There is no look back on the influence of the series on our culture, no chapter on the Super Mario Bros. This is not a behind-the-scenes commentary or retrospective of the Super Mario Bros. Now, here's the downside: What this book is not. A lot of those have to deal with talking about items you may have never heard about or areas you could only access by some key events, so it's always fun to discover new things about a game you think you've already beat into the ground. They don't do it for every game, but there are some things in here that if you're veteran in the Mushroom Kingdom, you'll probably either know they exist or you'll be happy to hear about them so you can go exploit them yourself. Because a lot of these games have been out for so long, what's the point in holding onto something that's already been shown on the internet a hundred times over. or reveal a secret you may not have known about. credit//Dark Horse BooksĪnother thing this book does is give the occasional tip. One of the highlights as going back and taking a good look at how Nintendo envisioned 3D versions of their characters for Mario 64, and then comparing them to how they eventually turned out in the game as we were on the forefront of polygon art in gaming at the time. It's especially fun to go down memory lane and see how Nintendo animated characters like all of Bowser's children, and how they appear compared to how they look in the game. Encyclopedia is pretty awesome, as a lot of it is lifted from gaming manuals, posters, promotional items, and even in-game graphics to show off everything each game has to offer. So the info is there, but it scratches the surface. You're getting a single paragraph, at best, describing pieces of the game and no real commentary from the creators or developers at the time. That being said, the information you're given does not go into great depth.
So even those of us who have played these games for years who have questions about why things are the way they are, get definitive answers. The book is pretty concise in letting you know what the story is for each game and why it's so important that our plumber friend makes his way through the pipes and around every level in order to defeat the enemies Bowser has thrown in our way and rescue Princess Peach. 2 (known to many of us as The Lost Levels), and how they made Super Mario USA to be an easier version in America, which became our second entry. Surprisingly, they don't just make this a North American history lesson, they go all out with Japanese information as well, which starts near the front acknowledging the original Super Mario Bros. You're given the rundown of the most important enemies and allies at the start, and then the book breaks all of the chapters down into each game title in order of release.
First off, if you've never played any of the Mario games in your life and are completely ignorant as to anything going on in the series, this is your one-stop-shop to finding out everything you need to know on these iconic characters and the strange family of creatures that have followed them from game to game. So let's start off with what this book is and then get to what it isn't.