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Zebes On Parade: The Art Of Super Metroid

With the new Metroid: Other M for the Nintendo Wii poised to tell another tale of the ongoing saga of Samus Aran, it seems like a good time to take a step back and have a look at one of the bounty hunter's most beloved adventures.  Considering that Other M opens at the end of 1994's Super Metroid, it's only proper to have a fresh look at the promotional character artwork created for the Super NES title nearly two decades ago.  From Samus herself to the titular Metroids to Space Pirates and Mother Brain's army of horrifying space monsters, planet Zebes saw a lot of action before being blown to kingdom come. Let's review a little of that madness before moving on to Samus's latest challenge.

Nintendo Concept Logos On Parade

Whenever screenshots of an anticipated game currently in development are released, fans excitedly rush to see what famous characters such as Mario are up to this time.  We gawk over images of early game prototypes, but all too often we overlook how a game's logo can change during the development process.  In this installment of Artwork On Parade we'll examine several early concept logos from the Nintendo archives and compare them to the eventual finished product.  Sometimes a game's name may change, resulting in a slight tweak to some of the artwork.  Other times entire names and properties are altered, resulting in more sweeping revisions.  Then there's the little changes to fonts, colors, and all of the other aspects that make up a design.  Let's have a look at the major, the minor, and the downright unrecognizable alterations of the logos you thought you knew.

When Mario Superstar Baseball was first revealed for the GameCube back in 2005, it went by the more mundane title of Mario Baseball and featured this logo inspired by a traditional baseball diamond and a font for the word "Baseball" that would be at home on an actual jersey.

 
By the time the game reached stores, however, it had picked up a "Superstar", dropped the diamond, and gained some color.  This logo fits more into the family of Mario logos with the rainbow lettering, but losing the diamond and the jersey font turned the overall design into something painfully generic.  Note the slight alteration to the font used for "Mario" as well. 

Bowser's Insides On Parade

It's been a long wait, but the North American localization of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story has finally arrived courtesy of Nintendo, and with it comes a new collection of character artwork for us to study and adore.  Mario and Luigi are back to deal with the latest threat to the Mushroom Kingdom, this time teaming up with traditional antagonist Bowser to drive Fawful, the Engrish-cackling sidekick villain from the original Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, out of the kingdom once and for all.  The catch?  Bowser has inadvertently shrunk and swallowed everyone's favorite plumbers, sending the brothers on an Innerspace / Fantastic Voyage riff as the leader of the Koopas and self-proclaimed king of awesome handles things out in the conventional overworld.  Let's take a tour (with just minor story spoilers of around the first hour or so of the game) of some of the colorful cast of characters that populate Bowser's world (both inside and out) in this installment of Artwork On Parade.

Strikers On Parade

I want you to take a moment and imagine Nintendo's famously beloved plumber, Mario, in your mind.  Chances are that you're envisioning soft angles and gentle curves mixed with primary colors.  A familiar red hat sporting the iconic M logo is probably in there somewhere along with a cheery smile, bright eyes, and a bushy 'stache.  Mario has changed his style gradually over the years, but he mostly remains the same at heart.  His general image never really changes.  Well, except for that one time when it did.  Let's step back a few years to 2005 when Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom associates decided to put down the baseball gloves, park the go-karts, and store the tennis rackets in order to kick around the ol' ball in an aggressive game of soccer ("football" to those of you outside of North America).  Next Level Games somehow convinced Nintendo to present a new variation of Mario's world, trading the smiles and sunshine for harsh strokes and coloring outside of the lines.  Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo GameCube presents a much different take on Nintendo's most famous franchise cast and it's the subject of today's Artwork on Parade.

The Albatross On Parade

As a new 3D modern Bionic Commando adventure swings into stores this week in North America and Europe, it seems only appropriate to take a look back at the official artwork behind the original adventures of hero Nathan "Radd" Spencer and his amazing bionic arm.  We all know the story by now: when the notorious Badds led by Generalissimo Killt put into action a plan to resurrect their slain leader and launch a fearsome airship weapon, the Federation's greatest soldier, Super Joe, is sent to destroy the threat.  When he goes missing, it's up to Spencer to go behind enemy lines and finish Joe's mission.  From Area 1 to the mighty Albatross airship and everywhere in between, there's a reason why Bionic Commando stands out as one of the most beloved video games of the late 1980s... but it's sure not because of the artwork.  Let's take a walk back to the 1980s and do a little gawking.

Corneria On Parade

Today's visit to the promotional artwork archive takes us to the original Star Fox for the Super NES.  Released in 1993 to show off the power of the Super FX chip, the game's characters are mainly window dressing to justify the existence of the arwing fighter ships.  Fittingly enough, the promotional artwork created for the game focuses on these characters instead of the arwing itself, as the game was released during the great character mascot invasion of the early to mid-1990s.  Polygonal ships couldn't sell games or spark the imagination as effectively as quartet of animal/human hybrid heroes.  Let's take a quick trip to the planet Corneria and revisit some vintage artwork from the original Star Fox adventure.

Dinosaur Land On Parade

Last week I shared some really horrendously early off-model Super Mario artwork with you.  This week I thought it was only appropriate to shift the other way and show you some of my favorite Nintendo-produced Super Mario artwork.  Personally, my favorite era of Super Mario art comes from the images created for 1991's Super Mario World.  Let's take a walk down memory lane to a time when 16-bits was a lot, games came in big boxes stuffed with plastic, and all one needed to fly was a cape (or a blue turtle shell and a Yoshi).

Fake Man On Parade

Following up from yesterday's reveal of Mega Man 9's ninth Robot Master, Fake Man, here is the character art of the blue bomber's newest foe presented in the spirit of Robot Masters On Parade.

Robot Masters On Parade, Part 5

Capcom cranked out one last Mega Man game before the Super Famicom was completely replaced by the Nintendo 64, although it took several years for that game to make it to North America (and when it did, it arrived as a Game Boy Advance title).  Mega Man and Bass included two returning Robot Masters from Mega Man 8, but the remaining six robots really didn't bring anything new to the series.  Cold Man follows in the footsteps of characters such as Ice Man, Blizzard Man, Freeze Man, and Frost Man, for example.  The original Mega Man series went into hibernation for a few years, returning with Mega Man 9 and eight new Robot Masters that try to break new ground.  Splash Woman is the first female Robot Master in the series, proving that even rebelling robots can break through the glass ceiling.  Bonus points to Capcom and developer Inti Creates for not giving into stereotypes by assigning the female role to Jewel Man.  Still, some of the new designs are derivative of older creations.  Tornado Man looks a heck of a lot like Gyro Man, while Magma Man has a lot in common with Needle Man and Napalm Man.  Still, after all this time it's nice to have some new Robot Masters to observe, so in the end I say we go easy on the similarities and just enjoy the ride.

Cold Man

Robot Masters On Parade, Part 4

Capcom finally left the 8-bit Mega Man world behind in 1995, and with extra power at the heart of the Super NES, Sega Saturn, and Sony PlayStation, the Robot Master designers went a little overboard with adding new details and attempted realism.  More colors, larger canvases, and less personality were hallmarks of this era, almost as if the developers were trying a little too hard to show off the latest iteration of "next generation graphics" at work.  The character artwork created for Mega Man 7 and Mega Man 8 bring us to the penultimate part of Robot Masters On Parade. 

Freeze Man