Super Mario 128 - Analysis
On this page I detail the technical features and content of the demo.
Technical Analysis
The green bar, which repressents the total system resources of the Gamecube, never gets more than a third full. This means that 128 700 polygon Mario models running around with collision detection, physics, and special effects only took about one third of the Gamecube's capabilities! This all happened in real time with no slowdown! Games use lots of polygons, but they usually don't use them in such a complicated way. Usually there's one or two high-polygon models (the main characters and some enemies) and the rest are stationary level, landscape, and item polygons. The latter usually have limited physics and special effects, yet the Gamecube could do that 128 instances at a time without breaking a sweat.
At some points the Marios' models change from normal shading to cell shading. They had transparency and blur effects applied to their polygons as well. These models were also stacked on top of each other. It's extremely rare for a rendering engine to shift rendering models and even more so in real time.
Content Analysis
The Platform
The platform on which the 128 Marios played was looks like a circular Monopoly (board-game) board. Below is the text that I could determine to be on the board.
In the center of the board, with centered text, the platform says:
2001
See you next year
Nintendo Gamecube TM
FAMILY COMPUTER FAMICOM SUPER FAMICOM GAME BOY NINTENDO 64 NEXT ...
Around the edge of the platform, sixteen Japanese names (or perhaps locations) are displayed as if they are names for Monopoly properties (along with a numerical value). In no particular order, here are the names I was able to see:
- 600 Sanjyo
- 550 FUkakusa
- 400 FuJinomoRI
- 450 TOUFUKUA
- 600 Shituyo
- Big 400 TOBAKAIDOU
- 550 Fusim INARJI
- 450 SUMIZOME
- 500 TANBABASH
- 700 MARUTAMATI
- 500 YODO
- 450 CYOUSYOJIMA
- 900 GOJYO
- 1000 SHIJYO
- 550 MOMOYAMA
- 600 ????ATIYANAGI
The Marios
Many commentators have said that the Mario models used in Super Mario 128 could have easily been rendered on a Dreamcast, but the sheer number rendered at once would have probably over powered the system.
The Mario models have the following actions:
- Walk
- Run
- Stand
- Fall
- Sit
- Lift box
- Throw box
- Roll in a ball
- Roll sideways
- Roll another Mario
- Face/Look at camera
- Wave
- Give "peace" sign
Control
From what I can tell about the control scheme, two Gamecube controllers were used to control the whole demo. Most likely one controller controlled the camera and the other did everything else. The camera can zoom in and out, pan in four directions, "lock-on" to an individual Mario (and also randomly select another), "lock-on" to the stage as a whole, or reset the position of the camera. The other controller likely controls when blocks fall from the sky, the movement and deformations of the platform, the filters and transformations of the Marios, and the start and end of the demo. The Marios themselves appear were completely AI controlled.