Shigeru Miyamoto claims that finishing the first Super Mario was quite a challenge

Shigeru Miyamoto, the renowned creator of Mario and The Legend of Zelda, has revealed that both games were in simultaneous development since 1984, at a time when Nintendo was a true creative whirlwind.

During a recent Q&A session, Miyamoto recalled how complicated it was to coordinate the efforts of a team that was intensely working on two groundbreaking projects at the same time. “It was very difficult to finish Mario and then involve the Mario programmers in the final push to complete The Legend of Zelda,” confessed the creator.

Nintendo’s principles were really complex

Although Super Mario Bros. is characterized by its accessible and easy-to-understand gameplay, the first Zelda presented a greater challenge for players, with its vast and sometimes enigmatic world.

Miyamoto and his team were concerned about the accessibility of the game and feared that new players would not know how to progress, even from the very first moments. “We wanted the player to understand the story and the nature of the land by exploring, rather than relying solely on dialogue,” Miyamoto explained.

Both titles not only revolutionized the video game industry, but their almost simultaneous release highlights the extraordinary creativity of Miyamoto and his team.

However, the creator has expressed that his direct sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, was “a kind of failure,” considering that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is really the “true sequel.” This opinion underscores the ongoing evolution of the Zelda franchise and the constant pursuit of innovation in the gaming experience.

In a context where the time between the releases of new Mario and Zelda games is usually several years, it is astonishing to think that the progenitors of these iconic series emerged almost one after the other, marking a significant change in the landscape of video games.

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