's hips. The developer's designed that point as his center of gravity in order to attempt to produce an accurate recreation of how a character might move in a 3D game world. Miyamoto also details how the team were able to transition Mario's iconic jumps into a 3D landscape by ensuring that players were able to reach whatever they were jumping for so long as they were "close enough" to the target. This was done because the team was no longer able to use pixels as an indicator of jump accuracy.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of information regarding the game's development comes from Miyamoto in response to a question regarding why Luigi is not in the game. As it turns out, Luigi was in the game up until the late versions of the project, but was cut because of memory issues. The team considered adding a mini-game that would allow players to play as Luigi, but decided not to because most console owners only had access to one controller.
The entire interview is worth a read, as it not only gives us tremendous insight into the development of one of the most important games of all-time but also serves as an invaluable source of information as it relates to better understanding how developers transitioned into a fully-3D space.
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