Mario Strikers
Overview:Â
My first project as a gameplay animator. I worked closely with the game director on the gameplay animation and design. From prototyping to shipping, I helped design and animate everything from how passing and shooting worked to how we differentiated each character.
Mario Strikers was a studio favorite. We would run tournaments, have rivalries, and always be excited about balancing and features.
Skills: Keyframe Animation, Design
Tools: 3DS Max, Biped, Proprietary Tools
Platform: Nintendo Wii, Gamecube
Team: Next Level Games
Mario Strikers Charged
After the success of the first Mario Strikers, we started on Charged soon after. We added many new features including a much larger character pool. I continued to work on playable character designs and animations, and focused on establishing new features including increased ball control, player archetypes, unique shots, dodges, and movement.
Challenges: First gen Wii controller support, aerial play, power shots, level effects
Super Mario Strikers
I animated the majority of the gameplay animations for the playable characters in Super Mario Strikers. Animation drove movement, so getting everything from the timing of stops, starts, turns, run speed, and hit reacts was important for how the game felt. This connection between animation and gameplay is what first got me excited about game design.
Challenges: Animation style, animation based movement, design for powerups, one timers, kick windups, animation timing