Earlier today, Nintendo put out a new “Ask the Developer” article on their official site. Focused around Mario & Luigi: Brothership, this article included some interesting new details about the game’s development, as well as some neat concept art for the game as a whole.

With one of the most interesting ones being just how long the idea of a new Mario & Luigi game was thrown around at the company. Indeed, as Akira Otani says in part 1, the idea for a new game was actually being put into motion all the way back in the mid-2010s, with Nintendo wondering internally how they could follow on from Paper Jam:

Of course, for a long time, we’d been having a number of internal discussions about a new instalment in the series following Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. We needed to aim for something new that would keep up with hardware advancements while maintaining the appeal of the classic Mario & Luigi games. It wasn’t easy to achieve both at the same time… We kept trying various things, but there was a time when we thought it might not be possible to make any more games in the series and considered giving up.

So, while AlphaDream were going through some difficult times back then, the series was never just going to be cancelled along with them. Nintendo always wanted a new Mario & Luigi game; they were just struggling to find the right company to develop it and bring it in-line with the Switch’s improved hardware capabilities.

But why did they reach out to Acquire here? Well according to Otani, because of their experience with a variety of genres of course. Apparently, their work on Octopath Traveller proved they had RPG making experience, and their work on games like Tenchu proved they could handle an action game as well. So, the company had all the skills needed to make the kind of RPG/action game mix that the Mario & Luigi series is known for:

First, they have advanced 3D technology, and they created OCTOPATH TRAVELER (5), so they have experience in RPG development. Additionally, they have experience developing action games, such as Tenchu (6). I saw them as a company that could develop both action and RPG games. Their excellent track record and technical skills made me feel compelled to reach out to them.

Meanwhile, the second part of the interview brings a few more interesting details to the table. Like how the company considered making the Mario bros look a bit edgier or more ‘rugged’ in Mario & Luigi: Brothership:

Our challenge was to develop 3D visuals that would bring out the unique appeal of the Mario & Luigi series and differentiate it from other Mario games. I’m ashamed to say it, but we weren’t conscious of that when development started, which led to us making a huge detour. And in our search for a new Mario & Luigi style, at one point we ended up trying to present an edgier, more rugged Mario instead…

And there’s even concept art showing these sorts of designs in action:

They’re certainly different from the Mario and Luigi we know, that’s for sure. Not sure we’d go as far as to call them ‘rugged’ mind you, but we can definitely see why they were changed here nonetheless. They just don’t fit the look of the Mario & Luigi series at all.

There’s also a bit of discussion about how hard it was to match the expressions found in the original series too. How the Mario and Luigi style is a difficult one to translate to 3D due to how exaggerated and cartoony everyone’s expressions are there. As stated by Acquire Corp designer Hitomi Furuta:

we struggled with how to embody the characteristics of Mario and Luigi in illustrations, and how to match the expressiveness of the original pixel graphics with 3D models. It’s technically difficult to apply styles that were made possible with pixels to 3D, and we made a lot of challenging requests to the character modelling and 3D motion teams. Also, we were set on incorporating drawn outlines, which is one of the characteristics of the series’ artwork.

Yeah, it makes sense. Indeed, even the 3DS games struggled to really ‘nail’ the expressiveness of the GBA or DS games, and those were style pixel based. Just compare the original version of Superstar Saga to the remake if you want proof of that. The former is like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon, while the latter is a lot safer and more generic on an artistic level.

So. it made sense Acquire found it challenging to translate the style to 3D. Even AlphaDream themselves struggled in a similar situation, and they were the ones that created the style in the first place!

Regardless, we’d say Acquire did a really good job here. Brothership looks at least expressive as the 3DS games, with a feel that matches the older games near perfectly despite the technological differences. Serious kudos there folks, your efforts were very much worth it in the end!

Finally, they also featured some concepts for major characters in the game, like Snoutlet and Connie.

And these are an interesting bunch indeed. Why? Because as both the interview and concept art show quite clearly, the whole ‘outlet’ theme wasn’t the first thing they came up with when designing the game:

Nope, they originally had more human like characters instead. So, we might have never ended up with Concordia in the first place. That instead, we might have generic humanoids in a more traditional setting, with very little else done to set it apart.

It’s an interesting thought for sure, and one which certainly would have changed the direction of the game. After all, would any of the current characters make sense in this setting? Would we even have the Extension Corps, Zokket or other major characters at all?

Almost certain not. So, it’s probably a good thing they changed direction here, and went with the outlet theme that defined the finished game.

As for Snoutlet? Well, he was designed once the need for a companion character kicked in:

Speaking of original characters, if we only had Mario and Luigi’s reactions to go on as the story developed, we’d miss out on some detailed information. So that necessitated a partner character for them. That’s how the partner in this new world, Snoutlet, came to be.

And went through quite a few design changes in development. For example, you’ve got Snoutlet as a plug, Snoutlet as a nose ring, Snoutlet as a different kind of plug…

Yeah, he certainly didn’t look pig like at this point, that’s for sure.

But why does he look like a pig at all? Why go with a pig like electrical outlet in a world mostly consisting of normal ones?

Well, the article actually provides a reason for that. Put simply, they liked a design where it was hard to tell whether the marks on his face were his eyes or nostrils. As explained by Haruyuki Ohashi:

I was intrigued by one of the ideas that came out of this – a piggy bank-like character whose features could either look like a nose or eyes. Snoutlet is my favourite. (Laughs)

It was also chosen to be recognisable too, since piggy banks are a common fixture in a variety of countries, not just Japan. As Tomoki Fukushima explains right afterwards:

Also, I’ve heard that piggy banks exist in many countries around the world, so this might help Snoutlet’s design be recognisable.

So yeah, the reason Snoutlet is a pig is because piggy banks are recognisable, and the eyes/nostrils design quirk makes for a funny character design. Fair enough!

Still, if you want more info on Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s development, check out the full article over on the Nintendo website. It’s not quite done yet, since part 3 and 4 haven’t been posted as of us writing this article…

But what is there is very interesting to read nonetheless, and provides a lot of fascinating insight into what goes into a Mario RPG like this one. It’s definitely one to check out, that’s for sure!

Source:

Ask the Developer Vol. 15, Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Chapter 1 (Nintendo)