Editing Super Mario 128

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'''''Super Mario 128''''', or '''''Mario 128''''',<ref name=Pikmin4>{{cite|date=July 18, 2023|url=www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-10-pikmin-4-part-1|title=Ask the Developer Vol. 10, Pikmin 4—Part 1|publisher=nintendo.com|language=en-us|accessdate=July 18, 2023|archive=web.archive.org/web/20230718143305/https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-10-pikmin-4-part-1}}</ref> was the name of a series of projects by [[Nintendo]] to create a sequel to ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', much like the canceled game ''[[Super Mario 64 2]]''. While initially named in January 1997,<ref>{{cite|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20110927050910/http://www.miyamotoshrine.com/theman/interviews/0197.shtml|title=Miyamoto Interviews|publisher=Miyamoto Shrine|language=en|accessdate=September 19, 2018}}</ref> it was first shown as a [[tech demo]] at {{wp|Nintendo Space World#Space World 2000|Space World 2000}}. The project experimented with new technology and ideas to incorporate into later games. A demo of the project was released by Nintendo. The demo featured 128 [[Mario]]s onscreen at once. Other features of the demo included the use of "sphere-walking," later used in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'';<ref>{{cite|author=Gantayat, Anoop|date=August 21, 2006|url=www.ign.com/articles/2006/08/21/miyamoto-opens-the-vault|title=Miyamoto Opens the Vault|publisher=IGN|language=en|accessdate=July 6, 2024}}</ref> and "gravity-defying," later used for the Iron Boots in ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]''. ''Super Mario 128'' has been confirmed to be unrelated to ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]''.<ref>{{cite|author=Davies, Paul|date=May 16, 2003|language=en-gb|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20071215114243/http://www.computerandvideogames.com:80/article.php?id=91486&site=cvg|title=E3 2003: Miyamoto: the interview|publisher=Computer and Video Games|accessdate=July 6, 2024}}</ref>

''Super Mario 128'' has been initially believed to have been the foundation for ''[[pikipedia:Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'', as stated by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] during his keynote speech at the 2007 {{wp|Game Developers Conference}}.<ref>{{cite|language=en|author=Martin, Matt|date=March 9, 2007|url=www.gamesindustry.biz/gdc-shigeru-miyamotos-keynote-speech|title=GDC: Shigeru Miyamoto's Keynote Speech|publisher=GamesIndustry.biz|accessdate=July 6, 2024}}</ref> However, ''Pikmin'' programmer Yuji Kando would later state in 2023 that ''Super Mario 128'' did not influence ''Pikmin'' in terms of planning and technology, as the team was not aware of its existence.<ref name=Pikmin4 />

Aside from the tech demo shown off, another ''Super Mario 128'' was secretly in development, with Shigeru Miyamoto being the director. This would have been the final game that he directed, had it been completed. He stated that the reason he wanted to make a sequel, which would have taken at least one and a half years according to an interview at {{wp|E3}} 1996, was that ''Super Mario 64'' used only 60% of the capacity of the [[Nintendo 64]].

The game was originally planned to release on the [[Nintendo 64DD]] peripheral for the system, but it was shifted to the [[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]] following the development being delayed after the release of ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'', which had been delayed to a 1998 release, as well as the 64DD's discontinuation due to its commercial failure. The game would have featured a potential co-op single-player mode featuring Mario and [[Luigi]], as well as four-player split-screen multiplayer akin to ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' with rumors stating that [[Princess Peach|Peach]] and [[Toad]] were meant to be playable in multiplayer, something that would not happen until ''[[Super Mario 3D World]]'' in 2013, as well as rumors from the European magazine ''Nintendo Official Magazine'' (rebranded as ''Official Nintendo Magazine'' in later years) that stated that [[Yoshi]] would have been rideable.

In 1999, Miyamoto expressed his disapproval over the [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]] being increasingly marketed to young children, believing that players would grow out of those kinds of games when they reached middle school. He wanted to stop Mario from using his peace sign gesture and have him stop smiling and laughing for no good reason, due to those qualities factoring in what he felt was not right.<ref>{{cite|language=en|author=Bivens, Danny|date=January 23, 2014|url=www.nintendoworldreport.com/translation/36353/shigeru-miyamoto-speaks-an-interview-between-itoi-and-miyamoto-from-1999-part-4-shigeru-miyamoto-speaks-about-his-vision-of-the-future-five-years-from-now|title=Shigeru Miyamoto Speaks: An Interview Between Itoi and Miyamoto from 1999 – Part 4: Shigeru Miyamoto speaks about his vision of the future five years from now|publisher=Nintendo World Report|accessdate=April 12, 2024 (Translated from [https://www.1101.com/nintendo/nin8/nin8_4.htm this interview])|archive=web.archive.org/web/20140228193902/http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/translation/36353/shigeru-miyamoto-speaks-an-interview-between-itoi-and-miyamoto-from-1999-part-4-shigeru-miyamoto-speaks-about-his-vision-of-the-future-five-years-from-now}}</ref> He also wanted the game to have more mature graphics and a more grown-up version of the title character, even going so far as having an interview in an issue of the Japanese magazine ''Playboy Weekly'', promising that the game would have a fresh new experience.<ref>{{cite|author=Gantayat, Anoop|language=en|date=December 10, 2002|url=www.ign.com/articles/2002/12/10/nintendo-talks-pikmin-2-and-mario-128|title=Nintendo Talks Pikmin 2 and Mario 128|publisher=IGN|accessdate=April 12, 2024|archive=web.archive.org/web/20141012232148/https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/12/10/nintendo-talks-pikmin-2-and-mario-128}}</ref>

Fans expected the game to appear at E3's showings in 2003 and 2004, but the game was not shown at all due to Miyamoto's wanting to keep the new ideas for the game from being copied by other companies, even saying at E3 2005 that the game may not be released on GameCube after all. At the 2007 Game Developers Conference, where he revealed that the tech demo shown off at Space World 2000 became ''Pikmin'' in terms of gameplay, he said that it also became ''Super Mario Galaxy'' in terms of stage design. Reporters stopped asking him about the game.

This interpretation of ''Super Mario 128'' seemed to influence other games such as ''[[Super Mario 64 DS]]'' (Luigi's playability), ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask]]'', ''[[pikipedia:Pikmin 2|Pikmin 2]]'' (single-player cooperative gameplay), ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (the ability to ride a [[Yoshi (species)|Yoshi]]), ''Super Mario 3D World'' (four-player cooperative multiplayer), and both ''Super Mario Sunshine'' and ''Super Mario Galaxy'' (the removal of Mario's peace sign gesture prior to its return in ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'').

==References in other media==

*''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'': An Event Match in the game is titled "[[smashwiki:Event 22: Super Mario 128|Super Mario 128]]," where the player must defeat 128 tiny Marios.

*''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]'': The idea to have 128 Marios at once in the demo may have inspired the idea of [[Luiginoid]]s in the game, where the player uses clones of Luigi to navigate through various areas.

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBH50xxUKEk Space World footage]

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1IML3xlp0 Super Mario 128 ft. Dunkey - DidYouKnowGaming]

{{Super Mario games}}