Supper Mario Broth: Special Zone, Issue 43: C'est Moi, Mario

Welcome, everyone, to the 43rd issue of Supper Mario Broth: Special Zone.

Today, we will once again be taking a look at a unique set of Super Mario 64 maps, this time from the French 64 Player magazine.

C'est Moi, Mario

Those who have read all of the articles on the Supper Mario Broth Patreon may notice this is not the first time I am showcasing maps of Super Mario 64: in fact, I have written two articles about such maps before, under different contexts. In Issue 14, I have compared two sets of maps from unrelated publications where one was rendered and the other almost certainly traced from the render, while in Issue 25, I have shown scans of a Japanese guide that included charming clay dioramas of the levels.

Still, it appears that new unique versions of this game's maps simply continue cropping up. Unlike the first article where the maps were created by rendering the actual level data from the game, and the second one where game accuracy was entirely forgone in favor of appealing childlike aesthetics, the French maps take yet another approach: they are drawn entirely by hand (although again taking the Nintendo Power renders as a base, they are much more loose with the tracing), which is why I hope that this set will prove interesting even in the light of this being the third such showcase on this Patreon, simply by being so different from the other two.

First, some information about the issue:

(Please note that the images in this article are in very high resolution. In order to see them at their full resolution, you may need to right-click each image and open it in a new tab.)

These maps were included in the first issue of 64 Player magazine. You may notice that the cover actually reads "N64 Player" instead; this is because the name was changed after the first issue to simply 64 Player and remained this way for the other 7 issues of its short 8-issue run. Of course, the 8-issue run was not the start and end of an entirely new magazine; 64 Player was merely a temporary rebranding of the Nintendo Player magazine, which (like very many others all around the world) regularly changed names as new consoles were released to entice new readers looking for a publication related to their new console. Nintendo Player itself was also merely a spin-off of the larger Player One magazine, run by the same publisher from 1990 to 2000. 

While the level maps are mostly in a 3D view drawn from high up looking diagonally down onto the courses, the maps for Peach's Castle (and later, Big Boo's Haunt) are drawn like a floor plan instead:

The rear courtyard is drawn relatively accurately, but with deciduous trees instead of the conifers actually seen in the game. The general shapes of all the rooms are correct, but some of the size relations are highly dubious. Note how large the Bob-omb Battlefield room (bottom left) is compared to the Jolly Roger Bay room (bottom right). Now compare this to their actual sizes (taken from noclip.website's model viewer for Super Mario 64 DS; while Super Mario 64 DS changes many aspects of the game, these two rooms are the same sizes as in Super Mario 64):

The Jolly Roger Bay room is actually significantly larger, even discounting the aquariums. However, please do not take me pointing out the discrepancies as saying that this makes the maps unusable; quite the contrary. The main purpose of a map for someone merely travelling through terrain instead of measuring it is to quickly communicate where the traveller is located, and for that, angles and relationships between objects are much more important to the usability of a map than the raw distances between objects. For example, it does not matter how long the Bowser in the Dark World hallway is on a map; all it needs to communicate is that it is a long, straight hallway, and the player will be able to navigate it.

This applies to real-world maps, as well. The Mercator projection does not accurately represent area, yet is used for navigation since it accurately represents angles on a local level. While a cylindrical equal-area projection accurately shows the relationship of the areas to each other, it distorts the shapes so much as to make the map unusable.

Again, the maps are distorted but navigable, although I must point out the odd decision to make the map of the 2nd floor (middle right) oval-shaped instead of circular. I presume the mapper was confused by the middle column of that floor being off-center. Note that although, from what I can tell, the technique for making these maps was a combination of scanning in drawings and then filling areas with textured fill, and mouse-drawn lines in an image editing program, the checkerboard floor appears to have been drawn with the line tool, but having each line be placed by hand, resulting in straight but uneven lines. As other maps show the image editor had the ability to fill in complex textures, the expected way to do the floor would have been to make it a texture and fill it in rather than drawing each line separately.

Onwards to the first course, Bob-omb Battlefield:

I apologize for the gap running down the middle of the page spread; unfortunately, this was the only available scan of the magazine. If I find a scan that includes the missing areas, I will update this article.

Here we have the first example of the 3D style of illustration for these maps. Note the gradients attempting to make the scene look more three-dimensional, but the clearly hand-drawn nature of the lineart. This is especially visible in the little circles decorating the soil on the sides; these are white since the bucket fill operation of the image editor did not catch them when filling the area with a texture.

However, these are also, as the EGM2 maps discussed earlier, traced from the Nintendo Power 3D renders:

Although perhaps "traced" may not be the most appropriate term; the maps are clearly drawn with the renders as references, but have their own shapes for most objects. I theorize that this magazine did not want to get into any legal trouble for reusing the Nintendo Power maps, so by only referencing them, they would be able to claim that they merely used the existing maps for research instead of plagiarizing them. Of course, this is only speculation.

In some ways, the 64 Player map is more effective than the render. It includes helpful details like the translucent wall in front of the map showing the slopes Mario cannot climb up, and the shadow under the floating island showing that it is in fact in mid-air. Note that neither in-game nor in any of the other maps I have showcased does it have a shadow, even though adding it would have been very helpful in all cases. 

Here is a zoomed-in version of the unique Chain Chomp illustration:

Next, Whomp's Fortress:

A lot of work was put into the textures here. This map, unlike the Bob-omb Battlefield one, appears to have been drawn with not just outlines by hand, but at least part of the coloring as well. Some parts of the coloring appear to be made with watercolors. The wildly different styles of the cannon and Bob-omb Buddy on the left and the Piranha Plants and Thwomps elsewhere on the map also suggests that more than one artist was involved.

This map looks colorful and uses shading to show the slopes of each wall, unlike the Nintendo Power render, which while of course being 100% accurate, has drab colors and stark flat shading that is less useful:

Once again, the French map exaggerates some features in a manner that more clearly shows what they are. In the render, the Thwomps look away from the viewer, while in the 64 Player map, they are drawn with their faces showing. The Piranha Plants are larger, the Bullet Bill is shown being shot from the blaster, and the crumbling bridge is actually drawn in the process of crumbling, which is very considerate of the artists.

In general, the pattern here is that, while less accurate to the distances, the French maps are more lively and contain some crucial details missing from the accurate but sterile renders they are referencing.

Next, Jolly Roger Bay:

This map is highly more useful as a navigational guide than the render despite its amateurish appearance by virtue of including two of the most important features of the course: the ship, and the actual water. Compare to the render:

The water is not rendered, and neither is the ship, due to both of them not being part of the level geometry. (Of course, some objects that are not part of the geometry, like blocks and the falling pillars in the cavern, are simply superimposed on top of the render; I theorize that the size and irregular shape of the water and the ship was too much work for the Nintendo Power artists to attempt adding them.)

In the French map, Unagi the Eel is also present, as well as some decorative fish and seaweed to make the map more lively. Once again, the shading is also more useful to show the slopes than the render's early completely black shading on the left side of the underwater area.

Next, Cool, Cool Mountain:

This map has relatively little changes from the render:

Although even here, some changes were make to make the map more readable, such as making the bridges more prominent. The drab color scheme of the render was also touched up, and especially the walls in the lower right corner were made appealing with an icy texture. Some extra details like shadows under bridges were also added. Here is a zoomed in view of the mother penguin:

It is interesting that although everything in the game is equally low-polygonal, the penguins in particular appear to be drawn in this style even when the rest of the game's characters is not, such as in this Super Mario 64 manga:

Note only the penguin being angular.

Next, Big Boo's Haunt:

Just like the EGM2 version discussed earlier, the French magazine did not choose to trace the rooms from the Nintendo Power render and instead made an original drawing of the mansion's floor plan. Note that this does not include the outside of the mansion, the shack, or the basement with the merry-go-round. 

Most of the map is accurate, except for the odd decision of depicting the trapdoor in the 2nd floor room leading to the attic as a traditional trapdoor with two flaps (bottom right of the top right image), instead of being a single rotating platform on a hinge running through its center lengthwise as in the game.

Here are zoomed-in versions of the Boos, Mr. I and the Mad Piano:

Next up, the most impressive map in this set in my opinion, Hazy Maze Cave:

This map is perhaps the most detailed map of Hazy Maze Cave I have personally seen. Not only does it depict most areas of the course except the underground lake with vibrant coloring absent from the render (and not using the render as a reference), but it also includes all the enemies and objects (which is peculiar given how it does not include all enemies in every course, e.g. note the Goombas missing from the Bob-omb Battlefield map).

Particularly impressive are the inclusion of the jets of fire to the right of the entrance, the various rock strata textures that are more varied than the ones in the actual game, and the inclusion of decorative details like the map on the wall next to the elevator in the upper middle, resulting in a map within a map. 

Here are the zoomed-in version of the Swoop and Monty Mole artwork:

Interestingly, the Monty Mole looks very similar to Banjo the bear from the Banjo-Kazooie series. As at the time of the making of the maps, the only place Banjo was ever shown was trailers for the upcoming Diddy Kong Racing, this is likely a coincidence.

The next map, for Lethal Lava Land:

This one returns to being traced from the render, yet again with many small details added to make it feel more alive. Compare to the empty render:

The 64 Player version adds enemies, the Lava Bubble obstacles, the fire jets near the right edge, fire effects from the fire spitters and volcano, the crumbling staircase in the top left, and most prominently, various bubbling effects to the lava itself. The result is an image that much more effectively communicates the feel of the level than the assortment of geometric shapes from Nintendo Power.

Zoomed-in version of the redrawn Bowser sliding puzzle:

Next, Shifting Sand Land:

This one is not much more detailed than the render, particularly due to the flat shading of the sand:

However, one change is significant: the geometrical dunes in the bottom part of the render were completely changed to organic-looking dunes instead. While this makes the map vastly less accurate in respect to the actual layout of the slopes, it better shows the underlying idea that the dunes were supposed to act like a barrier between the areas (note how in the render, the slopes are only recognizable as steep if the viewer already knows they are; to someone who does not, they just appear as indecipherable triangles). 

Klepto the Condor was also added for the French version:

Unfortunately, the magazine does not include a map of Dire, Dire Docks at all, likely due to its depth-centered bipartite structure, so the next map is Snowman's Land:

This map does not attempt to add textures to the vast majority of the terrain and appears to have been made in much more of a hurry compared to maps like the Hazy Maze Cave one. Still, it uses strategic enlargement of significant areas compared to the render to focus only on the areas that will be important to the platforming:

Note particularly the much larger ice maze on the bottom that now has lines inside it to indicate the solution, the enlarged Ice Bully arena, the more detailed giant snowman, the addition of the moving triangles on the ice lake, and of course, as usual, the addition of enemies.

Next, Wet-Dry World:

This map is striking due to how much more colorful it is compared to even the in-game course, but particularly the render:

While the render may be accurate to the reality of the game, the French map is better at capturing the feeling of excitement of playing it, as I am sure you will agree that without context, the render looks positively drab and would not be effective at enticing someone who has not played the game to try it.

There are some odd inaccuracies in the map, like the bottom of the elevator shaft being a staircase instead of a gentle slope, or the strange wedge shape of the tall yellow platform near the center of the map. Unfortunately, this map suffers from being hand-drawn. The render is already made at an angle where it is hard to discern between objects on the ground and ones floating above it, but the uneven hand-drawn style muddles the perception even further. For example, it is very hard to tell what elevation the platform with the Bob-omb Buddy is supposed to be on.

As with all of the maps I've shown, there is no map of the downtown area.

Next up, Tall, Tall Mountain:

Here, there was a little too much liberty taken with the colorization, making the mountain appear icy when in reality it is made out of a warm-colored rock:

There are the usual improvements like the addition of Ukiki, Fwoosh, Chuckya and the rolling balls, the waterfalls being drawn more dynamically, and a stylistic decision to add small amounts of stone rubble on the walkways. However, there is one important thing missing from the French map: the entrance to the Mysterious Mountainside slide. Instead, that part of the rock wall is covered with a formation that is not present in the game, and the precise part where the entrance would be is completely unremarkable. The star indicator does not even point directly at it, instead merely in its general vicinity.

A zoomed-in version of Ukiki:

Next, Tiny-Huge Island:

The coloring here can only be described as psychedelic. While it is definitely more eye-catching than the render:

...the artist definitely went overboard with the water ripple effect, making it hard to discern anything in the water. This artwork is mostly accurate but has a severe error on the mountainside on the right, completely omitting the lower ledge (visible in the render as a "cut" in the tree's shadow where it is cast on lower ground), instead making both ledges into one. As anyone who has played the game will know, the fact that there are two ledges is significant, as there is nowhere to go from the bottom ledge except down, so missing the upper one from a cannon requires retrying the shot.

Zoomed-in version of the Piranha Plant, Koopa and Bubba:

Next, Tick Tock Clock, which actually fits on one page:

This is an inversion in the mood of the design. While the actual level and the render look more whimsical due to resembling the inside of a clock, this map looks like a bunker structure made out of concrete instead. Here is the Nintendo Power render:

Both of these are not particularly useful as maps due to there being so much detail and the maps being displayed at an angle where it is very hard to tell what objects are in front of other objects. The French map is better at displaying the grate walls and floors as actual grates, but otherwise, both maps only work when the player is already in the level and can continuously switch between looking at the screen and at the map, and even then may be confusing.

Finally, Rainbow Ride:

This is again a map that is vastly more useful than the render:

For some reason, Nintendo Power's render was created at a resolution that is so low that it actually affects the legibility of the map, with some areas simply blending into each other. In addition, due to the angle, some parts that need to be jumped on can not be distinguished, like the Tricky Triangles area in the middle right. 

In 64 Player's map, the perspective was mildly distorted to show the areas more from the side, allowing e.g. the arrangement of the triangles to be seen more clearly. There are also some helpful indicators like motion lines around the spinning platforms, and jets of flame from the flame spitters. One bizarre error is that one set of platforms is simply missing from the French map: the one to the left of the flame spitter next to the Tricky Triangles. As that creates a conspicuous gap, I wonder how the artist overlooked that platforms are missing in that segment.

In all, my personal opinion is that the artists at 64 Player did their best to improve upon the renders' utility as maps, by adding features that were missing, and making the renders more colorful and lively to better reflect the experience of playing the game. Unfortunately, the amateurish hand-drawn look and sometimes wildly eclectic textures reduce the aesthetic appeal of some of the maps, but if given the question of which of these I would recommend to a first-time player, I would have to choose the French ones.

Thank you very much for reading.