Art Style Guide

Super Mario Party

Analysis of Game Art

Setting:

In the broadest sense, Super Mario Party is a 3D video game stylization of a ‘physical
board’ game. As such, it has been designed to resemble a large gameboard, and the graphics
and interfaces resemble that of physical board game. Dots are marked aligned a predetermined
path, and each player has their own ‘pawn’ which they move across the board. The gameboards
themselves are stylized renditions of Super Mario locales, complete with vivid imagery and
backdrops that help to immerse the player in each of these worlds. (Figure 2)
Figure 1; An example board

Like many other physical board games, each space type has different and unique gameplay
effects. These are visualized by their bright colors and aesthetics, as well as different identifiers and
visual components. Spaces with positive effects are generally bright, cool colors (bright blue) whereas
negative or dangerous spaces have more dark, warm colors (red).

Characters:

When moving amongst the map, the players utilize their own chosen ‘pawn’ to do so.
The roster of pawns consists of characters and cast from past Super Mario titles, which allows
the player to connect and create a bond with their character and the former memories they’ve
had in other titles. This wide variety of cast and crew also attributes to a relatively welcoming
and friendly atmosphere, one with a dynamic and diverse crew that can change every match
played.
Figure 2; Super Mario Party Character Selection Screen

The style and depiction of these character pawns is very consistent with former titles, and this
helps to amplify player connection. All the characters have a very solid, clear style with vibrant
colors and lack intense detail; this allows for nearly any player to identify and attach to their
chosen character and helps to game to remain friendly and visually appealing for all ages.

POV:

Super Mario Party is generally viewed using a perspective based, top-down angle titled
nearly 60-70 degrees. Therefore, it allows the player to see the wide view of the gameboard
and to get perspective, but not enough to fully encircle or rotate the setting. This view,
however, can change throughout the course of the match, generally when special events or
situations are triggered that require it.
Figure 3; A zoomed-in view, showing Bowser's turn buying items at a Shop Space

As such, there is no one consistent POV; however, as no event takes place in first person view,
it would be more accurately described as third person. However, one of the major points of
Super Mario Party is the wide variety of minigames that make up the bulk of the gameplay.
Each of these minigames have their own objectives, goals, and game flow, and in many cases,
they do not exhibit the same POV as the main ‘board phase’. (Figure 4) Therefore, the POV is
adaptive during the minigame phase, which can sometimes lead to player confusion.
Figure 4; Example of changing POV in a minigame

Color:

Figure 5; an example of water graphics

 The usage of color in this title is very similar to other Nintendo and, more specifically,
Mario titles in that vibrant, colorful tones are extremely prominent with a huge emphasis on
bright yellows, reds, and greens. In figure 5, one can see one example of environment building
in Super Mario Party, with how crystal clear and vibrant this rafting minigame level appears.

The very vibrant and colorful tone of the game has a dual purpose; it helps grab and
maintain the attention of a wide variety of players, from young children to adults, and helps to
diffuse and ease the competitive aura. With such a pretty, happy environment, it’s hard for
players to remain upset at their stakes in the game.

Composition:

Super Mario Party, like every unique piece of art exhibit some of the more common
elements of composition. The art and design have a very unified design, which means that
nearly all the characters and locales fit logically within the world, with no obvious deviations
from that formula. This can be contrasted with another Nintendo title, such as Smash Bros, in
which a huge variety of characters with totally different designs are mashed together in one
game.

Figure 6; main characters being placed forefront

Levels of Realism:

The game lacks solid definitions of proportion, which helps enhance its cartoonish and
child-friendly nature, encouraging creativity and imagination over the constraints of the real
world. Super Mario Party, like many other Mario titles, decides instead to adapt somewhat
familiar objects and animals into whimsical and wacky ways. Turtles into Koopas, Mushrooms
into interesting characters like Toad, or stars being items to strive for and possess; many
references to reality exist, but with twists and deviations in order to create a whole new world.

Figure 7; some of the items found across Super Mario Party

Of course, all these items have their own uses and value to the player, which encourages
exploration and collection in order to see and use all the game has to offer.