The Mario Artstyles & how they work
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 6:30 pm
hello my fellow mario fans! i'm here today to talk about the differances and rules of the four artstyles in smbx , so that people will be able to make smbx art much more easily , and because i couldn't find a document on this subject , so i studied the artstyles of all four games.
super Mario bros.:
in mario 1 , the colors are saturated ,but not very garish ,and it uses a kind-of high amount of colors , the shading is semi-realistic with a nice balance of contrast , it also tends to use colored shading , such as blue shadows , and the light comes from the top left and or just the left. the outlines of smb1 are very thin , in the case that there are any outlines at all.
the shape of the tiles are usually either square or roundish , and the sprites are drawn very neatly.
super Mario bros. 2:
in mario 2 , the colors tend to be quite undersaturated , the tiles and sprites also tend to use a LOT of colors , the outlines usually don't exist at all , the lighting is extremely realistic , so just shade it as if the real life sun were shining on it. the shape of mario 2 stuff is not at all consistant , it can be shaped like anything , and still be mario 2 styled .
super Mario bros. 3:
in mario 3 , the colors are a little bit unsaturated , but not boring ... the outlines are thick usually , and speaking of the outlines , the tiles usually use dark grey outlines , and they ALWAYS use outlines , no matter what . the shading comes from the left , and the shadows sometimes creep up onto the top of the object , weird. the amount of colors is a little bit high, but nowhere near mario 2's colors.
super mario world:
in mario world, the colors are very saturated, and it usually has a low amount of colors , the outlines are never more than 1 pixel thick . as for the shading , things tend to be shiny , and the lighting tends to be from the top. the drawing quality can be a little bit rough , thins like jaggies , and mis-proportunate things are welcome here.
and now you know how these artstyles behave, at least from what I have observed , and remember that art is not an exact science , so i may be wrong about some of these things (assuming that you didn't already)
