Super Mario Bros Custom NES – An Art Piece 14 Years in the Making

Super Mario Bros fans, I hope you enjoy! 😊

 

(Scroll down past the credits for lots of information about this project.)

 

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CREDITS:

 

🎨 Art piece designed by:
Platinumfungi
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🎨 Art piece created by:
Platinumfungi

 

AND

 

Custom NES Guy
Youtube
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🎼 Music by:
Chimpazilla

 

🎥 Video Production and Editing by:
Madreels
Youtube
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💥🌩️🔥 Practical Effects by:
Fantasy Creations FX

 

🔨🔧🧰 Set built by:
Platinumfungi

 

🙏 Special Thanks:
Will Chiles
Website
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THE BACKSTORY:

 

Creating this project has been a dream of mine since 2009. I had decided I wanted to make an art tribute to the legendary Super Mario Bros, but did not yet have the skills or experience to build what I saw in my mind. Many years and countless experiments have since passed, but, with great perseverance, this dream has finally come true!

 

Since the initial idea in 2009, I’ve made a number of other NES related art pieces, each time developing my skills a bit further. However, it wasn’t until somewhat recently that I finally felt ready to tackle this particular project. Even then, from start to finish, this art piece has literally taken OVER 3 YEARS to complete… There were an unlimited number of opportunities to just give up and move on with our lives and do something easier, but luckily, we did not.

 

For me, this is really a story of why it’s so important to find something to believe in and never give up on your dreams. There’s an indescribable satisfaction and sense of fulfillment I get from creating this art, and nothing else in the entire world provides that for me. It’s been 14 years…but somehow I held on and knew that one day I’d build this project.

 

It has been a VERY long journey for Custom NES Guy and I, but we have finally come to the grand unveiling – we’re so happy to finally bring this project to life, and we sincerely hope you enjoy!

 

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DESCRIPTION:

 

To the best of my ability I’ve tried to represent elements of the original SMB NES game into the design of this art piece everywhere you look. (Fyi, ALL the pixel art was created entirely from scratch by Platinumfungi.)

 

I hope you enjoy the little details and easter eggs – see if you can find them all…

 

– When pressed, the POWER and RESET buttons play SOUND EFFECTS like: getting a 1-UP, shooting a fireball, sliding down a flag pole, etc.

 

– The cart tray has been heavily modified. It features a HIDDEN warp zone and actually plays the corresponding warp pipe SOUND EFFECT when you press it up/down.

 

– The top of the console features a backlit design made to look similar to the beginning of Level 1-2. The frame around the backlit design features many of the main enemies, items, and characters.

 

– Opening the lid of the cart door reveals Super Mario about to run through a line of enemies and then face Bowser to rescue the Princess.

 

– Small Mario and Super Mario each have a controller dedicated to them. On the front of the controllers, running and jumping Marios appear above the appropriate A/B buttons. The back of the controllers have Small/Super Mario chasing a mushroom/star and a brick wall background.

 

– The right side of the console has Small Mario climbing a vine and also features a custom AV decal with the infamous ‘crown’ on it (the crown would appear next to your lives counter if you got over 9).

 

– The left side of the console shows Small Mario coming up out of a pipe.

 

– The rear of the console has Super Mario on a spring/jumping board and also features a custom AV decal for the power cord, channel select, and RF switch.

 

– The bottom of the console features a myriad of custom artwork and surprises: pipes, a piranha plant, a 1-UP mushroom, coins, a custom night-time title screen with the secret CONTINUE CODE: “Hold A then press Start”, is autographed and hand numbered #01, and even shows the final battle on the castle bridge between Fire Mario and Bowser!

 

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SECRETS:

 

See if you can find the following in the video:

 

– What is a reference to Super Mario Bros 2 (USA)?

 

– What is a reference to Super Mario Bros 3?

 

– At what time in the video does a hidden mushroom briefly appear, then disappear?

 

– For a REAL challenge, how many question mark blocks are seen on the art piece in the video? (Don’t count the same block more than once even if it’s seen multiple times.)