TOKYO, Sept 14 — Nintendo’s classic Super Mario Bros has just turned 30, and the company has released a special interview with the game’s designers to mark the 30th anniversary of hit game franchise.

The 1985 game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, who were part of Nintendo’s creative department at that time.

Miyamoto and Tezuka spoke about the development and design of the original side-scrolling game, accompanied by hand-drawn backgrounds and clips from the company’s archives.

The duo also spoke about the development of ‘Super Mario Maker’, released this month for Nintendo’s Wii U video game console.

The new game offers existing levels, and also allows players to customise levels that can be shared with other players.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka explain the process of creating Super Mario Bros in this screenshot taken from the Nintendo video released to mark the 30th anniversary of the game.
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka explain the process of creating Super Mario Bros in this screenshot taken from the Nintendo video released to mark the 30th anniversary of the game.

Miyamoto and Tezuka also spoke about the use of amiibo, a small gaming accessory in the shape of various characters in the Nintendo gaming world, that can be used to replace Mario as the main character in the new Super Mario Maker game.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the original game, Nintendo has released a special 8-bit Mario amiibo that can be scanned into the game to make Mario grow larger than usual in the game.

Miyamoto and Tezuka said they hope players would enjoy creating their own levels and playing them, and hope that it will encourage players to explore their creativity and become better game designers.

Digg also released a video showing the evolution of Super Mario over the years to mark the special occasion.

The clip shows Mario’s first appearance in a Nintendo arcade title, Donkey Kong, in 1981, and follows the character's adventures from arcade to hand-held Gameboy to gaming consoles, from being a playable character to being a judge in an early tennis game.

The video is set to the iconic soundtrack from the original Super Mario Bros game, and features some of Nintendo’s more obscure titles where Mario made an appearance.

The six-song musical score from the original Super Mario Bros was written by Koji Kondo, including the catchy and iconic theme from World 1-1, which is one of the best known themes in the history of video games.