During a new “Ask the Developer” interview with Nintendo, key Mario & Luigi: Brothership developers discussed how Mario & Luigi’s bond influences the story of Brothership:
Mario & Luigi | Brothership Devs on How Mario & Luigi’s Bond Influences the Game’s Story:
Akira Otani: Ohashi-san excels at writing compelling storylines, so there were a lot of dramatic scenes overall. I noticed a particular emphasis on the brotherly bond between Mario and Luigi.
Haruyuki Ohashi: Now that it was in 3D, we could create a more cinematic look. We put a lot of effort into directing the story, trying to add more expressiveness through the acting and the camera.
Tomoki Fukushima: My personal favourite cutscene is when the brothers are blasted out of a cannon onto an island. Normally, this is the kind of scene where the same movement is used repeatedly, but although their landing is clumsy at first, it gradually becomes more graceful.
I was impressed with the attention to detail that went into creating the animation.
Haruyuki Ohashi: When I handed over a rough storyboard I’d written to the person in charge of animation, he created countless variations saying, “It’d get boring if all the movements were the same”. In the first scene, when Luigi lands on Rumbla Island, it leaves a mark on the ground where he botches his landing. I think it’s great to incorporate playful moments like these that make people chuckle when they notice them. For example, the exclamation mark in Luigi Logic is in the shape of an “L”.
These kinds of things are what make a game “Mario & Luigi-like”. Towards the latter half of development, everyone had developed a deeper understanding of what it meant to be “Mario & Luigi-like”. Ah, but there’s one thing I should point out… When Luigi crash lands on Rumbla Island, he actually plunges head-first into the ground.
But the mark on the ground makes it look like Luigi landed flat with his entire body… No one picked up on it. Now, if you could just turn a blind eye to it, I’d be much obliged! (Laughs)
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 15, Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Chapter 4:
Ask the Developer | Mario & Luigi Brothership (Participating Developers)
- Akira Otani | Entertainment Planning & Development Division, Co-Production Group (Producer)
- Tomoki Fukushima | Entertainment Planning & Development Division, Co-Production Group (Associate Producer)
- Haruyuki Ohashi | Director, Acquire Corp.
- Hitomi Furuta | Designer, Acquire Corp. (Art Director)
