This is absolutely the coolest thing I’ve seen in days and I’m not letting you get away without seeing it.
I kinda like how Super Mario Bros. is one of those things that gets used as a benchmark and/or guinea pig to test out other technologies and whatnot. What you see before you is no exception. As part of his thesis at the Hannover University of Applied Science and Art, student Andreas Heikaus has put SMB to the test in an exploration of applying familiar computer graphics to a new environment.
I’m a LITTLE disappointed that he uses the warp zones and whatnot, and that the previous level gets deleted when he reaches a new one, but this is still rad beyond all belief. No matter how many times you see it remade, Super Mario Bros. just never stops being cool. Ever. EVER.
Ever.
I am very, very impressed. For those who didn’t click through to see the HD version on Vimeo, the guy did this for his “Bachelor thesis at the University of Applied science and art Hannover”. Obviously the technical portion of the piece is about matching CG elements with live-action footage, and he does a great job with that, but I also really like the way he executed it artistically. He made some great design decisions, so cheers to him.