Grand Theft Mario – Two very different Universes collide!
A Crossover of Super Mario and Grand Theft Auto?
Well in the world of fan art, nothing is impossible, even if it includes two so very different universes like Nintendo’s colorful series about the plumber brothers rescuing Princess Peach again and again and Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series which involves the player into often violent enviroments in a world full with gangsters. I spoke with Amirul Haviz from Malaysia about his quite funny series of crossover art between the Mario and GTA Universes.
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GAHQ:Hello Amirul,first of all, what inspired you to do a Mario and Grand Theft Auto cross over? These series and game characters are as unrelated to each other as Sonic and Lara Croft…not that i want to give you Ideas now lol Amirul H:I got inspired to create this crossover because the games themselfes! GAHQ: So far you put the Super Mario Bros characters in a GTA enviroment, can we expect the opposite sooner or later with GTA characters in the Mushroom Kingdom? Amirul H: It’s funny because that was actually my first idea, put Tommy Vicentti in the Mushroom Kingdom, but the concept wasn’t strong enough so I thought of another one. GAHQ: Beside this article and the small interview, i saw your works being featured on websites like Kotaku and guess not a few others featured them as well, how do you feel about that and did you expect it? Amirul H: Well I didn’t expected that at all. I am very suprised and happy that people love it. They started to share my artwork via Tumblr, facebook and blogs. People love it and they are supporting it. |
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Mario Kart in the Grand Theft Auto Worlds? Take all my Money!
GAHQ: Do you believe the attention through the cross overs is useful for you?
Amirul H: I think the attention is useful for me because I can show the world my art and my idea, give me more exposure in art and games industry.
GAHQ: What can we expect from you in the future? Will we see more GTAXMario stuff or are you going to try other game series as well?
Amirul H: This GTAXMario stuff gave me an endless idea like a running water, you probably seeing more of it soon. But I am also thinking of another classic and modern game crossovers, I probably do a crossover from classic cartoon series instead of games.
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GAHQ: Which one of the game series do you like more? The unviolent, unrealistic saga around the plumber brothers or the often pretty brutal and sometimes even disturbing GTA games (and why?) Amirul H: Well Mario is a legend, I loved playing it when I was a kid, but now I prefer GTA, I love it because there are a lot of things that I can’t do in the real world but can do it in GTA lol, if you know what I mean. GAHQ: What other games do you play in your free time? Amirul H: Well, I play almost everything, you name it, I am a game nerd, can’t help it. Most of them are shooting games. GAHQ: What do you think about other Sandbox games like Saints Row, Red Dead Redemption and Just Cause? Amirul H: I love Red Dead Redemption, I personally think this game is great in so many ways stunning graphic, fun gameplay, interesting story, and badass characters! I can’t remember how many times I replayed this game, Rockstar can’t do no wrong. I played Saints Row before but it’s just not my type of game, probably everything is over the top, I couldn’t care less about the story. Just Cause, is fun, has stunning graphics, but I don get the motivation at all, but its fun to messing around in this game. |
GAHQ: What are your favourite video game characters and why?
Amirul H: Well its difficult to choose. I always was in love with Lara Croft, and always will be. I grew up with Tomb Raider, I played all the TR games and I feel really attached to her.
Lara is amazing, smart, sexy and badass!! The reboot of the TR franchise made her a more interesting character too.
My second favorite is Naked Snake, well there are Solid, Liquid, Solidus Snake, but Naked Snake is my favorite. He has a interesting personality, born to be a soldier and a hero but is scared by Dracula?? lol aside from his cold personality there is still a warmth, humorous side of him, that’s making him an interesting character.
GAHQ: Is there something else you want to tell our readers?
Amirul H: That’s all, thanks for an interview 
Thanks from my side as well @ Amirul and good luck and fun with your future projects!
You can visit Amirul’s gallery on deviantART here
