Consider this hand-drawn Super Mario Bros. level a Paper Mario prequel

The first level of the first Super Mario Bros. is arguably the most familiar and beloved collection of pixels in all of video games. For most gamers, to replay World 1-1 is to stroll through an old neighborhood, nimbly skipping over the cracks in the concrete that have always and will always remain the same. The level’s been recreated and refashioned in a number of Nintendo titles over the years, not to mention honored in a slew of fan tributes, including the one you’ll find above. There, you’ll see how Twitter user @KisaragiHuae6 has gorgeously rendered the rotund plumber’s first trek into the Mushroom Kingdom on notebook paper via stop-motion animation.

Sure, this is hardly the first time we’ve seen Mario and his crew in paper form, but the video’s handmade charms are warm in the way pixels never could be. Especially clever is the crumpling animation accompanying Mario’s jump from pint-sized to plus-sized, as well as the accordion folds of the squished Goombas.

In a tweet, @KisaragiHuae6 showed off some of the paper models that made these effects possible. Check ‘em out below, then do the same with Metroid. Thanks.

[via The Verge]

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