It might be tricky to classify Mario as one REMA genre, but Super Mario Land 3D designers definitely used REMA as the core of their design vision:
But it wasn’t really until Super Mario 3D Land that I think I really became a lot more rigorous about enforcing that in level design, where you have a clear concept in the beginning, and that’s carried through absolutely all the way.
Why do you think that that’s important?
KH: Well, I think it has a lot to do with the acquisition of a skill, which is something that often appears very similar to the way that a narrative can develop. So, if you take a single gameplay element, let’s think about the steps that happen.
First, you have to learn how to use that gameplay mechanic, and then the stage will offer you a slightly more complicated scenario in which you have to use it. And then the next step is something crazy happens that makes you think about it in a way you weren’t expecting. And then you get to demonstrate, finally, what sort of mastery you’ve gained over it.
It’s very similar to a narrative structure that you find in four-panel comics… And this is something that ends up giving the player a kind of narrative structure that they can relate to within a single level about how they’re using a game mechanic.
The reference to manga narrative using similar form is fascinating, It hints at a deeper connection between Rollercoaster play and Mastery play.
