Let’s Interview: The New Horizons Team

Well folks, it’s time for another interview at Gaming Reinvented! This time, it’s with the development team behind New Super Mario Bros Wii: New Horizons, an ambitious mod for the game created by the New Horizons team.

Take a look at the trailer here:

Yeah, it’s an impressive looking title for sure, and only one of many created by the folks on its development team.

So, today, we’re gonna learn all about it, as well as any other projects these folks have created. Let’s get this show on the road!

The Interview

With our first question being about the team’s background. Who’s on the New Horizons team?

Me (Queen Pixella), Matyssey, MandyIGuess, 0D and Mone (even though he left the modding scene last week)

How did you get into gaming? What was your first game?

I grew up with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Wario Land 4

Yak0 prefers this game for a more fast-paced experience

What games are you playing now?

I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart as of recently, specifically 8 Deluxe, 7, and Wii

How did you first discover the Mario series?

I was introduced to New Super Mario Bros. Wii by my brother all the way back when I was 4. I would also sit in front of the family computer and watch gameplays of the game on YouTube

Is New Super Mario Bros Wii your favourite game in the series?

Oh nice question! I think it depends on what we are judging the games based on. How “moddable” they are? NSMBW takes the crown; how enjoyable they are? I think New Super Mario Bros. U takes the win.

Onto game development now. How did you get into that?

Ever since I was a child I’ve always been fascinated by pulling games apart and re-arranging them. I started by creating New Super Mario Bros. Wii levels in 2017, then I moved onto Mario Kart 8 (WiiU), then I moved to Sonic Mania, New Super Mario Bros. DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and the list goes on. There have been a few times in which I wanted to create fan games. One was called “Super Mario Galaxy 3” but there was also “Sonic Adventure 3”.

What about New Super Mario Bros Wii hacking?

I first started modding New Super Mario Bros. Wii when I was 10, in 2017. I was working on a 4GB RAM laptop and had no way to test my levels. My first ever project was called “New Super Gamerland Wii”. It all started when I drew on a sheet of cardboard a world map. I created 8-10 levels for it. After some time, in January of 2018, I created my first ever functional level. It was supposed to replace 4-Airship but it took place on beachrock instead. That level is actually within the New Horizons files, but it can’t be accessed by normal means. After this a few years went by. I created “NSMBW: The End of the Mushroom Kingdom”, which was meant to be a sort of sequel to NSMBW, but nothing came out of it. I then created two levels for a hack literally called “Currently Unnamed NSMBW Hack”. Levels weren’t the best, but they did serve a purpose, I guess. Then in 2023 I started to work on New Horizons, and now we’re here.

Is there a reason you went with that over say, New Super Mario Bros DS or Super Mario 64?

I actually did try modding both New Super Mario Bros. DS and Super Mario 64. For the latter, there was a project called “Super Mario 64: 21 years later”, which would’ve been a sort of sequel to Super Mario 64 with new levels and new areas in Peach’s Castle. As for New Super Mario Bros. DS, I created “NSMBDS: The Lost Sequel” which was also meant to be a sequel to NSMBDS (looking back you can tell I’ve always had a thing for sequels). Only reason why I didn’t stick to those games was because it was hard for me to mod them: I got my first (and last) custom Super Mario 64 level to work after spending a lot of time on it all the way back in 2022, and The Lost Sequel hasn’t seen any progress since 2022 as well. I went for New Super Mario Bros. Wii because I grew up with that game and because it was the easiest to mod compared to the other two.

Which other NSMB Wii hacks have you enjoyed the most?

I tried NewerSMBW, a classic, but then I also played Falling Leaf, and I really, really liked MLG Super Luigi Bros. Wii by Iggy3434. I kinda grew up with Mayro’s walkthroughs, and often find myself rewatching her playthroughs of Summer Sun and Super Mario Vacation.

Any that inspired your own work, like New Horizons?

Hard to say. I’d say New Horizons was inspired by Mario’s Final Adventure Wii, MLG Super Luigi Wii, and a bit by NewerSMBW.

Still, onto New Horizons now. What made you decide to create the game?

It’s a decision that came to me on a random July 2023 morning. I was watching Mayro’s playthrough of Harder Super Mario Bros. Wii and then I felt an idea form inside of me. I texted Matyssey and asked him if he wanted to create a New Super Mario Bros. Wii mod together

Why that name too? I suspect it wasn’t named after the Animal Crossing title…

Well, the name “New Horizons” comes from the concept that in the mod you’re visiting uncharted lands: forest ruins, a giant towering fortress, a dream world and a ghost valley. According to the story, after beating Bowser at the end of New Super Mario Bros. Wii (once again, sequel project), Bowser Jr. and Kamek attempt a last stand and kidnap the princess. Mario and the others jump into a nearby Warp Cannon that ends up malfunctioning and sending them to the “New Horizons”.

Seems like visually the game mixes up the level theming quite a bit, including stages like outdoor night themed castles and sunset desert trains. What inspired the level concepts in this title?

The level concepts actually came to life pretty early in development. There were many more ideas than the 4 worlds that actually made it to the final release. Forested ruins, sunrise fortress, dream/nightmare world, ghost valley, giant cave, mechanical desert. We created a few mock-ups and published them in the Horizon mod thread. The level concepts were inspired by old levels I made, other mods, and others were just created on the spot.

What’s with the moon theme? Seems like the Star Coins are New Super Mario Bros 2 esque Moon Coins in this one..

Moon Coins were added mid-development. Initially the game was going to feature the Star Medals from 3D Land, but then we switched to Moon Coins because the worlds were never seen before, thus meaning that they just had to be something that could tell them apart from vanilla New Super Mario Bros. Wii worlds.

Who created the new music? It sounds incredible!

The new music is actually taken from other Mario games, Sonic games, Mario Kart, and there’s even a track from Donkey Kong!

How do you decide which levels to change up the songs for? Seems like an equal mix of original and custom music in this game…

Well we just decided to keep some tracks from the base game, such as the tower and castle themes, the athletic theme, and the volcano theme. We just went with whatever worked best for the level setting. For instance, the “outside” area of sunrise fortress levels were supposed to use the base game’s grassland theme, and then we decided to use Dragon Dance from Sonic Lost World.

Onto level design now. How were the levels designed for this game?

Great question! We usually sketched the level design on paper and then turned it into actual playable levels

And uh, what made you decide to expand on the castle levels like you do here? In New Horizons, it seems like the castle levels are also airship ones, vaguely inspired by New Super Mario Bros U…

Oh you must be referring to 2-Castle, Boiling Palace. That’s also a nice question. Here’s a little story: by the time the development for New Horizons was nearing its end, I also started working on another New Super Mario Bros. Wii project- New Super Luigi Wii. That project takes heavy inspiration from New Super Luigi U, including the boss fights, which all take place on the airship. Since I had created the “airship flying in circles” background, I decided to also use it in New Horizons.

There also seem to be some interesting custom elements here and there. How were those added?

MandyIGuess was the one who handled all things custom coded. If it weren’t for her help the mod would not be as good as it is right now. She programmed a fully custom credits sprite, too!

What are some of your favourite levels in the game?

Brilliant question! There’s a few levels I really liked making AND playing: Piranha Plant Lake (1-4), Ghostly Cavern (1-6), Deep Dive Mine (2-2), Underground Docks (2-5), Blazing Shores (3-3), Snowy Ash Tower (3-Tower), Tangled Grotto (3-6), Spirited Citadel (4-2), Stone-Eye Swamp (4-A), Bullet Bill Heights (B-2), Gelato Lake (C-1). You can probably tell I really liked World 3.

Any you feel could have been a bit better?

This is also a good question. If I have to be honest, there’s many levels that worked well on paper, but didn’t translate well gameplay wise. Some examples include: Floating Temple (1-5), Bullet Bill Train (2-A), Sky High Foundry (2-4), Palm Tree Cavern (3-5), Poisonous Pipeyard (4-1), Sinking Manor (3-5), Dry Bowser’s Castle (4-Castle), The Grand Finale (5-Star), Icicle Crypt (A-A), Perilous Construction (B-1). These levels could’ve been better, but I still kept them in the game.

One thing I found interesting was the structure of the game’s worlds, since you had some interesting number schemes and world concepts, like a world 0 and a haunted world. How did you come up with these ideas?

Well, initially the mod was supposed to be 4 worlds long. It was only in 2024 that we had the idea to extend it to 7-8 worlds by adding worlds A, B, C and World 5 (the special world). World 0 serves as the prologue. As I mentioned earlier, the story begins at the end of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The cannon you take in 0-Cannon is the prologue cannon that malfunctions and sends you to World 1.

And is the special world meant to feel like a recap for the game? Because it did seem to use the Koopalings and other bosses one last time in each of its levels…

Yes! World 5 (the Special World) is meant to be a recap of the game at a higher difficulty. You’ve got all the worlds, then one final mystery house, a castle boss rush, and, finally, The Grand Finale.

Either way, the game was surprisingly popular, with quite a few YouTubers trying it out. Did you expect this?

I honestly didn’t expect it. I hoped it would be noticed by people online, but I didn’t expect it to blow up. I’m very glad the YouTube community got to know about my little big project.

Seems your next project is New Super Luigi Wii, a New Super Luigi U equivalent for the Wii game. What made you decide to create that one?

Development for New Super Luigi Wii started in September 2023. Originally the mod was more rough around the edges as I was still fairly inexperienced, but it was born out of a hyper-fixation for New Super Luigi U. I wanted something like that but for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is what sparked the idea for New Super Luigi Wii. In 2026 I decided to pick up the project again and start over, also taking advantage of the newly released PropelParts codebase.

Is it mechanically going to play similarly to its inspiration? It does seem to have the Luigi physics and shorter, more densely packed levels here.

That’s right! After playing through NSLU I figured the “formula” behind its levels: same mechanics as the NSMBU ones, but shorter, harder, and with specific additions like the mandatory mushroom block at the start of the level or the small camera preset.

Super Luigi Land Wii also ports the Luigi physics and takes inspiration from New Super Luigi U. How does New Super Luigi Wii differentiate itself there?

Well, you see, Super Luigi Land Wii is different from New Super Luigi Wii because it uses variation in its level themes. I don’t want this to sound like New Super Luigi Wii lacks level theme ideas, but the scope of the mod is different than Super Luigi Land Wii’s: to keep it simple, SLLW adds custom levels with custom themes, and NSLW borrows level themes from New Super Mario Bros. Wii (with a few exceptions).

Is Nabbit the final playable character like in New Super Luigi U? It would be neat to cut Mario out of the picture entirely…

We were thinking about replacing Mario, but it’s all still in the planning phase. No promises!

Regardless, do you have any other ideas for hacks after this?

I was thinking about creating a sort of “New Horizons: the best of” level pack, with my favorite levels and maybe some extras but that’s also not definite. I was thinking about taking a break from the modding scene after clearing New Super Luigi Wii

Finally, what advice would you give someone looking to get into game development, or New Super Mario Bros Wii hacking in particular?

Start off small and slowly build up the scope of your projects. I know I am not the right example to follow, as my first project was an 8 world mod, but I really think the natural progression is to start off from small projects and then, once you get the hang of it, aim for the stars! A lot of the criticism I received for both New Horizons and New Super Luigi Wii was things that wouldn’t have been issues had I started with small scale projects.

Yeah, that makes sense. Starting with smaller scale projects gives you the chance to build up your skills on a lower stakes game rather than being thrown into the deep end. It also makes it easier to avoid having to worry about one of the biggest obstacles faced by full-scale mods and games; resource management.

Since while physical space limitations are less of an issue for New Super Mario Bros Wii mods compared to Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World or even Super Mario 64 ones, keeping custom code and levels in check can still be a nightmare nonetheless. Like sure, you may be able to patch the ROM to make a change to Mario’s physics or the behaviour of a certain type of object, but have you tested what happens in every other level in the game? Are you sure that change won’t blow up one of like 90 levels?

And that’s not even getting into how hard it can be to keep things under control with a large team. Any of their levels and changes could potentially affect a whole bunch of other stuff, and you may never know til the last minute.

Keeping track of everything in a single world ROM hack is way easier to doing so for a 9 world one, that’s for sure!

Either way, thanks for the interview! New Super Mario Bros Wii: New Horizons is a great game, and we’re excited to see how projects like New Super Luigi Wii turn out as well. It’s definitely worth checking out these games if you’re interested in another fun 2D Mario game, or following them on social media for updates on their future work.

Still, what did you think of the interview? Did we ask the right questions here? What extra things do you want to know about the game?

Leave your thoughts on social media, or on our Discord server today!

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