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Could you start by introducing yourselves?
Otani: Hi, I’m Akira Otani from Nintendo. My journey with the Mario & Luigi series began with the second game, "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time." Since then, I’ve taken on the role of producer from the third game, "Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story." This marks the seventh installment I’ve had the privilege to work on. My main responsibility this time was supervising the entire project. But honestly, I wore many hats, involving myself deeply with the team to create and refine the game content.
Fukushima: Before diving into this project, I coordinated with outside developers for several games, including "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" for the Nintendo Switch. In this game, I stepped in as the Associate Producer, collaborating with Acquire throughout the development process. My tasks spanned from initial prototyping to final production, ensuring the schedule ran smoothly and everything came together cohesively.
Ohashi: I’m Haruyuki Ohashi from Acquire. I served as the director, managing the project’s planning and on-site development. This collaboration with Nintendo was a first for me, and I’m quite relieved and thrilled that we successfully brought the project to completion.
Furuta: I’m Hitomi Furuta, also from Acquire, and I handled the role of Art Director for this game. I was tasked with shaping the overall art style and even designed a few main characters. Since childhood, I’ve been a big fan of Mario games, but working on this specific game pulled me into the Mario & Luigi series for the first time.
Can Otani-san elaborate on the Mario & Luigi series and what this game is about?
Otani: The Mario & Luigi series kicked off in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. These games are unique action RPGs where Mario and Luigi team up to overcome challenges. We’ve coined this as the "Brother Action RPG" genre. The series nails a balance, blending action and puzzles with engaging stories and character interactions only seen with Mario. This latest installment is the first in nine years since "Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam" in 2015.
Thank you. You’ve mentioned this is the first new game in nearly a decade. What’s the backdrop of the story?
Otani: The adventure unfolds in Concordia, a realm apart from the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi embark on an adventure across islands adrift in the ocean. The center of their operations is the floating Shipshape Island, from where they set sail to explore other islands filled with various puzzles and battles. As the shadow of the antagonist Zokket looms larger, Mario and Luigi encounter diverse characters who aid in their mission to confront this new threat.
The game was first unveiled at the Nintendo Direct event in June 2024. Given its been nine years since the last title, many were probably caught off guard.
Otani: Absolutely, the reaction was more enthusiastic than I anticipated, both within Japan and abroad. I think the element of surprise came from fans expecting the series to be over and done with, but now we’ve revived it.
Considering how long it’s been since the last Mario & Luigi game, that’s understandable.
Otani: Definitely. We’ve had many internal discussions about a new installment post-"Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam." Our challenge was to innovate while staying true to what fans love about Mario & Luigi, all while evolving with new hardware capabilities. It wasn’t a straightforward path… at one point, it seemed we might not be able to develop another game in the series, and the thought of giving up crossed our minds.
But after countless discussions, we decided to collaborate with Acquire. Conversations with Ohashi-san led us to believe that Acquire could help bring our vision of a 3D Mario & Luigi world to life, so we committed to joint development. It was crucial to retain that distinctive "Mario & Luigi" charm, so some former AlphaDream staff, who worked on previous entries, joined us in bringing this project to fruition.
