Graphical Evolution of handheld Zelda and Mario

Over more than 35 years, the technical innovators at Nintendo have tailored the technology available to them to produce innovative, addictive, but most of all, fun experiences on their handheld systems. Arguably, most of these creators’ best ideas have gone into Nintendo’s two central video game series: the platformer Super Mario series and the adventure/RPG/puzzle series The Legend of Zelda.

Graphically, the limits of their artistic freedom were not only defined by the initial power of the host system. Cartridges could include special chips which increased the graphical potential of these key Nintendo titles. The graphical comparison of Super Mario Land to Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins is a testament to this. There was also a general improvement in other genres of games over time in terms of graphics in the Game Boy era. This article illustrates and explores the evolution of Nintendo’s two flagship series on handheld platforms.

The Legend of Zelda

The original NES Legend of Zelda game was influential in the Game Boy’s Zelda titles that came afterward. The original NES title used simple graphics but wasn’t short of ambition in terms of exploration. With this title, the core Zelda philosophy of free exploration and secret finding, which Shigeru Miyamoto often talks about, was probably at its most distilled. Probably the only title that rivals the pure Zelda essence may be the Wii U and Switch’s Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The blueprint of the original NES Zelda was built upon with Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES. This title added a stronger emphasis on story, it added interactive towns, numerous non-player characters, a defined structure of dungeon progression, and better visuals. It was with A Link to the Past, that Zelda matured.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The first Game Boy Zelda, Link’s Awakening, used A Link to the Past as a template and this influence can be seen in the emphasis on the story, the numerous NPCs, and the game’s look. Furthermore, although the Game Boy is an 8-bit system, similarly to the NES, the graphical style is much more similar to A Link to the Past rather than the original NES Legend of Zelda. I don’t know if Link’s Awakening used any special chips to produce the great pseudo 16-bit effect, but it’s certainly possible (or the Game Boy is secretly more powerful than we think). The sprites are chunky, there’s great graphical detail in the environments and the art is uniquely Link’s Awakening. The vibe of the game is more dream-like and whimsical than both the original Legend of Zelda and the more serious A Link to the Past. When compared to games like Tennis and Alleyway, and as an early Game Boy game, Zelda: Link’s Awakening does look and feel surprisingly good. The great debut of the title helped to make the game well-loved by multiple generations. Maybe because of the affection for the title after many years and systems later Link’s Awakening received a huge new coat of paint.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening HD & Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

At a Nintendo Direct In 2019, it came as quite a shock to many Zelda fans that a remake of Link’s Awakening was in development. The video shown was a full anime-style reimagining of the title screen cutscene featuring Link in a storm as his boat is destroyed. The game had been completely remade in HD using a new art style. However, it was a very faithful remake with locations, items, and story being almost tile for tile exactly the same as in the original game. Between the original and the 2019 remake there was also a Game Boy Color remake in 1998, and a virtual console re-release on the 3DS in 2013. There were also the Oracle games which released exclusively for the Game Boy Color in 2000. They were long, interesting games full of side quests and traditional Zelda charm. They were heavily inspired by both Link’s Awakening and Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Link’s Awakening, as an early traditional Zelda, wasn’t influenced by the revolution in gameplay that occurred with the release of Breath of the Wild in 2017. Breath of the Wild introduced over a hundred shrines, small puzzle dungeons, an “open” overworld, and new gameplay loops related to crafting and cooking. The recently released game, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, uses a very similar art style to Link’s Awakening HD, such as the top-down perspective, and incorporates some of the new mechanics of Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. Echoes of Wisdom has an ‘open’ world, incorporates cooking mechanics, and introduces the ‘echo’ mechanic of being able to summon the ‘echo’ of enemies and objects that you have come across to solve puzzles and fight alongside the playable character (which in this game happens to be Zelda herself). Echoes of Wisdom is a true mix of new and old Zelda.

Super Mario Land

Zelda has evolved and developed over time, with the flow of the games and the way puzzles and combat are fed to the player changing over time. The Mario series is no different. Its gameplay focuses on platforming and its origins go back even further than the Legend of Zelda, to the mid-1980s. Mario was known as jumpman in the original arcade game Donkey Kong. This game, which was Miyamoto’s first, was an addictive puzzle-platformer that has evolved into the Mario Vs Donkey Kong series, and still has new games released to this day. So, technically the Super Mario Bros games are spin-offs from the Donkey Kong series. Super Mario Land is the Super Mario series specifically designed for the Game Boy. It was developed by a different team than the Super Mario Bros series (although still within Nintendo) and like the handheld Zelda games, differentiates itself by being strange and having a new style compared to its console cousins. Super Mario Land was a launch title for the Game Boy, used simple graphics, and had a different physics system (in my opinion an improved one) from Super Mario Bros on the NES.

Super Mario Land 2

With Super Mario Land 2 the graphics were completely reworked to look more like Super Mario Bros 3, and even Super Mario World. The hub overworld was hugely ambitious with diverse lands to conquer and it was a huge step up from Super Mario Land. Similarly to Link’s Awakening, this title would graphically push the Game Boy to its limits, and for me, it represents one of the very best Game Boy games. It feels more like a 16-bit game than an 8-bit game.

With Super Mario Land 2, again it’s possible that new chips were used for the title to be such a jump up from Super Mario Land. The title used a bigger Mario sprite compared to Super Mario Land. The sprite was also more detailed. Super Mario Land 3 was a different kind of title and used Wario as the player character rather than Mario. Again, it used detailed graphics but its gameplay was quite a lot different from the previous titles. After Super Mario Land 3, we didn’t get a new handheld Mario platformer until the Nintendo DS, over 10 years later.

New Super Mario Bros.

As the title implies, New Super Mario Bros was a reboot of the Mario 2D platformers designed as a traditional Mario game, but released on the highly experimental (but successful) Nintendo DS. The title implemented a graphical upgrade, with 3D models used on a 2D background (with some elements in the background also being 3D models). New Super Mario Bros could have been more stylized in my opinion and might have looked better with cel-shading, or if it was based on the art from Super Mario Strikers. However, in terms of art the developers opted to play it safe. The result was a vanilla-looking Mario platformer that had tight gameplay mechanics, and the game was a success both critically and commercially. The 2D titles, including New Super Mario Bros sell very well. They usually sell more copies than the 3D Mario titles. Super Mario 64 DS sold 11 million copies, while New Super Mario Bros sold over 30 million copies.

Evolution of success

Nintendo has dominated the handheld gaming scene arguably since even before the original Game Boy in 1989. The Game and Watch systems which were released before the Game Boy, were simple games that used basic calculator-like screens and sold around 43 million units in total. With the Game Boy and all of its iterations, the competition was comfortably destroyed. The Game Gear sold 10 million units, the Atari Lynx sold around two million units, and the Neo Geo Pocket also sold around two million units. The Game Boy, Game Boy pocket, and Game Boy Color sold a combined 118 million units. With the Nintendo DS that followed after the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo had to deal with their most challenging rival, the Sony PSP. The PSP was almost as powerful as the PS2 and could play movies as well as music. The Nintendo DS was a system that had two screens including a touch screen and was modestly powerful, but targeted a wide audience through playing games that were marketed as educational tools. The PSP sold an impressive 82 million units while the DS sold 154 million units.

The Mario and Zelda games that developed and evolved alongside the Nintendo handhelds were key in helping push the systems to success. Especially during the early Game Boy days, a viewer can see the way that the early games became more complex and also developed personality and character.

There are different generations of people throughout the world that love Nintendo because of one or another of these milestone titles that emerged either on the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, or Nintendo DS. From Link’s Awakening in 1991 to Echoes of Wisdom in 2024, Zelda has inspired people with rich worlds that could be explored on handhelds played in the Sahara desert or the Arctic tundra. Super Mario Land 2 has had people trying to beat Wario for over thirty years, battling not to lose their last lives as they try to take precise jumps while avoiding fireballs or falling into darkness in Wario’s castle. The Nintendo handhelds and the classic Mario and Zelda games are the defining legacy of Nintendo.