Now that Nintendo is embracing the "classic mario" aesthetic, more YouTubers need to become familiar with the names Yoichi Kotabe and Shigehisa Nakaue. Kotabe solidified the 2D Mario look in the late 80s and early 90s, and Nakaue has been carrying that torch in newer games. - ThreadSky

artsyomni.com • 37 days ago

Now that Nintendo is embracing the "classic mario" aesthetic, more YouTubers need to become familiar with the names Yoichi Kotabe and Shigehisa Nakaue. Kotabe solidified the 2D Mario look in the late 80s and early 90s, and Nakaue has been carrying that torch in newer games.

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nelsondemifur.bsky.social•37 days ago

So that's who made those

candylure.bsky.social•37 days ago

Yessssss!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kotabe my goat!!!!!

jaelencole.bsky.social•37 days ago

Someday, I hope to give the 2D promo art motion. Take the various stills and make them move. Sort of like what Bill Melendez did for the Peanuts TV specials back in the day. It would make for a seamless transition to animated media like a hypothetical cartoon or game.

itsstephjm.ink•37 days ago

I knew about Kotabe, but Nakaue is a new name, which I will now be happily talking about for years to come

jj-animation.bsky.social•37 days ago

You just can't beat the classics!

bankmanager.bsky.social•37 days ago

theyre back!

jeahow.bsky.social•37 days ago

peak mario art style

mednafox.bsky.social•36 days ago

https://youtu.be/ttRdUjOQ_sU
Here's some scenes that Yoichi Kotabe animated

artsyomni.com•37 days ago

It makes me a little sad when I see people commenting on the style of the characters in Mario Wonder and the New Mario Kart and they don't seem to know who to attribute it to. These two are like the king and prince of that foundational 2D Mario tradition.

astrogamer.bsky.social•37 days ago

Also worth mentioning Nintendo Pictures as since Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo has been using their talent as a CG studio to do more traditionally 2D effects in 3D animation

smashmatt202.bsky.social•37 days ago

I love 2D Mario art!

adrianahedo.bsky.social•35 days ago

Seems like we’re now living in an era where 2D style motifs are being embraced in Mario games. I’m thinking that the next big 3D Mario is gonna do something similar to Wonder or it’s gonna introduce a new aesthetic where you play as Mario in a textured, somewhat stylized version of his N64-era look.

techv01.bsky.social•37 days ago

i dont think its quite there yet, i hope they go into it a bit more

artsyomni.com•37 days ago

What's not quite there yet?

techv01.bsky.social•37 days ago

the artstyle, i feel like something's missing, maybe more cel shaded?

artsyomni.com•37 days ago

I don't think the point is to make the 3D models look exactly like the 2D illustrations. I think the point is to capture the essence of the 2D designs while still leveraging the advantages of 3D.

artsyomni.com•37 days ago

It's like the Peanuts movie. It obviously doesn't look exactly like Charles Schulz's drawings, but the shape language fully captures the identity of those drawings while elevating it with lighting and material detail.

techv01.bsky.social•37 days ago

no i get it i guess

generaltekno.bttoons.com•37 days ago

I'm still amazed at how well that movie did that.

They've been doing similar on their Dav Pilkey adaptations, too. It feels like the book art but animated.

reginaldcosmic.bsky.social•37 days ago

Is the u in Nakaue an unvoiced vowel?

artsyomni.com•37 days ago

Not in the way that you might be thinking, such as in a name like "Sasuke." U isn't "unvoiced" as much as it is very subtle. It enables what comes across as consecutive consonant sounds, but when it's surrounded by vowel sounds, it almost turns into a W sound. So it'd be "na-ka-u-eh," not "na-ka-eh"

plasma-whorrorshow.bsky.social•37 days ago

It genuinely frustrates me how many game "historians" just completely overlook the names of these iconic illustrators ngl

gravitybreak.media•37 days ago

i love that he's keeping the Mario 3 style alive. i wish they made a whole game that looked like that

georgebanks.bsky.social•30 days ago

YES! I wrote an article for Nintendo Life late last year about all the different iterations of Mario, and after poring over literally hundreds of images of his various forms this, for me, still remains the absolute peak of his aesthetic.

tzsphinxsckh.bsky.social•37 days ago

📌

dinoman96.bsky.social•36 days ago

One of the most interesting thing about Nakaue is that he kinda sorta began his relationship and career with Nintendo...by creating Star Fox: Farewell Beloved Falco, a canonical (but Japan only) manga interlude set between SF64 and Adventures, during his tenure at Nintendo Dream.

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