Super Mario RPG has been partially recreated by a fan using the Unity engine

Written by. Ryuki Ishii based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-05-02 17:05 JST)

Graphic designer Finn Sylwester has partially recreated the 1996 classic Super Mario RPG using the Unity game engine. Super Mario RPG came out for the SNES, co-developed by Nintendo and Square, and became the foundation for Mario’s future RPG titles. There hasn’t been an official remake to this date.

Sylwester’s tweet, which has over 22,000 likes and 4,000 retweets as of this writing, comes with a short clip that showcases the game’s early segment around Mario’s pad. This is a recreation of the scene that takes place directly after the original game’s opening sequence, where Mario goes to rescue Princess Peach, who has been kidnapped by Bowser.

“Hey Mario! Lots of people use something called a ‘door’ to go in or out of their houses,” says the startled Toad after seeing Mario fall from the sky and enter the pad through a pipe chimney. You can hit the mushroom-shaped light switch to turn off the lights and go to sleep, just like in the original game. Sylwester recreated the save screen, too.

They showcased a 3D character model based on the Super Mario RPG version of Mario back in February and continued to work on models for other characters as well. They later posted a recreation of the cover art featuring Bowser, Peach, Mario, Geno, Yoshi, and Mallow. The 3D models are made with soft-looking textures while adding detailed and realistic touches to their attire.

Sylwester went on to recreate Mario’s Pad next. As you can see, everything about the interior has been faithfully recreated while adding new items such as a round carpet, slippers, and a cup to give a lived-in feel. Other extra touches include a warmer and less saturated color scheme to match the soft feel of the models.

It’s important to note that Sylwester isn’t trying to make a fan remake of Super Mario RPG. It’s a hobby project to study 3D graphics, and there’s no plan for commercial use. “Legally, I shouldn’t release anything for playability, as well as making the full game,” explains Sylwester on Twitter.

Sylwester also mentions that they were inspired by the works of Curiomatic, who has been recreating the characters of Mother 3. Curiomatic hasn’t released their works in a playable state either.

Nintendo is known to be very strict about the usage of its intellectual property, and non-commercial fan games are no exception. For example, the company sent DMCA takedown notices to Game Jolt, a PC game distribution platform, to remove hundreds of fan games in 2021 (TorrentFreak). It’s easy to understand Sylwester’s decision to refrain from releasing their works when considering these circumstances. Even fan art/videos can be subject to legal complaints if based on copyrighted material, though.

Sylwester has received a large sum of reactions for their videos and images, with some commenters saying how they wish Nintendo would actually work on a remake. An understandable reaction when seeing how high the quality of Sylwester’s works is. They seem to be surprised by the amount of response as well.