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The future of Super Mario

Sheikah_Witch

I just really like botw
Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Location
Sweden
I was musing life, gaming and all the great stuff in between over a cup of coffee this morning and it struck me that I had a hard time figuring out what the future has in store for Super Mario.
This is all personal, but:

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - peak 2D Mario.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - peak racing Mario.
Super Mario Odyssey - peak open-ended 3D Mario.

Where does everyone's favorite plumber go from here? Is the answer as simple as Odyssey 2 and Mario Kart 9? Do we want Galaxy 3? Or a follow-up to Super Mario Bros. 2?
If Nintendo takes him completely left field, how would a completely different reimagining of a Mario game look? How could a new 2D Mario feel fresh? Feel free to discuss.
 
People thought Galaxy was peak 3D Mario, people wondered what you do next after you've been to space. Yet Nintendo did the genius thing and bring Mario literally back down to earth and it worked beautifully.

While i'd love Odyssey 2 I do believe that Nintendo will do right with whatever they do to him next in 3D and I cant possibly imagine what they could do.

When we played Super Mario World on the SNES did we ever think a 3D version of Mario would have us jumping into paintings and swinging Bowser around by his tail?

For me personally I'd like more choice in Mario games. I'd like a playable Peach and Tiara in Odyssey 2, for example.

2D i think needs a shake up. I liked U for the most part but hated the constant use of castles and being booted out of the level.
With DK Tropical Freeze being as amazing as it is i still think 2D Mario has more than enough room to spill spread its wings to innovate.

I can only see Mario Kart 8 being out done by a Mario Kart All Stars or Smash Kart and bring in Nintendo characters and tracks from all IPs, add in a special story mode grand prix, add custom cups and a track maker too and keep the antigrav goodness.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2013
Location
Australia
People thought Galaxy was peak 3D Mario, people wondered what you do next after you've been to space. Yet Nintendo did the genius thing and bring Mario literally back down to earth and it worked beautifully.
From a story point you're correct. But from a gameplay standpoint, it's been a gradual continuation. Of cause ignoring the mistake that was Mario Sunshine.

Mario 64 is the base moveset / game. Mario Galaxy adds in gravity and 2D pull star sections and other things. Odyssey added in the hat for even more movement options. Odyssey really adds in a lot of movement options with the hat. The big question is what next? How can we add to what Mario can do? What gives Mario more gameplay options than the hat?

The other thing is Odyssey is more like DK64 / Yooka-Laylee / Banjo Kazooie in terms of each stage is more exploration based to search out all the collectables. Unlike Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy that were a more linear path to each collectable before you're kicked out to start again with the next collectable. A blast to the past in a way. Can Nintendo expand on this more for the next 3D Mario game.

2D Mario? I think the next thing is Mario Maker 3 with an even better story mode.
 

mαrkαsscoρ

Mr. SidleInYourDMs
Joined
May 5, 2012
Location
American Wasteland
go the jak and daxter route and give mario firearms

odyssey was the real follow up to the galaxy games that we wanted, and that took em 7 - 10 years to bring it to us [depending if you count galaxy 2], it'd be some time before we can see the next successor but if galaxy/odyssey are anything to go by, there's still room to propel mario forward
as for mario kart....give it a CTR-like story mode? and I think 2d mario would need a completely new style for it to feel exciting again
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
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Location
England
Gender
Absolute unit
Galaxy 1 was peak Mario. So they should really continue with that. Bring back the galaxies!

I'd like to see then put more of a story in the games though like Sonic which usually does good storytelling but bad gameplay. If they had the decent gameplay of Mario with good storytelling the experience would be even better.
 
Maybe they could go for a complete artstyle change and likely alienate everyone

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I think 3D Mario is in good hands. Every Nintendo console since the N64 has had a very different themed 3D Mario with some unique and fun mechanic attached to it.

2D Mario is in a worse state. The New Super Mario Bros. games outstayed their welcome. Super Mario Maker 1 and 2 were phenomenal and showed what the community could do, and I hope Nintendo takes inspiration from people's amazing creations.

Not only do we need a new art style and music, but it's time to freshen up the level types. I think most levels should remain platforming but throw in a few more light puzzles and speedruns to spice things up a bit.
 

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