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I kind of want to make a whole level!

Materials: Assorted Perler beads and two interlockable 29x29 square pegboards. A strip of sticky-backed magnets.

Time: Several weeks of TiVo.

Cost: Hard to say -- maybe $30-$40, with most of the supplies bought on eBay.

You can check out the Perler Mario Coasters for more details on Perler/Hama beads and Nintendo sprites, since this project was an extension of that enterprise. All of the graphics are from sprites and backgrounds and stuff that people have taken from the game itself, which I think looks much more authentic than freehanding (which isn't so much my thing, anyway). It did, however, require several eBay refills of popular bead colors, since no matter how well-stocked you are you can never have enough black.

If I had more surface area to fill, I might move on to creating a more accurate level -- one with a dungeon and a water area, for example, with lots of background. At the moment, however, I'm pretty happy with this. The only downside is that Garth has taken an intense, arbitrary dislike to Frog Mario, so I find him on the floor some mornings

These are so AWESOME! They all look so completely accurate. Definitely the makings of some cool Christmas presents for the fam.

oh my GOODNESS! you aren't taking/teaching any summer courses are you?

ps. love the goomba in the boot.

It's really funny with this brand name, "Perler Beads". I am from Denmark where Hama beads are from, I think they invented it, and "Perler" actually means "beads" in Danish, so the name "Perler Beads" is kind of funny for a Dane. :o)
I love what you've done with them, I am thinking I may tip my children's Kindergarten about this - there should be a lot of appeal in this for the boys. :o)

They look accurate because they are. Katie downloaded pictures of sprites from the game and we worked from those. I had the easy job of placing plastic beads on a peg board.