Debut: Game & Watch Gallery
Hello. We have been encountering some issues lately. I apologize for that. It’s not our fault, though! It’s Mario, you see. It’s not really HIS fault, either, to be honest. He can’t help it. He’s just become so goshdarn small lately!
The image at the top of this post is not very small, but as you can likely tell by how big the pixels are, it depicts a Small Mario. A Very Small Mario. Please step away from the microscope and view it at its original resolution.
See! There he is! If you can’t see, please, do not move closer for a better view. We don’t want anyone accidentally inhaling him! Not again.
As small as he is, this Mario is NOT actually the smallest known species, and the sprite is actually the same size as certain other Small Marios, even bigger than that of Super Mario Land, as well as bigger than NSMB Mini Mario. But it’s not all about the size, it’s about the energy. When I see THIS Mario, I think, ough, this is the smallest Mario in the world! He is a little guy, he is THE little guy! But what does he do?
He runs and jumps, silly! He is Mario, however small he may be! If you do not know about Game & Watch Gallery, it is a wonderful series of Game & Watch game collections, featuring recreations of the originals, as well as Modern versions remade with Mario characters, music, and gameplay changes!
For those GW games where you have to manage and protect a bunch of those ambiguous little guys that would go on to inspire Mr. Game & Watch, the Modern versions instead use Toad, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong Junior, each with slightly different behaviors! Usually. In Modern Manhole, you PLAY as Yoshi, so they had to have someone else appear instead. It’s Mario! And he is a quick little fellow!
There is something so interesting to me about seeing Mario in this context. Mario as a challenge, an obstacle, a Mario here to make your gameplay experience more difficult! A Mario presented at roughly the same level as a throwaway Toad. Fascinating!
Another wonderful thing about this is, multiple Marios can and will appear at the same time on higher difficulties! It’s an infestation! Similarly, there are also multiple Donkey Kong Juniors on screen at once, and it reminds me of how in Double Dash, Donkey Kong Juniors appear as audience members. Now, I’m not saying I think multiple Marios should appear as audience species in games, but just kidding! I actually am. I want Marios to be established as a species, like clowns. It’s not uncalled for, either, there have been the implications that a 1-Up creates another Mario instead of just reviving the main one! Look at the Smash trophies! There are many Marios out there, and their sizes and abilities vary greatly, depending on their role in the colony. Thank you.
