Miyamoto on New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Shigeru Miyamoto spoke to Famitsu in an interview translated by 1UP yesterday on the level design of Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Apparently this is the most involved Miyamoto has been with the finer points of development for a while, “It’s been a nostalgic time for me. I’ve been getting into the game and making the sort of fine-tuning adjustments that I made with Super Mario World and Mario 3” he said.

The idea for the game was, according to Miyamoto, to create “a very orthodox Mario”, an idea he thinks was  “a courageous choice for the developers,” considering the technology of current consoles. The focus though, was to make a great multiplayer game.

“I figured that as long as multi-play was fun, then simpler would be better for everything else, both to players and to us creators. To put it bluntly, I would’ve been just fine with basically making a multiplayer Super Mario World. That’s not too terribly interesting, though…”

Behind a few of the ideas in the game, such as the Super Guide mode, and the ability to play with your friends or family, was to make the whole game accessible to those that play it, allowing even those with a little less gaming skill to see all the levels. “Even if they can’t beat the game themselves, it’s fun for them to experience the entirety of the game. That’s why what you could call the ‘story mode’ is completely playable in multiplayer”.

Miyamoto believes that, despite the functions to help players out, the game is still a tough cookie to crumble. “I do think the game has a lot more oomph to it than the first New SMB,” stated Miyamoto. “World 1 and 2 are pretty forgiving, things ramp up starting with World 3, and it gets even harder at World 6… You could say this game is a challenge to gamers, to see if they have the perseverance it takes”.

Head over to 1UP for more from the interview, and don’t forget to check out our New Super Mario Bros. Wii hub for loads more on the title.