Dev Commentary Time! This Being The First Level I Ever Made For Retrush, You'd Probably Think It Comes

dev commentary time! this being the first level i ever made for retrush, you'd probably think it comes with the most changes of all. not so! it's mostly only had minor edits and tweaks in the last nine years. here's a comparison between the very first demo in 2014 and the final:

that said, there's three changes that are major enough to be worth mentioning! first off is that it was originally named Gelatin Grasses, which is a much more abstract name than the final. very kirby inspired, in case the "food/place" level names weren't obvious enough!

the second major change was this last section before the stairs – the old version was a flat plain dotted with enemies. it wasn't a case of novice level design, it had actual roots in the flat, enemy-covered levels of SMB1 (like 3-2)... but still, it was really boring!

the new section that replaces it was an attempt to make use of the available space for something more dynamic and freeform. it's a little more cramped than i wanted it to be, but i think i did a pretty good job giving the player the freedom to find their own route!

last up is the star shards! these didn't exist at all before last year. in the older versions of the game that Retrush started out in, something as complex as star shards were completely unthinkable! so these were "just" coins...

...coins with a twist, that is! these five coins were connected to region triggers, and when all five were collected, it would play a little sound, like in the NSMB games!

pretty neat, eh? long before star shards were even a thought, these little flourishes were always in the cards.

i could wax on about how the very oldest versions of Retrush had mushrooms and even 1-ups instead of stars... but we'll have more time to go over the meta stuff later, and this is plenty about this level for now. see you tomorrow!

Gelato Grasslands (1-1) | Retrush

Welcome back to familiar plains of bricks and pipes! This is a great place to get reacquainted with SMB1's physics and sense of momentum. With well-timed jumps, you can clear even the tallest pipes at full speed!

Fillet Fjords (3-1) | Retrush #Mari0

A freezing, flooded furrow of fish! The tiered terrain tests your jump control, with water to back you up if you fall. There's more enemies than usual, but you've learned a lot so far – you can keep your cool, right?

dev commentary time! Watermelon Walls was another of the very earliest levels from the first demo nine years ago. but unlike Pineapple Pipeline, this one's had some substantial improvements over the years!

the most obvious change is the color palette, which tones down the red and adds a splash of green to fit the watermelon theming. i swear, you could barely even see Mario or the enemies in the old version...!

and speaking of colors, before this area was two-tone... the bricks were instead invisible, and you had to feel your way around with the portal gun. while spinies were piling up around you! how did i think this was okay!!

in fact, pretty much the entire second half of the level was similarly reworked. like, this jump required perfect precision JUST to get barely saved by the blue gel??? i like the new version much better, Thank You Very Much!

so between reworking so much of the nonsense and running out of steam getting that first demo out the door nine years ago... this level is weirdly short? i think that's fine, it doesn't overstay its welcome.

a lot of the level's mechanics are based around the consequences of slowing down. the lakitus have a long wind-up on throwing spinies, so they don't show up as much if you're running. the koopas here destroy the bridges, but only if you slow down and kick them.

remember how i said there used to be mushrooms and flowers in early versions of retrush? of all the early levels, i think the slower pace of this level's mechanics makes it uniquely suited to having power-ups.

which makes it weird that there were only, like, two mushrooms. instead, oddly, this level had more 1-ups in it than mushrooms?? even though the mappack has infinite lives???

…as it happens, infinite lives were a last minute decision for the first demo, and i didn't have time to remove all the 1-ups! you can tell i was in a rush… a RETrush [roll credits]

most of the 1-ups were buried in hidden blocks and random bricks that probably nobody ever found. several of them got converted to stars for the final release, and given a bit more visibility so they'd actually be of some use!

finally, i'd like to touch on the music choice - my partner @harmonyfriends picked this one out! i think it's a fantastic fit that i wouldn't have found otherwise. i just wish the stage wasn't so short, so you could hear more of the song...

Watermelon Walls (2-3) | Retrush

This rooftop run tests your confidence, with lots of quick tricks backed up by safer, slower strats for casual players. Just don't take it too slow, or the Lakitus will swarm the area with enemies!

dev commentary time! this is one of the first levels i made for Retrush, and featured in the very first demo nine years ago. pretty much everyone has cited this stage as a favorite since day 1! so it's only had very minimal changes over the years.

this level was made before wrap-around vertical levels existed in Mari0, but it kind of mimics the effect with portals. i considered making it a proper wrap-around stage just before release, but the level has too much asymmetry – and honestly, i think it's better that way!

as far as symmetry goes, i love the big setpiece at the end, where you're going straight up but there's so much to look at along the sides as the pipes zig-zag around. definitely a highlight of my early levels! younger me wasn't too bad at this whole "level design" thing…

possibly the biggest update was changing some of the platforms to be more readable; it can be hard to tell the difference between the thin, jump-through bridges and the thick, solid bridges. players would get confused which way to go when there were multiple waterfalls… so i changed some of the thick bridges to pipes instead, which makes the intended path much more obvious.

i forgot to change this one though, and a few players tried to go up the wrong side here. oops! luckily, there's more than enough time for the player to course correct.

before there were stars in retrush, most levels had mushrooms and fire flowers; this is a level where the mushrooms felt especially superfluous, so stars make it feel more cohesive. besides, the timer keeps counting down during the power-up animation!

to round off today's commentary, here's a weird version discrepancy: i had to move some of the checkpoints around, because older versions of Mari0 handled checkpoints better than the latest version, due to a case of convergent evolution that's too complicated to explain here.

long story short, in new versions of Mari0, two checkpoints cannot be on the same vertical column. so i had to puzzle out which checkpoints should move to which columns! one checkpoint in particular was tossed clear to the other side (left is old, right is new)

anyway i love this level to bits and i'm happy everyone else seems to as well! it's equal parts abstract and grounded, open and directed, busy and readable. definitely one of the best levels from early in development, and a big motivator for me to finish the whole pack 💙

Pineapple Pipeline (2-2) | Retrush

Swim up the waterfalls to the top of this filtration plant! Watch your ascent, as there's plenty of enemies overhead. The open-air layout hides speedy shortcuts and strategies in plain sight...

Gelato Grasslands (1-1) | Retrush

Welcome back to familiar plains of bricks and pipes! This is a great place to get reacquainted with SMB1's physics and sense of momentum. With well-timed jumps, you can clear even the tallest pipes at full speed!

Cinnamon Cavern (3-2) | Retrush

Danger lurks in every crevice of this blistering cave! The sparse enemies are hardly a threat compared to the crisscrossed veins of molten magma – watch your feet as you hot-foot it to the flag!