The phrase "Super Mario FPS" conjures up certain images for me: a custom map from a source gun game, or an edgy Doom WAD like "Bikini Bottom Massacre" (opens in new tab). Basically, it's a "tribal" tattoo mario (opens in new tab) kind of mentality. Developer Sean Noonan's "Super 1-1" (opens in new tab), on the other hand, is a more wholesome and benign version of this concept.

We first reported on Noonan's concept in 2019 (opens in new tab), and the developer made a full release early the following year. Nintendo's crack legal department seemed to have given them a stay of execution, and it seemed like that was the end of it until just this week; on March 11, Noonan released an update to Super 1-1, which included new collectibles, back-end tweaks, and rendering updates. All changes are listed here:

I remember being tickled by this concept three years ago, but never actually loaded Super 1-1 and tried the game! Mario's movements translate nicely to a first-person perspective, and he's armed with a plunger-firing cannon that gets stronger the more mushrooms he collects. I also love how the collectathon-like design of 3D platformers is incorporated into FPS, reminding me of the WAD in the "Doom: The Golden Souls" (open in new tab) series.

For the sake of professional pride and journalistic integrity, I had to uncover that hidden level as well; in the Super 1-1 video on Alpha Beta Gamer (opens in new tab), the base level is set to 100% and then loaded directly.

Kudos to xVioletRain (opens in new tab) on YouTube. He put his method on a speedrun video 3 years ago and I was the 120th person to see it. Just key in the Konami code on the start screen with the keyboard (up, up, down, left, right, left B A. It reminds me of the secret levels in 3D Mario, the cute ones that look like full linear sky levels. I'm glad to see it and my great struggle to do so made it all the sweeter.

God knows, the fact that this demo has been online for nearly four years means that the legal team, like Nintendo's Terminator, will continue to protect its harmless existence. super 1-1 is a fun and creative project, so itch.io (open in new tab). I recommend checking it out.