I am studying how to make a 2D game with JavaScript by reading open source JavaScript games and I came across this gibberish...

aSpriteData = [
    "}\"¹-º\"À+º\"À+º\"À+º\"¿¤À ~C_ +º\"À+º\"À+º\"À*P7²OK%¾+½u_\"À<¡a¡a¡bM@±@ª",    //  0 ground
    "a ' ![± 7°³b£[mt<Nµ7z]~¨OR»[f_7l},tl},+}%XN²Sb[bl£[±%Y_¹ !@ $",        //  1 qbox
    "!A % @,[] ±}°@;µn¦&X£ <$ §¤ 8}}@Prc'U#Z'H'@· ¶\"is ¤&08@£(",           //  2 mario
    "  ´!A.@H#q8¸»e-½n®@±oW:&X¢a<&bbX~# }LWP41}k¬#3¨q#1f RQ@@:4@$",         //  3 mario jump
    "   40 q$!hWa-½n¦#_Y}a©,0#aaPw@=cmY<mq©GBagaq&@q#0§0t0¤ $",         //  4 mario run
    "+hP_@",                                    //  5 pipe left
    "¢,6< R¤",                                  //  6 pipe right
    "@ &  ,'+hP?>³®'©}[!»¹.¢_^¥y/pX¸#µ°=a¾½hP?>³®'©}[!»¹.¢_^  Ba a",        //  7 pipe top left
    "@ , !] \"º £] , 8O #7a&+¢ §²!cº 9] P &O ,4    e",              //  8 pipe top right
    " £ #! ,! P!!vawd/XO¤8¼'¤P½»¹²'9¨  \"P²Pa²(!¢5!N*(4´b!Gk(a",            //  9 goomba
    "   Xu X5 =ou!¯­¬a[Z¼q.°u#|xv ¸··@=~^H'WOJ!¯­¬a=Nu ²J <J   a",          // 10 coin  // yui
    "@ & !MX ~L \"y %P *¢ 5a K  w !L \"y %P *­a%¬¢ 4  a",               // 11 ebox // yui
    "¢ ,\"²+aN!@ &7 }\"²+aN!XH # }\"²+aN!X%  8}\"²+aN!X%£@ (",          // 12 bricks
    "} %¿¢!N° I¨²*<P%.8\"h,!Cg r¥ H³a4X¢*<P%.H#I¬ :a!u !q",         // 13 block
    makeSpace(20) + "4a }@ }0 N( w$ }\" N! +aa",                    // 14 bush left
    " r \"²y!L%aN zPN NyN#²L}[/cy¾ N" + makeSpace(18) + "@",            // 15 bush mid
    makeSpace(18) + "++ !R·a!x6 &+6 87L ¢6 P+ 8+ (",                // 16 bush right
    " %©¦ +pq 7> \"³  s" + makeSpace(25) + "@",                 // 17 cloud bottom left
    "a/a_#².Q¥'¥b}8.£¨7!X\"K+5cqs%(" + makeSpace(18) + "0",             // 18 cloud bottom mid
    "bP ¢L P+ 8%a,*a%§@ J" + makeSpace(22) + "(",                   // 19 cloud bottom right
    "",         // 20 mushroom
    "", // koopa 16x24
    "",             // 22 star
    "",                         // 23 flagpole
    "",         // 24 flag
    "",                 // 25 flagpole top
    "  6  ~  }a }@ }0 }( }$ }\" }! } a} @} 0} (} $} \"² $",             // 26 hill slope
    "a } \"m %8 *P!MF 5la\"y %P" + makeSpace(18) + "(",             // 27 hill mid
    makeSpace(30) + "%\" t!DK \"q",                         // 28 hill top
    "",         // 29 castle bricks
    "",                         // 30 castle doorway bottom
    "",                 // 31 castle doorway top
    "",         // 32 castle top
    "",         // 33 castle top 2
    "",             // 34 castle window right
    "",             // 35 castle window left
    "",         // 36 castle flag
    makeSpace(19) + "8@# (9F*RSf.8  A¢$!¢040HD",                    // 37 goomba flat
    "     *(!¬#q³¡[_´Yp~¡=<¥g=&'PaS²¿ Sbq*<I#*£Ld%Ryd%¼½e8H8bf#0a",         // 38 mario dead
    "   =  ³ #b 'N¶ Z½Z Z½Z Z½Z Z½Z Z½Z Z½Z =[q ²@ ³  ¶   0",           // 39 coin step 1
    "   ?@ /q /e '¤ #³ !ºa }@ N0 ?( /e '¤ #³  ¿  _a  \"",               // 40 coin step 2
    "   /  >  ]  º !² #¢ %a +  >  ]  º !² #¢ 'a  \"",               // 41 coin step 3
    "   7¢ +² *] %> \"p !Ga t¢ I² 4º *] %> \"p  ¡  Oa  \""              // 42 coin step 4
],

What does it do? If you want to look at the source file here it is: http://www.nihilogic.dk/labs/mario/mario.js

Beware, there is more gibberish inside. I can't seem to make sense of any of it.

Thank you.