The development process to create a video game can vary wildly from game to game. Sometimes, a character that’s first envisioned on paper can make their way into a game virtually unchanged. But more often than not, games will go through drastic revisions before they’re made available to consumers.
Adventure, Dr. Mario, and Smash TV were three such games. See how they changed before (and after) release in a new edition of Bite-Sized Game History.
You can find a lot of dedicated video game historians on Twitter, and in 280 characters or less, they always manage to unearth some amazing artifacts. Bite-Sized Game History aims to collect some of the best stuff I find on the social media platform.
Atari’s Adventure contains one of the earliest “Easter Eggs” in video game history, and developer Warren Robinett was only able to insert his name into the game by hiding it behind an invisible dot (and telling no one at Atari). Discovering the dot was no easy feat, but sensing the gift they had been given by Robinett (who had left the company in 1979, just before Adventure was released), executives began congratulating players for finding it and encouraging the inclusion of Easter Eggs in all their games.
Developer Mike Mika recently posted one of Atari’s letters:
A direct correspondence from Atari to a young woman in Texas in 1982, in regards to her discovery of Warren Robinett's dot and signature in the game Adventure for the Atari VCS. pic.twitter.com/PfCSSaWkH8
— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) December 22, 2018
Nintendo had their own secrets to guard in 1980, as Shigeru Miyamoto was tasked with creating an arcade game based on Popeye. The company’s licensing deal with King Features would ultimately fall through, forcing the young developer to transform the spinach-eating sailor into the earliest incarnation of Mario.
The world’s most famous plumber was originally a carpenter in Donkey Kong, though he would change careers often over the years. Mario received his MD just in time for 1990’s Dr. Mario, but dispensing pills wasn’t always the plan for Nintendo’s mascot because the game was originally known as Virus. CoolBoxArt recently posted several draft versions of the game’s cover art, and it looks like Nintendo first wanted a more realistic doctor to do battle with the colorful viruses:
Dr. Mario (Early drafts) / NES / Nintendo / 1990 pic.twitter.com/6wlPntQBpg
— Cool Box Art (@CoolBoxArt) November 26, 2018
Reyan Ali, the author of the upcoming Boss Fight Books: NBA Jam and a regular fixture of Bite-Sized Game History, is back with a pre-production sketch from Smash TV by John Tobias. The developer would go on to co-create Mortal Kombat in 1992, but one of his first assignments at Midway was this illustration of Mutoid Man. The character made the transition to Smash TV mostly intact, and it’s interesting to notice that the red spotlight on his chest was originally meant to resemble a heart:
John Tobias' illustration of Mutoid Man, the first boss in 1990's Smash T.V., versus the in-game result pic.twitter.com/674M94RNBX
— NBA Jam (the book) (@nbajambook) December 2, 2018
And that’s a wrap for this edition of Bite-Sized Game History. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more bite-sized history lessons in the future.