Scenes partitioning and annotations of Super Mario Bros. levels.
Creators: name: Harel, Yann
name: Delhaye, Hugo
name: Pinsard, Basile
name: Bellec, Pierre
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Super Mario Bros.
level design
game design
retro game
annotation

description: Resources used to split Super Mario Bros. levels into succcessive "scenes"



Each level map was first obtained from NesMaps and added to the mario_scenes_manual_annotations.pdf file.

Using the stable-retro GUI, we obtained the X positions corresponding to the start and end of each scene.

Then for each scenes, we identified game design patterns as described in Dahlskog & Togelius, 2012.

We aggregated all these informations in the scenes_mastersheet.tsv file.


Note : Underwater and Castle levels were ignored in our analysis because they have a slightly different gameplay than the regular level, and make use of different game design patterns. Bonus zones and water sections are annotated as such, but their patterns weren't identified.

The scenes mastersheet

This TSV file contains informations related to all the scenes identified in Super Mario Bros. levels.

It contains one row per scene, 3 columns to identify the scene, an Entry and Exit point columns, and one columns per pattern.

These columns contain the following information : 

- World : The world ID, an integer between 1 and 8.- Level : The level ID, an integer between 1 and 3.- Scene : The scene ID, an integer.- Entry point : The X position corresponding to the beginning of the scene. An integer.- Exit point : The X position corresponding to the ending of the scene. An integer.

Design patterns (from Dahlskog & Togelius 2012). The values can be 0 (absence of the corresponding pattern) or 1 (presence of the corresponding pattern) : - Enemy : A single enemy- 2-Horde : Two enemies together- 3-Horde : Three enemies together- 4-Horde : Four enemies together- Roof : Enemies underneath a hanging platform making Mario bounce in the ceiling- Gap : Single gap in the ground/platform- Multiple gaps : More than one gap with fixed platforms in between- Variable gaps    : Gap and platform width is variable- Gap enemy : Enemies in the air above gaps- Pillar gap : Pillar (pipes or blocks) are placed on platforms between gaps- Valley : A valley created by using vertically stacked blocks or pipes but without Piranha plant(s)- Pipe valley : A valley with pipes and Piranha plant(s)- Empty valley : A valley without enemies- Enemy valley : A valley with enemies- Roof valley : A valley with enemies and a roof making Mario bounce in the ceiling- 2-Path : A hanging platform allowing Mario to choose different paths- 3-Path : 2 hanging platforms allowing Mario to choose different paths- Risk/Reward : A multiple path where one path have a reward and a gap or enemy making it risky to go for the reward- Stair up : A stair going up- Stair down : A stair going down- Empty stair valley : A valley between a stair up and a stair down without enemies- Enemy stair valley : A valley between a stair up and a stair down with enemies- Gap stair valley : A valley between a stair up and a stair down with gap in the middle

We added several patterns in order to annotate key sections of the level : 

- Reward : Rewards without immediate danger- Moving platform : Platform moving vertically or horizontally- Flagpole : End of the level- Beginning : Beginning of the level- Bonus zone : Hidden zone without enemies- Waterworld : A special hidden zone with Waterworld gameplay