A few months ago, a lo-fi port of 'Super Mario Brothers' that took seven years to program was wiped from servers in just four days, reportedly after threats from Nintendo - despite the fact that this hobbyist project only runs on the obsolete 1980s computer system Commodore 64. And like most unauthorized Mario games, it probably won’t be around for long.īetween “Mario,” “The Legend of Zelda,” and “Metroid,” Nintendo easily has the most recognizable stable of video game characters in the industry, so it’s no surprise their collection has sparked an unending parade of fan-created spinoffs, with names like “Another Metroid 2 Remake,” “Super Mario 64 HD,” “Zelda 30 Tribute,” and “No Mario’s Sky,” that have become viral hits after debuting on gaming sites.īut Nintendo is generally less than pleased with these efforts, and has a reputation for aggressively defending its intellectual property, in many cases telling creators to take down their spinoffs. It’s weird, it’s buggy, and it’s fun as hell.
