Parasol
CREATIVE/ARTS/TECHNOLOGY
BRIAN WILLIAMS
UNFINISHED WORK
ME ME ME
PROJECTS
Modern Classics
Comparing the career trajectory
of English modernist author
Virginia Woolf with Nintendo’s
Super Mario franchise
(1922)
Super Mario Bros.
(1985)
This early work already displays many of the elements that would come to characterise their most celebrated works.
(1925)
Super Mario Bros. 3
(1989)
The style they are widely known for today comes into full flower, the first of a string of undisputed classics.
(1927)
Super Mario World
(1990)
The rough edges of its predecessor now softened and the style refined, its breezy smoothness belies a complexity that takes time revealing itself.
(1928)
Super Mario Galaxy
(2007)
What could have been a retread is instead a seismic twist on a well-worn formula. Pioneering is often first seen as disorienting.
(1931)
Super Mario 3D World
(2013)
The style reaches its zenith of poetic expression, providing space for multiple characters to play. The effortless beauty belies friction behind the scenes.
(1937)
New Super Mario Bros. U
(2013)
A back-to-basics retreat to the familiar that could be criticised as unnecessary. There’s no question of its quality, but given what’s come before, what does it add?