Analyzing Super Mario Levels

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Bulletbill510
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Analyzing Super Mario Levels

Postby Bulletbill510 » Sat Nov 05, 2022 7:26 pm

Here in this topic, I thought I would analyze levels from Super Mario games to show how they introduce something in a level, then develop it as the player progresses. This is inspired by the ZoomZike NSMB DS level breakdown videos, so I thought I would cover levels that seem worth talking about.

1) Meringue Clouds 1: Frozen Fuzzies (New Super Luigi U)
Spoiler: show
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Originally the NSMBU counterpart (Land of Flying Blocks) of this level had the player ride a giant cloud while avoiding blocks that got in the way, but it appears that does not happen here due to the cloud riding taking up too much time, so the level designers replaced the original concept with something new and interesting.

So there doesn't appear anything majorly new, but the one noticeable new thing is that the thin yellow and green mushroom platforms in this stage use the big columns of the giant mushrooms instead of the thin ones. The first thing the player will notice is that there are some big fuzzies riding on some tracks in the shape of an oval, and there is an ice bro freezing them to provide platforming for the player.

The player comes across two question mark blocks with penguin suits, and it appears the reason this level uses the penguin suit is that the penguin suit prevents the player from slipping on the ice, there is also a hidden block containing a 1up above the top question mark block if the player is curious to see what is up there. The concept of the level develops as there are two ice bros freezing the big fuzzies along the tracks, as the player hops off the 1st star coin is in the cloud of fog which the player can easily get.

The concept of the level changes to big fuzzies moving around blocks of terrain, the 2nd star coin is under the first block of terrain where the player will have to freeze a big fuzzy then ride it under the terrain to grab it. Now the player comes across big fuzzies moving around terrain again, but this time with an ice bro on top of the terrain freezing them, there is a column of coins where the ice bro is prompting the player to ground pound, but why? There isn't anything to ground pound on there, or is there? If the player is big then ground pounds on the terrain, there are brick blocks hidden in the ground which are covering the third star coin. Hidden bricks in the ground to ground pound is a sneaky concept in New Super Luigi U as nobody would think of doing that the first time they play a level. The player comes across with a question mark block with a penguin suit in it for the player to get if they lost theirs earlier in the level.

Now the player has to deal with 4 ice bros freezing big fuzzies traveling all around a track going down, up, and all around, there is also a hidden jumping 8-bit Luigi sprite where the further left ice bro is. There are 3 brick blocks with coins in the middle of the track as a little reward for overcoming the fuzzies in this section and as a little breathing room.

At the end, there are trails of coins prompting the player to triple jump to reach the top of the flag-pole, and right where the player jumps a third time to perform the triple jump is an ice bro next to a big fuzzy to freeze it so the player can reach the top of the flagpole, and to conclude this concept.
2) Rock-Candy Mines 1: Mount Fuzzy (New Super Luigi U)
Spoiler: show
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The world of Rock-Candy Mines introduces a new asset, some wooden walkways, while some of the wood tileset looks new, most of it is taken from the Ghost House tileset, and some of the recolored ghost house tileset can later be seen in the third course of Rock-Candy Mines in this DLC.

Anyway, what's different about this level compared to its NSMBU counterpart (Fuzzy Clifftop) is that the level does not use the fog effect to make it look like the plater is high up in the clouds, plus the overworld music plays instead of the athletic music.

First the player comes across a fuzzy moving up and down on a track, and there are some semi-solid platforms for the player to jump up to make it past the fuzzy. If the player is curious enough to jump next to the wooden wall where the 2nd arrow sign is, the player will hit a hidden ? block containing a mini mushroom.

Next the player has to deal with a fuzzy going around a semi-solid platform and a fuzzy going around some blocks, the center ? block has a mushroom inside of it for the player to grab a little reward. Like I said earlier about the player dealing with a fuzzy traveling around a semi-solid platform, the player now has to do it with 3 fuzzies going around 3 of those platforms.

The player now comes across a section with two rows of brick blocks with fuzzies traveling around them counter-clockwise, and there is a red koopa on the bottom row. The player can throw the koopa below the bottom bricks to take out the fuzzies to hit some of the bricks below where some of them have coins, and one of them has a 1up mushroom. There is also a mini warp pipe on the right the player will notice, if the player is mini they can go through it to reach a bonus room where there are note blocks to jump on, and there are 3 ? blocks with each one containing a 1up mushroom inside.

If the player is to go above the top row of bricks, they will see the first star coin waiting to be grabbed, and if the player jumps above where the star coin is, they will find a hidden room of coins as well as a hidden 8-bit super Luigi sprite on a wooden platform, and as the player steps on the platform where the Luigi sprite is, a trail of coins will appear to guide the player back to the ground.

Next the player will come across two fuzzies going in circles with a green ring seen on the track, if the player is to get all of the green coins, they will rewarded with an ice flower. The player then comes across four fuzzies moving up and down which they will find the 2nd coin above the fuzzies, and the player needs to use the ice flower they earned from the green ring challenge to freeze the fuzzies so they can be used as platforming to grab the star coin. I should also bring up that the part where the 2nd star coin was seen was shown in the April 2013 Nintendo direct, but the diagonal wood pieces that are below the wooden platforming were not seen.

The player finally reaches the end of the level where they will see four fuzzies traveling counter-clockwise, and they will notice the 3rd star coin hovering above a bottomless pit, and so the player needs to use the ice flower they earned from the green ring challenge to freeze a fuzzy then ride it into the star coin, plus they can freeze the fuzzies to try to reach the top of the flag-pole. It seems here that Nintendo is testing your memory of NSMBU's counterpart of the level as that counterpart had venus ice traps and the ice flower which the player could freeze the fuzzies to their advantage.

On an additional note about the 2nd and 3rd star coins, I bet most of your ended up twirl-jumping to try to get those, did you? I did.

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