Taxonomy of Virtual Spaces
This post continues my exploration toward evaluating a spatial paradigm of "cartoony" digital games, which evolved through the early 1980s. Part one analyzed two important early titles, namely Cutie Q and Pac-Man. Part two looked at some Pac-Man clones and Frogger. Part three analyzed some "maze shooters" and "maze looters." Part four explores how maze games evolved into platform games. Part five examined "maze tunneler" games where the player digs their own mazes as they explore.
This post examines the "facing" of cartoony sprite characters drawn to game screens using elevation projections (side-facing or front-facing). Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros. both use a mix of front and side views with characters sharing the same game space. Mario's sprites evolved through different projections over several games until settling into a 3/4 view: side-facing but slightly twisted to show detail on the front of the character. This matches the acting method of "cheating out," where actors in profile will turn slightly toward the camera or audience to be seen better.
Back to Pac-Man
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| Pac-Man level 256 glitch |
I wrote up a visuo-spatial analysis of Pac-Man way back in part one of this series, copied here:
Pac-Man Visuo-Spatial Analysis: The game screen emulates an orthographic plan view of a maze (not unlike a hedge maze) seen from overhead. It could be argued that the maze is seen from the side, but the lack of gravity that pulls to the bottom of the screen (this is not a platformer) and similarity to overhead driving games like Head On support a view from above. The character images are shown in orthographic front and side elevation views, much like in Cutie Q. This creates an incongruity between characters and their environment, one that I wrote about before (see the Orthographic Projection section). The game has a sense of continuous 2-D game space limited to a single screen (fixed frame) with a cylindrical topology (characters may move directly from one edge of the maze to the other by using the side tunnels).
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| Pac-Man characters |
The characters of Pac-Man are illustrated in two different types of elevation projections. The ghost monsters look around toward the direction they are moving, but they read as front-facing because both eyes are visible to the player. Pac-Man is seen as side-facing, clearly showing his opening mouth in profile. The characters are drawn as if facing in different directions, yet they still read as if they are sharing the same space.
The Front-Facing Goomba
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| Super Mario Bros. Goomba, Koopa Troopa, and Super Mario |
In Super Mario Bros., most enemy characters are drawn in a side-facing projection with two frames of animation, like the Koopa Troopa above. When such a character moves in the opposite direction, the frames of animation are flipped to face the other way. The Goomba is unusual in that it is a front-facing character with only one sprite frame that is mirrored left and right to give the illusion of a walking animation.
Blooper and Toad are the only other front-facing characters in SMB 1. Lakitu and Cheep-Cheep are drawn in 3/4 view. All other characters are side-facing.
As revealed by designer Takashi Tezuka in an Iwata Asks interview, The Goomba was the last character designed for the game and there were very few bytes available for additional graphics in the game cartridge's CHR-ROM chip. The team only had room for one 32 x 32 sprite that could be "animated" by flipping the image. They settled on a front-facing character that would look fine walking either left or right.
Early Incarnations of Mario
The Australian author and pixel artist known as NFGMan analyzed several different eras or generations of early Mario sprite designs. These sprites are organized by shared qualities in visual style rather than being strictly organized by year. This shows how different artistic styles may overlap in time and a single art style may transcend hardware devices.
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| "Mario 1.0" sprites, image from NFG Games The Evolution of Mario |
Standing Mario sprites in the first image:
- Donkey Kong (1981, arcade)
- Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, arcade) (as the villain)
- Mario Bros. (1983, arcade)
- Wrecking Crew (1985, NES)
- Super Mario Bros. (1985, NES) (with Super Mario sprite)
- Super Mario Land (1989, Game Boy) (with Super Mario sprite).
Each of these early Mario sprites features a side-facing head seen in profile. Each Mario head shares distinctive features, with one visible eye, a crooked nose, sideburns, and bushy long hair.
The sprite bodies are drawn in different facings. The Donkey Kong sprite is close to a side view with one foot in front of the other, ready to move forward. The Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., and Wrecking Crew bodies are drawn in more of a 3/4 view, with the front of Mario's overalls visible. Note that Mario's feet are pointed in both directions, ready to turn on a dime and start running. The Super game sprites all have front-facing bodies with body weight balanced in both the left and right directions.
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| "2nd Gen Mario" sprites, image from NFG Games The Evolution of Mario |
Standing Mario sprites in the second image:
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, NES) (with Super Mario sprite)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990, NES) (with Super Mario sprite)
- Donkey Kong (1994, Game Boy)
This era of Mario sprites is notable for their dark outlines that help the character stand out from many different types of backgrounds.
Mario's hat has undergone a change, now looking more like a newsboy or fisherman's cap than the previous baseball cap appearance. The SMB 2 head is turned in a 3/4 view, with both eyes and both sides of Mario's mustache visible, but the other two games return to a side view profile. SMB 2 and SMB 3 give Mario a cartoonishly round nose while DK '94 gives Mario back his crooked, original nose.
The SMB 2 and SMB 3 bodies are at a slight 3/4 view, with both of Mario's overall buttons visible in his Super incarnations.
The DK '94 design, with its side view profile, crooked nose, and long hair, is intentionally anachronistic to harken back to Mario's arcade Donkey Kong roots. However, he does retain the big eyes and updated cap.
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Standing Mario sprites in the third image:
- Super Mario World (1991, SNES) (with Super Mario sprite)
- Super Mario All-Stars (1993, SNES) (SMB 1 and SMB 3 design, with Super Mario sprite)
- Super Mario All-Stars (1993, SNES) (SMB 2 design, with Super Mario sprite)
- Super Mario Land 2 (1992, Game Boy) (with Super Mario sprite)
Super Mario World and Super Mario Land 2 designs closely follow the 3/4 view, round nose, and big eyes seen in the original SMB 2 design. The Super Mario All-Stars designs mostly follow the original games, with the exception that SMB 3 graphics are used for SMB 1.
Over 12 years of development (not counting DK '94), Mario's design evolved from a flat profile view to a full-body 3/4 view, giving an enhanced sense of dimensionality to the character and conveying more facial details.
Over 12 years of development (not counting DK '94), Mario's design evolved from a flat profile view to a full-body 3/4 view, giving an enhanced sense of dimensionality to the character and conveying more facial details.
To be continued...
