Next Level Games

Next Level Games Inc. is a video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in October 2002, Next Level Games specializes in creating console video games. Their first project was NHL Hitz Pro, which was published by Midway Games in 2003. The company is best known for its work with Nintendo, having released two products making the Nintendo Selects series of most popular games: Super Mario Strikers and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, as well as making Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi's Mansion 3. Nintendo would fully acquire Next Level on January 5, 2021.

1st Logo (September 25-November 14, 2003)

Visuals: On a white background, the dark blue text "NEXT LEVEL GAMES" flips in one by one, with the former larger than the rest of the text, all in the middle of the screen. As this happens, a white egg-shaped object with multiple lines all over it flies in and bumps into the text, causing the egg to spin and the text to spread out. The egg then stops in mid-air, with the shadow having a cut in it. The circle then blinks twice, with the shadow briefly filling in.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A "WHOOSH" and a "BOOM" are heard when the text flips in. The sounds of metal clanging and a ball dropping are then heard, with two pings for the blinking (the sound of a hockey puck being hit into a net).

Availability: Only seen on NHL Hitz Pro.

2nd Logo (November 18, 2005-July 19, 2011)

Captain America: Super Soldier variant

Visuals: On a white background, a hole opens up in an invisible floor and the egg from before, but with a blue circle and different markings, rises up from the hole. The egg then opens up a bit, dispelling some smoke before rotating around and forming a Mega Man-like robot with the egg as the head. It does a pose before going to the left with rockets and doing another pose. Its hand then becomes a cannon and charges up to shoot a silver ball, which breaks apart and expels smoke, with "N E X T L E V E L" spreading out from a blue light. The robot then kneels and shoots out 5 smaller balls, which soon transform into "G A M E S". The robot then does one final pose before transforming back into the egg from before, but with the blue eye. It then blinks to become white, forming the cut in the shadow and creating the final product, sans the text being slightly different and the shadow closer to the egg. The URL then fades in below.

Trivia: Per here on their website, the robot is a "solid, invincible force" formed by six other robot characters representing different work values - Gladhand, Hufflegruff, Kokoro, Screebles, Chatterbox, and Bodhi - uniting as one. Gladhand represents integrity and respect, Hufflegruff represents strength and compassion, Kokoro represents passion and growth, Screebles represents creativity, innovation, and fun, Chatterbox represents communication and productivity, and Bodhi, apparently a later addition, represents wisdom, awareness, and consideration.

Variants:

On Captain America: Super Soldier, the screen zooms past a dark blue fiery background where blue sparks form the logo, which becomes white as the backing becomes a solid black.
A still version exists, with "Developed By" above it.
Later on, the URL doesn't appear.

Technique: Cel-shaded CGI.

Audio: A quick phaser sound can be heard in the beginning, with the following sounds being related to the actions happening. Sometimes, a robotic female voice will say the name.

Audio Variants:

Super Mario Strikers has several variants: a random character from the game (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Princess Daisy, Wario or Waluigi) does the voiceover. In the case of Yoshi and Donkey Kong, there is their distinctive vocalizations.
A similar variant occurs on Mario Strikers Charged, this time with only four random characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Waluigi). On Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi's variant, phaser sounds can be heard around the end. And on Peach's variant, her voice has a robotic effect.
- Mario: "Next Level Games-es! Woo-hoo!"
- Luigi: "Ho-ho! Next Level Games! Yahoo!"
- Peach: "Next Level Games."
- Waluigi: "Next Level Games! Ha-ha! .....Losers."
On Captain America: Super Soldier, there is pulsing and phasing sounds.

Availability: The animated version can be seen at the end of the aforementioned titles, as well as Punch-Out!! for the Wii.

It also appears on Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, the 2010 version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, and Captain America: Super Soldier.
However, it doesn't appear on Ticket or Ride, Jungle Speed, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, or Luigi's Mansion 3, so for years now it has only served as a print logo.