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Lunar Magic is a level editor created by FuSoYa for [[Super Mario World]]. It's well known for being the tool that created the famous hacked game: Brutal Mario World<sup>1</sup>.
{{for|magic rituals related to the moon|Moon magic}}
{{Notability|Product|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Lunar Magic
| logo = Lunar_Magic_file_icon.png
| logo caption =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| collapsible =
| developer = FuSoYa
| released = {{Start date and age|2000|09|24}}
| discontinued =
| latest release version = 3.71
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2026|09|27}}
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| platform =
| size =
| language =
| language count =
| language footnote =
| genre = [[Level editor]]
| license = [[Software license|Freeware]]
| alexa =
| standard =
| AsOf =
}}


=== FuSoYa's Program Description<sup>2</sup> ===
'''Lunar Magic''' is a [[level editor]] created by FuSoYa for ''[[Super Mario World]]''<ref name="turns20">{{cite web |url=http://www.1up.com/features/super-mario-world-turns-20?pager.offset=2 |title=Super Mario World Turns 20 from |publisher=1UP.com |date= |accessdate=2013-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722053306/http://www.1up.com/features/super-mario-world-turns-20?pager.offset=2 |archive-date=2015-07-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> that allows the user to edit and create custom graphics, blocks, sprites, levels, backgrounds, music, [[overworld|overworld maps]], and full title screen and credits.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Joho |first=Jess |date=2017-06-12 |title=Why 'Super Mario Maker' Didn’t Kill the Mario Hacking Community |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-super-mario-maker-didnt-kill-the-mario-hacking-community/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="O'reilly" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lunar Magic |url=https://sneslab.net/wiki/Lunar_Magic |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=SnesLab |language=en}}</ref> The program is distributed as freeware and runs on [[Microsoft Windows]].
"Lunar Magic is a level editor I created for Super Mario World (SNES). During its 12 year span of being the only level editor available for this classic game, it's inspired the creation of countless modifications of SMW by fans and casual players alike. It wasn't originally intended to be a long term project, but things turned out otherwise...  


I began looking into making an editor for SMW shortly after releasing the SoM VWF patch, mostly on a whim to see how hard it would be. I started out in February 2000 by figuring out the compression format for the graphics and building the necessary decompression and recompression tools. I went on to decode the level layout data, which required disassembling a fair portion of the ROM's ASM code. Then I reused the old GUI for the unfinished prototype of the Sailor Moon Map Editor to begin constructing the level editor. I implemented the drag/drop support I had originally planned for SMRPG's editor, and rewrote the GFX routines to handle Mario World's format. This was done sometime in mid-summer.
Lunar Magic has been used to create various custom levels, particularly [[kaizo]] levels. It inspired various creators, such as [[PangaeaPanga]], who later used his mapping skills to create levels in ''[[Super Mario Maker]]'' and [[Super Mario Maker 2|its sequel]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-05 |title=What has Super Mario Maker 2 got in store for us? |url=https://www.redbull.com/us-en/super-mario-maker-pangaeapanga-interview |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=Red Bull |language=en-us}}</ref>


Then came implementing an "Add Object" GUI, without which editing Mario Levels would become an exercise in extreme tediousness. I also created the MWL format, put in layer 2 support, and added a bunch of other dialogs and what-nots that were essential to changing the properties of a level. Which was finished sometime in mid-August.  
==History==
According to FuSoYa, he started the development of Lunar Magic for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] game ''Super Mario World'', in February 2000,<ref>{{cite web |title=FuSoYa's Niche - Lunar Magic SMW Editor Introduction |url=https://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lm/index.html |accessdate=29 June 2020 |website=fusoya.eludevisibility.org |publisher=FuSoYa}}</ref> with the first public release coming on September 24, 2000. FuSoYa, who coded the editor and reverse engineered the base game as a solo developer, also created ''Super Demo World'' as a way to showcase what the new editor was capable of creating.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Q |date=2016-07-16 |title=Interview — FuSoYa, creator of Lunar Magic, the Super Mario World editor |url=https://qsnes.home.blog/2016/07/15/interview-fusoya-creator-of-lunar-magic-the-super-mario-world-editor/ |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=Q's Gaming Corner |language=en}}</ref>


By then of course I was horrified by the sheer amount of time it had taken to build the silly program, but I was more horrified still to realize that the whole thing would be a waste if I didn't put in the sprite support to finish it off. So I put in sprite support, as well as an "Add Sprites" GUI and a couple small ASM ROM modifications. I quickly wrapped up most of the loose ends by early September.  
New releases with improvements have regularly come over the years, with the most recent update coming on September 27, 2026, to version 3.71. As of September 2026, it remains the only publicly released level editor for ''Super Mario World.''


In late September it was finally released to the public for the first time. At that point I thought my job was pretty much complete, other than perhaps for a few minor revisions that could be added as needed.  
==Reception==
Reception for Lunar Magic has been positive. ''[[Kotaku]]'' praised it, noting it was a "Cool level editor for ''Super Mario World''{{-"}} and stated "Lunar Magic is sure to revive the seemingly, never-flagging love for the ultimate side-scroller." ''[[Boing Boing]]'' thanked the editor's creator for making it.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cory Doctorow at 3:26 am Thu, Oct 20 |url=http://boingboing.net/2005/10/20/super-mario-world-le.html |title=Super Mario World level-editor |publisher=Boing Boing |date= 19 October 2005|accessdate=2013-02-10}}</ref> Simon Carless' 2005 book ''Gaming Hacks'' by [[O'Reilly Media]] describes it as "One of the most spectacular, fully formed level editor hacks of all time".<ref name="O'reilly">{{cite book|title=Gaming Hacks|publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]]|author=Carless, Simon|year=2004|authorlink=Simon Carless|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrqz84QUuSEC&dq=%22Lunar+Magic%22++level+editor+-wikipedia&pg=PA270|page=270|isbn=9780596007140}}</ref> ''[[1UP.com]]'' stated that "This unprecedented editor allows for easy creation of brand new levels for Super Mario World."<ref name="turns20"/> [[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] noted that Lunar Magic has continued to stay relevant even after the release of the official editor Super Mario Maker, citing better customizability as the main reason.<ref name=":0" />


Well, there were indeed a few revisions and fixes. And then a few more. And then some extra ASM enhancements to the game. And then a few more of those too. Before I knew it, it was already September 2001, a full year since Lunar Magic had first been released. In that time I had added extra graphics, 4bpp support, custom palettes, clipboard support, extended animated tiles, bypass dialogs, Japanese ROM support, layer 2 editing for the overworld, and all sorts of other minor enhancements.  
The website Super Mario World Central, or SMW Central, was created in 2006 and is mostly dedicated to showing off ROM hacks made using Lunar Magic.<ref name=":0" />


By the end of 2001, the overworld editor had full layer 1 support, making it possible to redesign the level layout and overworld paths of SMW. In early 2002, text editing for the overworld level names, the castle event sequences, and the message boxes had also been implemented. But by mid-2002, Lunar Magic's development finally began winding down.
==See also==
* ''[[Kaizo Mario World]]''
* ''[[Super Mario Maker]]''
* ''[[Super Mario Maker 2]]''


After releasing version 1.51 in September 2002, there was a long period where I was busy with other things. Development on the program slowed to a crawl. This was also around the same time that I and Zero-G started working on Demo World TLC, but it also stalled early in 2003. It wasn't until mid-2003 that we started trying to get it done in time for LM's next release. LM was updated to allow for far more ExGFX files, and a new feature was added for level-specific tile and palette animation. The overworld was also finally finished off with animation and a sprite editing mode.
==References==
{{reflist}}


A few days after DW:TLC was released, LM version 1.60 was also released in September of 2003. There were a few minor bug fix releases over the next 2 years, but this was followed by a long 4 year period of inactivity since I figured (once again) that the program was complete and that I could move on to other things.  
== External links ==
*[https://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lm/index.html FuSoYa's Niche]
*[https://www.smwcentral.net/ SMW Central]


This lasted up until September of 2009, when version 1.64 was released to address various issues that had been noticed over the years. By this point the SMW community had grown considerably, and I was approached by smkdan about the possibility of including an ASM enhancement in LM for SMW that he was considering making to increase the number of tiles that levels could use. I agreed, and used the time to add several other things like 4x more Map16 and an ExAnimation rewrite, which was released as version 1.70 in April of 2010.
{{Unofficial Mario media}}


But since there were still some things I had in mind to polish up and update, work on the program has continued and now it's up to version 2.10 in 2012, over 12 years since Lunar Magic was first released.
[[Category:Video game level editors]]
 
[[Category:Unofficial works based on Mario]]
Looking back, I'd say it's pretty cool that modifying SMW is still going strong after all this time. This has become one of the most popular Mario games to edit out there. So I'd like to express my thanks to Nintendo, for creating a game that so many people have spent untold hours playing, editing and just generally having lots of 16-bit fun with. ^^"
[[Category:2006 software]]
 
=== Main Uses ===
As a level editor for Super Mario World, Lunar Magic is often used as an assistant tool to hack and create new games, such as the case of Brutal Mario World.
 
==== Editing the Game ====
There are two ways to edit the game: Level Editor, where you can edit the enemies and items of an especific level, and Overworld editor, where you can edit the land mass, the ways Mario travels and the level's positions in the Overwolrd. Both of them are pretty useful when creating a game, scince you want it to be unique.
 
== Most Downloaded games ==
Here's the list of the most downloaded games from the SMW Central<sup>3</sup>     
 
5 Pokémon Darkness ----------- Lexator
 
4 Karoshi Mario -------------- HuFlungDu
 
3 Super Mario's Legend Quest - mario56
 
2 Yoshi's Emergency ---------- Brad172
 
1 Brutal Mario World --------- Carol
 
=== External Links ===
 
<sup>1</sup> Brutal Mario World Download - http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=showhack&id=1012
 
<sup>2</sup> FuSoYa's Niche -http://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lm/index.html
 
<sup>3</sup> SMW Central Your 7 year old SMW hacking source - http://www.smwcentral.net/

Latest revision as of 21:59, 1 October 2026

Template:For

This article may not meet the general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the topic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged or deleted. (February 2023)

Template:Infobox software

Lunar Magic is a level editor created by FuSoYa for Super Mario World[1] that allows the user to edit and create custom graphics, blocks, sprites, levels, backgrounds, music, overworld maps, and full title screen and credits.[2][3][4] The program is distributed as freeware and runs on Microsoft Windows.

Lunar Magic has been used to create various custom levels, particularly kaizo levels. It inspired various creators, such as PangaeaPanga, who later used his mapping skills to create levels in Super Mario Maker and its sequel.[5]

History

According to FuSoYa, he started the development of Lunar Magic for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Mario World, in February 2000,[6] with the first public release coming on September 24, 2000. FuSoYa, who coded the editor and reverse engineered the base game as a solo developer, also created Super Demo World as a way to showcase what the new editor was capable of creating.[7]

New releases with improvements have regularly come over the years, with the most recent update coming on September 27, 2026, to version 3.71. As of September 2026, it remains the only publicly released level editor for Super Mario World.

Reception

Reception for Lunar Magic has been positive. Kotaku praised it, noting it was a "Cool level editor for Super Mario WorldTemplate:-" and stated "Lunar Magic is sure to revive the seemingly, never-flagging love for the ultimate side-scroller." Boing Boing thanked the editor's creator for making it.[8] Simon Carless' 2005 book Gaming Hacks by O'Reilly Media describes it as "One of the most spectacular, fully formed level editor hacks of all time".[3] 1UP.com stated that "This unprecedented editor allows for easy creation of brand new levels for Super Mario World."[1] Vice noted that Lunar Magic has continued to stay relevant even after the release of the official editor Super Mario Maker, citing better customizability as the main reason.[2]

The website Super Mario World Central, or SMW Central, was created in 2006 and is mostly dedicated to showing off ROM hacks made using Lunar Magic.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Super Mario World Turns 20 from". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/features/super-mario-world-turns-20?pager.offset=2. Retrieved on 2013-02-10. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Joho, Jess (2017-06-12). "Why 'Super Mario Maker' Didn’t Kill the Mario Hacking Community" (in en-US). https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-super-mario-maker-didnt-kill-the-mario-hacking-community/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Carless, Simon (2004). Gaming Hacks. O'Reilly Media. p. 270. ISBN 9780596007140. https://books.google.com/books?id=zrqz84QUuSEC&dq=%22Lunar+Magic%22++level+editor+-wikipedia&pg=PA270. 
  4. ↑ "Lunar Magic" (in en). https://sneslab.net/wiki/Lunar_Magic. 
  5. ↑ "What has Super Mario Maker 2 got in store for us?" (in en-us). 2019-06-05. https://www.redbull.com/us-en/super-mario-maker-pangaeapanga-interview. 
  6. ↑ "FuSoYa's Niche - Lunar Magic SMW Editor Introduction". FuSoYa. https://fusoya.eludevisibility.org/lm/index.html. Retrieved on 29 June 2020. 
  7. ↑ Q (2016-07-16). "Interview — FuSoYa, creator of Lunar Magic, the Super Mario World editor" (in en). https://qsnes.home.blog/2016/07/15/interview-fusoya-creator-of-lunar-magic-the-super-mario-world-editor/. 
  8. ↑ Cory Doctorow at 3:26 am Thu, Oct 20 (19 October 2005). "Super Mario World level-editor". Boing Boing. http://boingboing.net/2005/10/20/super-mario-world-le.html. Retrieved on 2013-02-10. 

Template:Unofficial Mario media

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