Super Mario 128
Mario has been a gaming icon for decades and has been in more games than can be counted. Although no year in recent memory has gone without some type of Mario game being released, series fans will remember the nearly decade long drought of original Mario platformers. From 1997-2005, there was only one new Mario platformer released: Super Mario Sunshine. During the second part of this drought (after Sunshine's release), the mysterious Super Mario 128 was the main focus of the fanbase.
No concret information was given on the game. Eventually, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto claimed it had simply been a series of test concepts that were never intended to be an actual game. The mystery faded from memory as the Mario drought finally ended. Most people forgot about the "game" that had once been the center of every Mario fan's imagination.
The Mario drought corresponded with a bad era for Nintendo, in terms of console sales. The Nintendo 64 and Gamecube did not have the financial success of the earlier Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, or the later Nintendo Wii. For a very proud company that relied solely on video games to make money, this was quite upsetting for the higher ranking employees attached to the company, and felt its success or failure reflected on them personally.
Nintendo started working on a sequel to the 1996 game Super Mario 64 shortly after it released, but during the late 90s it became clear that Nintendo wasn't winning the console war. The sequel was restarted from scratch, since the company believed it was not a substantial enough improvement over the original to turn the tides of the market battle.
Seeing the generally more realistic and violent games on Sony's Playstation (the market leader), Nintendo considered making a game that was closer in tone to what the public seemed to want. There was quite a bit of internal conflict over how far to go with this new direction, and the new Mario was clearly not going to be ready until Nintendo's next console, the Gamecube, released. The only hint of this that was released to the public was a comment by Miyamoto that he thought Mario and Luigi should "act more like grown ups" in their games for the (then unreleased) Gamecube.
The new game was ultimately split into two games: Luigi's Mansion, which reflected the darker tone many felt the series should turn to (though it was toned down quite a bit compared to what some wanted), and Super Mario Sunshine, wich went in the opposite direction. Both were released within a year of the Gamecube and Nintendo felt confident their new system and Mario games would return them to their former glory as market leader.
As those familiar with gaming history, they didn't. The Gamecube did even worse in market share than the Nintendo 64. The mass market's tastes shifted even more toward violent, realistic games. During this period, the somber mood at Nintendo intensified and the darker Mario project was revived. It was code named "Super Mario 128." It isn't clear what happened at Nintendo during this period. As we know, nothing called Super Mario 128 was ever released or publicly shown.
The source that revealed the internal strife at Nintendo during the later portion of the Nintendo 64's era refused to discuss what was happening during the time of the Gamecube's failure, but released a prototype of the game online that can be played on the Wii's Homebrew Channel. The following is a recollection of my time playing it.
It was clearly an early beta. The title screen was nothing but white text saying "Super Mario 128" against a black background. There was no options menu or save file selection. After the title screen, the game started. Bowser's laugh from Super Mario 64 looped in the background as a plain white text box displayed some dialogue.
Mario, I have taken Princess Peach. She will not live to see the sun rise unless you take her place. You know what to do and where to go. Do not try to stop me unless you want to hasten her death.
The game certainly had the darker tone they were going for. I was thrust right into the game. The first thing I noticed was Mario. His body was as detailed as he was in Super Mario Galaxy (though with more realistic proportions), but his head was taken directly from Super Mario 64. Obviously, his design wasn't finished yet.
The setting was a sky level. There were simple platforms floating in the air, and the rest of the area was a plain blue sky with several clouds scrolling in the background. The clouds seemed somewhat more realistic than the usual cartoony puffs seen in Mario games. They were quite impressive to watch. There was no music or full voice samples from Mario, but there were sound effects when he jumped. The jumping was actually more subdued. Mario didn't jump as high as he usually did, and had little control over his movement in the air. The different types of jumps seen in every 3D Mario up to this point weren't present.
I played through the level. There was nothing especially notable about the gameplay. I didn't even see any enemies (I don't think they were added yet). I just jumped from platform to platform - it wasn't very challenging. As I played, I noticed the graphics gradually changing. The sky became more and more cloudy until I couldn't see past the clouds. Even those began turning a dark grey. At some point, it began to rain. I reached a small platform with a Toad on it. It looked like the same model from Super Mario Galaxy. When I landed, a dialogue box appeared.
We don't want you any more, Mario. You don't belong here. Just give Bowser what he wants. Die.
After the box disappeared, I no longer had control of Mario. He stood there for a moment, turned around, and walked off the platform. His body appeared to ragdoll a little as he fell. Eventually, a realistic, modern city faded into view. The buildings looked a bit neglected, but there were people walking around on the street. Mario hit the ground with a realistic-sounding thud, but didn't explode or show any visible wounds. He laid there. The people in the city kept walking by, ignoring him. I swear I saw a few glance over with a cold, almost angry expression. This went on for a few moments and people gradually stopped appearing. Mario got up - I was back in control - but he couldn't jump and hada reduced walking speed.
The large buildings didn't appear to be interactive, so I kept walking down the street. Eventually, I found a small house that seemed out of place among the skyscrapers. When I approached the door, Mario opened it. The screen faded to white and some black text appeared. It looked kind of like the level select screen from Super Mario 64.
House of Torn Memories
It looked like a level title. When I pressed a button, the screen faded back in. Mario was inside what appeared to be the house form before, but everything seemed bigger than it should have. It wasn't gigantic, like Big-Tiny World from Mario 64, but seemed more like it was scaled in a way to make Mario the size of a small child. The house was filled with average household objects, covered in dust and showing signs of neglect. There were no people on the ground floor, only things like broken lamps and rotted food. I found a door that opened to a set of stairs going down, leading to a basement.
In the basement, I found a dilapidated couch and a broken-looking TV. However, what really caught my attention was what resided on the couch: two skeletons, around the size of children. Due to the scale of the house, they were still larger than Mario. I was disturbed by now. How had a Mario game containing stuff like this been programmed to this extent?
I went up to the skeletons and tried pressing buttons to interact with them or the TV, but nothing happened. I went to turn around and look elsewhere, but a loud crash came from the game and nearly scared me to death. What could have been Bowser broke through the floor from below and landed in front of Mario. I say "what could have been" because this thing only vaguely looked like Bowser. The reptilian monster had Bowser's basic color scheme, but looked far more threatening than any iteration of the character I'd seen before.
It was not proportioned like the Bowser I knew. Its arms and legs were far longer in relation to its body, and ended in razor-sharp claws. The green shell didn't look like it had spikes glued on - they were more jagged and organic-looking, with the same dark green color the rest of the shell had. The face had small but intense black eyes, and a mouth full of jagged teeth that took up far more of the face than it should have. Mario cowered in fear from this thing. A dialogue box appeared, too.
You've kept me waiting long enough, Mario. I will taste flesh soon. Will you finally surrender, or does Princess Peach have to die?
I didn't have control anymore. Mario stood there, shivering for several seconds before nodding his head. Bowser impaled him with his claws. There was no blood, but it was clear from the animation and sound effects that the sharp digits of Bowser's hands had gone through Mario's body. In one swift motion, Bowser dragged Mario up to his face and bit his head off. Again, there was no blood or graphic detail left on Mario's neck - just Mario's character model being destroyed. The screen faded to black. In white text, another "level" name appeared.
Mario's Eternal Home
Mario's character model was whole again when the level started. It was the only thing on-screen aside from a black background. He was floating, as if in space. I could somewhat control it, but it felt more like I was deciding the general direction in which Mario would tumble than fully controlling him. As I drifted toward no apparent destination, voices faded in. They were echoing, deep voices telling Mario he was worthless. That the world no longer had use for him and everyone would be better off if he was dead.
High-pitched crying was layered on top of the voices after a bit. It sounded like it was supposed to be Mario's cries. This really disturbed me - I found myself fighting back tears. For reasons I couldn't understand, this was affecting me on an emotional level. The voices and aimless wandering went on for several minutes, until I spotted a light grey speck in the distance. I moved toward it. It took a long time to reach, growing closer at a much slower rate than I thought it should have.
When I was close enough to make it out, I saw it was a tombstone. It was plain, with cracks in several places. when I got right next to it, I could see writing. I turned off the system after reading it. I'm not going to play the beta or hack, or whatever this was, again. There was a single word on the tombstone.
Innocence
Written by KI Simpson.
