I still remember how overwhelming The Lands Between felt when I first booted up Elden Ring. The map stretched out in every direction, promising secrets, danger, and the kind of exploration I had not experienced since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. So when I stumbled upon a fan-made reimagining of the Elden Ring map in the style of a Super Mario overworld, it instantly clicked for me.

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The creation comes from Twitter user Lucky Bun, and it transforms FromSoftware's grim fantasy world into something much brighter and more playful. Instead of the muted, painterly tones of the original, this version uses bold colors and chunky, game-like geography that feels like it could slot right into a classic side-scrolling adventure.

What strikes me most is how faithfully the recognizable landmarks are translated. Key areas captured in the design include:

  • Caelid

  • Limgrave

  • Liurnia of the Lakes

  • Altus Plateau

  • Nokron, Eternal City

  • Crumbling Farum Azula

Even hidden or endgame locations like Nokron, Eternal City and Crumbling Farum Azula appear in the corners, just as they sit at the margins of the actual in-game world. The map is not a one-to-one representation of every single cave, catacomb, or minor dungeon, but it doesn't need to be. It captures the general layout and personality of the world with a kind of joyful clarity.

The Elden Ring community has always been obsessed with mapping. Soon after the game launched, the official Wiki introduced an interactive map that marked items, NPCs, upgrades, and Sites of Grace. Another fan project went a step further and pinpointed every non-dungeon boss character across the map. Those tools are practical, but what Lucky Bun's version offers is different: it is an aesthetic tribute to exploration itself.

Given the response, I am clearly not the only one who loves it. The Super Mario-style Lands Between earned more than 6,000 retweets and over 43,000 likes after it was first posted. That kind of reception makes sense. Elden Ring and Super Mario both rely on the joy of checking the horizon, picking a direction, and discovering something unexpected. Marrying those two design languages feels almost too perfect.

Of course, Elden Ring itself was a landmark release from developer FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment. When it arrived, it was immediately called a modern masterpiece. Critics and players praised its open-world design as a groundbreaking achievement for action RPGs. I remember feeling that shift in the conversation: suddenly the standard open-world formula felt dated, and the idea of simply chasing icons across a map seemed less exciting than FromSoftware's approach of letting players wander into ruin and wonder alike.

That influence is still evident in 2026. The game remains available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and new players continue to discover The Lands Between. Even years after launch, the community keeps producing art, guides, mods, and maps that make the world feel alive. A playful Super Mario reinterpretation from Lucky Bun is a small but memorable example of that enduring creative energy.

I also appreciate the details tucked into the corners of the fan map. Nokron, Eternal City appears in the top-left, which mirrors its hidden underground status in the actual game. Crumbling Farum Azula sits in the bottom-right, a fitting spot for a place that exists outside normal space and time. These placements show that the creator did not just slap a bright color palette onto a generic fantasy map; they actually understood how Elden Ring's zones connect and how players experience them.

If there is a lesson here, it's that great world design can be translated across completely different tones and genres. Elden Ring's Lands Between is often bleak, lonely, and terrifying. But when redrawn with Super Mario's cheerful sensibilities, it becomes approachable and nostalgic. That contrast is exactly why I keep returning to both games: they remind me that exploration can be difficult and fun at the same time.

I hope someone eventually mods an actual playable Super Mario-style map into Elden Ring. Until then, I'll keep looking at Lucky Bun's design and imagining what it would be like to ride through Limgrave in a go-kart or stomp a wandering noble. It is a crossover I did not know I needed, and now I cannot unsee it.