Think back to August 2001 (if you’re old enough, yes!), and you might remember Nintendo hosting its last Space World event. To the joy of cel-shaded Zelda (or “selda”). The company is gearing up to launch the GameCube, which came out just a month later in Japan and in North America in November of the same year.
The Super Mario Sunshine demo is known for showing a level not seen in the final product. An alternate version of Delfino Plaza would have probably been best left on the cutting room floor to be honest, it also featured some unused NPC characters of his and would love to have them in the final game I thought. Some of these guys look great!
But there is good news for those who really want to try the lost relics of the past. A team of talented modders have managed to recreate the entire level by redesigning the heightmap of the environment. The grayscale imagery represents the lower layers of the terrain, and the lighter shades indicate the higher layers, so the team can make a model close enough to his one-to-one comparison of the Space World demo.
After some work adding textures and key assets to the production, along with the now iconic ‘Tramlin’ Stu’ NPC character, this level is a pretty impressive take on what viewers were shown over 20 years ago. Moreover, it is reported that the map can be played with the ROM hack of Super Mario Sunshine.Super Mario Eclipse”This allows users to effectively time travel between the modern plaza design seen in the official game and a recreated Space World Plaza.
Here’s what the actual recreation looks like:
What do you think of this blast from the past? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
