A Brief Moment of Meaning in Mario Sunshine
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
- Patreon - / malmroseprojects
This is the first in a potentially ongoing series of shorter video essays discussing how meaning is conveyed in video games through small isolated moments of design, be it gameplay, environmental design, etc.
This video covers Super Mario Sunshine, focusing on a single wall in Ricco Harbor and how said wall serves an example of how the game's story themes are matched by its level design and core gameplay concepts.
Future videos similar to this are planned for Luigi's Mansion, Wario World, Super Mario 64, and I'll be looking at other games for inspiration. I really enjoyed making this shorter video that focuses on one very small sliver of a piece of media, and I want to do this more often in addition to the long-form video essays so that way I don't suffer from too much burnout by spending all my energy specifically on the longer videos.
actual banger of a video, everything you said felt like it was going somewhere and had meaning, and your points were very easy to understand, 10/10 would watch you talk about a wall again
I like this short-form take on the video game essay. Great work
Another reason this game deserves more love than it gets. It's pretty facinating how all of Sunshine's elements connect to each other even if they don't seem like they do on the surface. Great video!
Respectfully, this is one of the most beloved games of all time like how much more love could it possibly receive? Yeah it has some haters online but just look at how many lovingly crafted video essays about it are in this site alone
So I would always jump up the wall in the same way you do here, say to myself "that's cool that you can do that", then go back and go the "intended" way. And that's kinda how I play a lot of games with interesting mechanics that you can "break". Like in FF8, I know you can trivialize that game by taking advantage of the junction system and grinding the CARD ability to stock up on late game spells to make your characters extra powerful, but in the end I always just end up doing that a bit, skipping it then playing the "intended" way. I love the playground nature of 3D environments in videogames, and interacting with a game's rules and mechanics, so the points being made here resonate with me so much.
This is now one of my favorite video game video essays ever. So many video essays have a top-down approach, “This game is interesting, therefore it will be interesting to look closer at some things in it.” But this video has a bottom-up approach, “Look at this thing, it’s interesting on its own, therefore we’ll now see how it fits into the broader themes of the game.” So good. Can’t wait to see more of Malmrose’s videos
Video essayists are cool man, they can entertain us and make us feel things for 10 minutes just by talking about a wall
Million-dollar idea: build stairs in Ricco Harbour
why build stairs when any pianta can just huck one of their friends on top of the wall
I never realized how the last shine is a "restored" version of the level. Great video!
this was very profound. I like that you used the flat map from gmod as an example in your point about emotional communication. I would have never thought so otherwise
Sweet ride, the video feels fluid, it takes a single idea and expands it without losing the original context. Very nice.
This is probably the last video subject I'd have expected you to cover, but I'm quite glad you have. I find Sunshine pretty fascinating and very endearing c:
I have been a lifelong fan of this game, and this video made me appreciate it even more. Learning more about game design helps me increase my enjoyment of games in general. This wall to me always just seemed like a random obstacle, but now I realize it must have been something that was thought about for months. It's a major part of the game that shapes how you explore one of the first areas you have access to. I am glad they kept it in.
Options for exploration are part of what makes for a great 3D platformer. It's also kind of reminds me of the the underground, and above cloud shortcuts in the original SMB. You can go the long route and have a good experience seeing more of the game, or if you learn the map you have the option to skip through parts of it in an interesting fashion.
you continue to produce incredible valuable insight. thank you
Unintentional commentary on immigration.
its good writing
I often abused that the manholes shoot you up high into the air for some reason. I think it is best design to have multiple solutions. In many games, like Dark Souls, you have like one way that makes no sense and if you don't find it you are stuck or forced to look up a guide and worst of all exploration gets punished so hard that I am like why bother. This is why they made the later games so linear.
Very nice! I didn't expect such detailed commentary on a wall, less so a wall that I've had the same experiences with. I eagerly expect your next video, be it a floor, roof, or window.
i loved this video so much. thanks for continuing to put out videos
Yeah, this was fantastic, can't wait to see more of these!
yooo already a big fan of your analytical sensibilities. Being able to tie the overarching sentiments of Mario Sunshine to this stupid wall really speaks of your thoughtfulness. I hope you make many more videos like this!
It’s a bit backwards but the movement in this video reminds me of Pseudoregalia. In that game you can get to so many places without all the movement abilities unlocked and it felt super satisfying to do so.
this is one of the most batshit insane videos i’ve seen in a long time. thank you.
Its just a fucking wall.
Good video
Wow, this was a great watch.
Loved how you deconstructed the themes of the games.
I felt like something was going on while playing it but couldn't put my finger on it.
Fantastic vid
I love small analysis on very specific bits of games like this that most will pass by in mere seconds. I'm very passionate about game design myself, so these kinds of discussions are very interesting to me- Good video!
I think in general 3D-Mario games are pretty good at giving more skilled players options to skip intended paths. Even the game prior to this one, Mario 64, offers numerous skips to levels for more skilled players to nab stars with. Well timed wall-jumps or utilizing a stage's core mechanic in interesting ways can make certain stars incredibly easy to nab, and it's very genius design in my opinion. Intended skips are one of my favorite aspects of game design- Players may feel really accomplished that they found an off the beaten path skip, and players that are aware of the potential that the skip was intentional will still feel accomplished, almost like they're sharing an inside joke with the developer of the game. Whether the player is aware of the intentional design of the skip or not, the magic feeling that comes from particular design elements like this remain intact.
excelent video essay
just stumbled upon this from recommends! nice video!
I'm sooooooo glad I'm not the only one who still thinks about that wall LOL
this was a lovely essay, im excited to see more!
Beautiful video
Wow-- That was both amazing and insightful!! As someone who wants to start a RUclips channel about artistic choices in video games, this really appeals to me!!
Perfect vid. I could watch a hundred more videos like this about Sunshine, a game with criminally little content for how good it is.
this was neat, good job!
Refreshing point of view, I liked it! May you appear in my recommended feed more often :)
bro u perfectly captured why i love this game, isle delfino really feels alive. i love how every npc's text changes with each level. it really makes sense why the called them "episodes" in this game instead of "courses" like in mario 64. i love how unrigid it is with how you can get from point A to B. i wonder how you feel about Mario Galaxy cuz i feel like those are huge downgrades in comparison. I feel like Mario Odyssey is the successor that i wanted and the galaxy games turned more into 3D Land/World were the levels just feel like courses again cuz at most u spend like 3 stars in the level and thats it. but yeah, amazing video my dog
i found the galaxy games really disappointing, but i do still really enjoy playing them. it feels like after sunshine, mario games stuck more to "world concepts" which is fun but doesn't feel very immersive. in the mario franchise, nothing quite reaches that level of immersion outside of sunshine. sunshine isnt even my favorite game of the bunch, but it's the one that's most fun to just *exist* in. and that's a quality i tend to really appreciate in games more and more
This was really insightful.
Great video!
I never saw this wall as an obstacle. When I played it, anything in any levels, was simply environment. The only thing I consider obstacles are things that can't be done, or maybe some enemies. (Elden Ring, looking at you 😑) The rest is all just interesting map architect. ♥
I actually used the manhole glitch to super jump over it.
This gets an over analytical thumbs up from me
I love these sorts of "two tiered" obstacles in level design, and I find a lot of newer 3D platformers miss out on what makes this sort of thing fun by being too linear. Whomp's Fortress in Mario 64 has perhaps the most obvious example - where you can immediately sideflip to the upper level from the start of the stage instead of going around passing under the thwomps. And once you know how to sideflip, you might wonder why the long way around even exists. But it's important both for the newer players as well as the *satisfaction* of experienced players that the two tiers of traversal exist.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater also comes to mind with its "T 2 T Gap" in the Downtown level - where the novice will take the long way around to reach the rooftops, but experienced players have 3-4 increasingly difficult means of jumping to the rooftops more quickly and improving their time trials as a result.
Bonus points to games that eventually teach the player some of these shortcuts to blow their minds - like Ricco Harbor does during its Shadow Mario chase! He sideflips from the smokestack on the first boat directly to the high construction girders at the top of the level, and once you know about that trick it'll *really* save you time when replaying Rico 3.
I appreciated the thematic analysis of Sunshine as I never thought much about the story significance of 8th shines and peace returning to the world, but connecting it to this two-tiered level design feels like a bit of a stretch.
Good post. And I agree that the narrative connection is a little bit a of stretch. Every video game by necessity has you learning the levels and coming to grips with the mechanics
Amazing video
floodin to this rn
Holy shit this rocks so hard. I love this.
When I was a kid, I thought that arrows that lead the way were just graffiti without meaning.
This was great!👍
I never thought about it, but I also hate that wall
Hey good video!
Based Super Mario Sunshine enjoyer~!!! Thank you for making the video.👍👍👍
Loved the video. Incredible that even after having watched several essays on Super Mario Sunshine (Somecallmejohnny, KingK, Matthewmatosis, Liam Triforce just to name a few), there's still several aspects that are barely talked about.
🎉
Commenting for algorithm
:)