Super Mario 128

Super Mario 128
Super Mario 128 as shown at the SpaceWorld event in August 2000.
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Mario
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube/Wii
Genre(s)	Adventure, platform

Super Mario 128 refers to a series of development projects that were originally to be used only to create a sequel to Super Mario 64. As debuted at Nintendo's Space World trade show in 2000, the demonstrated graphics and physics concepts were gradually incorporated into various games across many years. This includes the rapid object generation in Pikmin, the "sphere walking" technology used in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy, and the physics of Metroid Prime.

The name Super Mario 128 was first used as early as January 1997 by Shigeru Miyamoto during an interview for Nintendo Power, as a possible name for a Super Mario 64 sequel. This rumored expansion and sequel to Super Mario 64 called Super Mario 64-2 was said to be developed on the 64DD, but ended up being canceled.Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned at E3's 1997 convention that he was "just getting started" on the project.

We're in the middle of preparing Mario 64-2 for release on the 64DD. I'd like to take advantage of the 64DD's ability to store information. As of now, Luigi's also a full part of the game, but we haven't started thinking about 2-player gameplay with Mario and Luigi yet. We'll tackle that once we've got the system ironed out—we've figured out the processing power issues, so we could do it if we tried.

In a November 1999 Nintendo Power interview, Shigeru Miyamoto said, "Well, for over a year now at my desk, a prototype program of Mario and Luigi has been running on my monitor. We've been thinking about the game, and it may be something that could work on a completely new game system." The game had only a demo of one level made for it. Miyamoto claimed that multiplayer functionality was the first aspect of the game that he wanted to include.