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The evolution of the 3D Mario model

C

chalkitdown1

Member
I thought this was worth sharing. He goes through all the different 3D Mario models since SM64 in detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2gXyEyy_2U&index=2&list=WL

That OG Smash Bros model is....something lol

I love how they swap out the "detailed" model for a super low poly one when the camera is far away. I presume lots of games do this.

Also, it's pretty amazing that the highest quality Mario models wasn't even made by Nintendo, but Sega!

[edit] He's done a Sonic episode now as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Pvr7Cc2Ds
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
I always found it funny they spent so much of the polygon budget on Mario's nose in Mario 64. I imagine the art lead on the project complaining the nose wasn't round enough when like, it makes no difference in game at 240p with the usual n64 antialiasing it's practically unnoticeable.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
Watching at the moment, it's already very interesting! I also find the evolution of promotional renders very interesting:
Super Mario 64:
mario.jpg

New Super Mario Bros:
569px-Mario_luigi_jump.jpg

Mario Party 10
pjCe3ty.png

Super Mario Odyssey
ajq6yUI0CwPsclt4NQeSlVSlsq7HEScS.png
Click to expand...
The art style for Mario has gradually evolved over time.
 
F

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Jonneh3003 said:
Watching at the moment, it's already very interesting! I also find the evolution of promotional renders very interesting:

The art style for Mario has gradually evolved over time.
Click to expand...

I actually enjoyed this, want him to do zelda ofcourse but also the arwings from starfox.
 
P

PsionBolt

Member
I feel like Smash 4 (both 3DS and Wii U) is a pretty major omission. I wouldn't be surprised if the highest-poly Mario model was actually not made by Nintendo or Sega, but Namco instead.

Cool video, though.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
PsionBolt said:
I feel like Smash 4 (both 3DS and Wii U) is a pretty major omission. I wouldn't be surprised if the highest-poly Mario model was actually not made by Nintendo or Sega, but Namco instead.

Cool video, though.
Click to expand...

It would have also been interesting to see Mario Kart 8 seeming as he touched on Mario Kart DS and 7.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
chalkitdown1 said:
That OG Smash Bros model is....something lol
Click to expand...

The leap from that - and any of the N64 era Mario models - to Smash Bros Melee is just astonishing.

Also curious that the DS model for Super Mario 64 has less polygons than the original, and yet looks so much better. Really neat detail.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy models aren't that much more complicated than Melee by pure poly count, but everything (sans eyes) is modelled - which lends itself to the game being scaled up by emulation.

Perhaps the most astonishing thing to find out from this is that a lot of Mario's features in his mainline Wii and Wii U games aren't actually animated, at least in the way most 3D models are. I guess it saved on trying to figure out how to distort the hand meshes.
 
S

Social

Member
I actually returned Smash Brothers for N64 after seeing all those terrible low poly models upon playing the game for the first time.

I wanted Mario to look at least like he did in Mario 64.
 
A

Aomber

Member
I never thought about how bad Mario looks in the original Smash Bros, but looking at it like this made me realize it always looked bad.
 
L

lvl99 Pixel

Member
Social said:
I actually returned Smash Brothers for N64 after seeing all those terrible low poly models upon playing the game for the first time.

I wanted Mario to look at least like he did in Mario 64.
Click to expand...

the jump to the gamecube version is still crazy to me.
 
P

Preble

Member
Damnit man! This is like the EXACT video I idea I was working on for a Youtube channel. And of course this guys is way higher quality than what I would've put out. Ugh, I can never win...

Good video though. Very informative.
 
T

TheMink

Member
-shadow- said:
The castle is only a hundred polys more than Mario? Freaking whut!?
Click to expand...

I believe very consistently this the case, characters require so much more polys than landscapes. A few big flat triangle is way more efficient than 10 just for the nose or something.
 
T

Teggy

Member
The difference in color between marios hair and mustache is really bothering me in that Odyssey picture.
 
nkarafo

nkarafo

Member
-shadow- said:
The castle is only a hundred polys more than Mario? Freaking whut!?
Click to expand...
Thanks to perspective correction, the N64 had the ability to stretch polygons indefinitely so you could have big flat surfaces with fewer polys as opposed to a PS1 game. The PS1 had to use as many polys as possible to minimize the wobbling polygon glitches. This is how N64 managed bigger, rock solid 3D worlds with big draw distances in games like Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, etc.

So, on the N64, Mario needs more polygons than the Castle because the castle has large, flat surfaces while Mario needs to have a more rounded appearance.
 
nkarafo

nkarafo

Member
Preble said:
Damnit man! This is like the EXACT video I idea I was working on for a Youtube channel. And of course this guys is way higher quality than what I would've put out. Ugh, I can never win...

Good video though. Very informative.
Click to expand...
Doesn't hurt having another channel to flip through.
 
J

Jazzem

Member
Really enjoyed that, crazy how high or low the polycount can get on some of them. If he ever covers Donkey Kong, I'll be curious to hear his thoughts on that Smash Bros 64 model :p
 
1

13ruce

Banned
Odyssey and the Smash ones look the best imo.
Even while 3D world had higher polygons than the smash ones.
 
S

Stormwatch

Member
I always liked the Smash Bros model that had denim textures on his overalls. It seemed the most realistic to me. I'm glad Odyssey has denim textures...but I would have liked them to be a little bit darker.
 
J

jett

D-Member
Jonneh3003 said:
Watching at the moment, it's already very interesting! I also find the evolution of promotional renders very interesting:

The art style for Mario has gradually evolved over time.
Click to expand...

More like devolution. I don't care for the detailed denim textures in Odyssey Mario. As far as I'm concerned they reached apex Mario with MP10/SM3DW.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
I always find it incredibly weird the way so many Youtubers say the games' names as "Super Mario Bros" and "Smash Bros" and not the correct "Super Mario Brothers" and "Smash Brothers."
 
P

Pizza

Member
Ive always felt like mario's design took a quantum leap backwards in quality after melee


melee_mario_brawl_mario_by_elijahrcraig-d7zbuie.jpg


His melee model was more or less an actual realization of his N64 renders. Fucking flawless. Notice how he's also tan af like some full blooded Italians.

Then sunshine goofed up his design, then brawl made it worse, then Odessey squashed him down even further and textured the fuck outta hose overalls

Also his mouth is so fucking prevalent in his recent designs and I hate it, no one with a 'Stache that huge and bushy has their entire mouth visible underneath it. His whole face is off, too.

Edit: his head shape has him looking like some jimmy neutron motherfucker
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Never realised how similar Mario's Melee model is to the one in Galaxy, the eyes look identical for example
 
S

Stopdoor

Member
Mario is pretty cool because of how many N64 models he got, between Mario Sports, Mario Party, Mario 64, Smash Bros., etc. you can easily tell what game he's from depending on his model. That differentiation is less noticeable pretty quickly.
 
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