Four Things Zelda 3DS Should Learn From NSMB (and Four Things it Shouldn’t)

If you follow Zelda and/or this site at all, you know about the all-new Zelda title coming to 3DS, currently referred to as A Link to the Past 2 or simply Zelda 3DS by fans. You also probably know that this new game will use the same overhead camera perspective (something called for by our very own Dathen months ago) and likely the same overworld map. This has sparked quite a bit of speculation, division, and debate among the fanbase, some of which has been personally addressed here, here, and here by our very own bossman Nate.

That said, if you’re worried that this is going to be another “overhead versus full 3D” article, don’t worry; it’s not. Neither is it an article detailing why Zelda 3DS should spawn a subseries of generic, samey 2D action-adventure titles full of too much retro-pandering. Rather, I’d like to address a concern that has gotten surprisingly little coverage except in a few articles’ comments (some of which were from myself), and that is this: What if A Link to the Past 2 brings Zelda down the route of New Super Mario Bros.?

I considered simply titling this article “What Can A Link to the Past 2 Learn From New Super Mario Bros.?,” and in a way, I guess you could say that it’s sort of a sequel to my previous article, “What Can Zelda Learn From Mega Man?” But that title would’ve been misleading, since this is less about saying what Zelda in general can learn from NSMB, and more about saying what certain great elements Zelda 3DS can take from NSMB in particular. Plus, it outlines the things Zelda 3DS shouldn’t take from NSMB. With that said, let’s get started.

Four Things Zelda 3DS Should Learn From New Super Mario Bros.

Bring Back Lost Favorites

It happens with every series that makes the jump from 2D to 3D: Even when the transition is smooth and the series is better for it (with Zelda, that depends on who you ask!), there’s always some awesome enemies, items, or special attacks that either don’t make the cut, or have to be retooled almost beyond recognition. Usually, this is understandable. For example, including the Pegasus Boots in Ocarina of Time with the exact same power they had in A Link to the Past: Not only would it have been a bit impractical, but it would’ve likely broken the game’s difficulty and made things too easy. Understandable or not though, that often doesn’t make the exclusion of an old favorite any less disappointing.

So just like how NSMB brought back certain powerups and auto-scrolling levels, bring on the Pegasus Boots and instant sword beams. 2D Zeldas are ripe full of awesome goodies that disappeared without a trace, whether it be items, enemies, or certain kinds of puzzles, and it’s high time they came back.

Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

Bringing back old favorites and using the tried and true formula is nice, but there’s nothing wrong with improving it with more recent additions, either. Just like how ground pounding made itself comfy in NSMB despite originating in Super Mario 64, certain features from the 3D Zelda games can have their place in Zelda 3DS. We already see this in the trailer with the shield, which seems to be used manually to block attacks, rather than automatically blocking certain ones. Granted, this was earlier seen in Four Swords to an extent, but even then it was taken from 3D titles. What other 3D innovations can make Zelda 3DS better?

Spawn a Subseries (Without Replacing Major Titles)

Regardless of how you feel about the New Super Mario Bros. series, you can give Nintendo this: They haven’t let it get in the way of producing a healthy amount of 3D Mario titles. This past generation we had two NSMB titles between the Wii and DS, but we still got two awesome 3D Mario titles on the Wii between the two Super Mario Galaxy games. This new generation doesn’t look that much different, featuring one 3D Mario title on the 3DS, and two NSMB titles between the 3DS and Wii U… and Nintendo says there won’t be any more NSMB games on either system.

What if Zelda 3DS spawned a similar series? That way we could still get our dose of 3D Zelda on consoles, and maybe even on handhelds, while still getting at least one “classic” 2D Zelda per system. It would be a great balance, and fans of both styles could get their fix. Above all, it would mean more Zelda than ever before! What more could we ever possibly want?

Make Four Swords a Major Part of the Experience

I find it more than a bit ironic that this is the last point, since Zelda had done this twice with the Four Swords games before the original NSMB ever came out, and even longer before NSMB Wii made multiplayer a part of the experience. I know there’s no indication of any kind that Zelda 3DS will have multiplayer, but Nintendo, please. I am on my hands and knees begging you to make a new Four Swords mode part of the game. Whether it uses the same quest as the single player mode, or features its own dedicated world and quest like the original did, I do not care. Just do it.

So now that we’ve gone over the four things Zelda 3DS should learn from NSMB, let’s look at the Dark World and see what Zelda 3DS absolutely shouldn’t learn from NSMB.

Four Things Zelda 3DS Shouldn’t Learn From New Super Mario Bros.

Retro Pander Too Much, Especially To One Game

Let me start by saying that there’s nothing wrong with retro pandering, to a degree. Heck, Zelda titles are full of elements that are there mostly because they’ve always been there and people expect them to be. But there’s a serious issue when that retro pandering becomes too specific and makes the game (series) stale.

NSMB Wii and NSMB 2 reek of this issue, pandering far too much to Super Mario Bros. 3. It wasn’t particularly bothersome in the original NSMB, but after that it got old really fast. The biggest reason is because it ignored much better innovations from other Mario side-scrollers, opting instead to emulate Super Mario Bros. 3. It ignored the unique nature of Super Mario Bros. 2, the non-linear progression and secret-finding of Super Mario World, and even some of the series’ best power-ups, all because of Super Mario Bros. 3. Thankfully, this seems to have been corrected to a degree in New Super Mario Bros. U.

Zelda 3DS is in a position like the original New Super Mario Bros., and that’s ok. It’s a sequel to A Link to the Past at its core, so it’s understandable if it takes a lot more cues from aLttP than any other game. But if Nintendo is to turn this into a subseries like I suggest, sequels should take a look at other 2D Zelda games. What awesome stuff from Minish Cap and Link’s Awakening could they use? Better yet, what more original ideas could they use?

Shoehorn 3D Elements That Don’t Belong in 2D

One of my biggest peeves with the NSMB games is the inclusion of wall jumping. It literally serves no purpose but to provide a cheap way out of pits (remembering when you actually had to be careful about pits in Mario side-scrollers?), as well as cheap ways to die due to poor implementation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve died because Mario hugged a wall when I just wanted to jump over it, and I ended up jumping to my death. Wall jumping is a 3D Mario thing, and is useful for things that concern 3D Mario alone: In 2D, it’s more of a hamper than a help, and otherwise serves to cheapen the difficulty and/or design of the game. Though not quite related, similar things could be said about including the homing attack in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. What’s wrong with just jumping on an enemy, rather than homing to it because players might not have good aim as it is?

Of course, I’m telling Zelda 3DS not to do this. Don’t try to include 3D-only elements that make 2D Zelda cheaper or frustrating. There’s no need for L/Z targeting in 2D Zelda, for example, so don’t use it.

Become Too Samey

This sort of ties into “retro pandering too much,” but I feel it’s separate enough of an issue that it deserves its own section. Zelda 3DS, if you spawn sequels (and I hope to God you do), don’t just keep things the exact same, but with new dungeons and items. That’s no fun. Innovate, create, show the world that 2D Zelda can be so much more on its own in modern gaming than just a throwback title. Don’t do what NSMB did and keep things practically the same but with graphical updates in each revision.

Unbalance Single Player To Accommodate Multiplayer

I know I listed multiplayer as a positive point earlier, even if used in the main quest. But there’s a very delicate line to tow, here. This point is unique from the others in that it’s something that’s not necessarily negative in NSMB, but would be in Zelda 3DS. Both console NSMB titles are designed with multiplayer in mind as the “main” way to play. But as a result, playing single player just feels… unbalanced. Certain areas feel way too easy and others feel way too hard, because the games rely on multiple people on screen to either make things more difficult by accidentally bumping into eachother, or make things easier by helping eachother out. Evenw worse, the levels just feels empty with one player. But that’s ok, because Mario has kept multiplayer in mind ever since the original Super Mario Bros. (even if it was little more than a “sharing enforcer” with no shared progress, in that game).

Zelda, on the other hand, hasn’t ever had a “main” multiplayer mode except in the two Four Swords titles, and has always traditionally been single player. So if a type of Four Swords mode is brought back into Zelda 3D‘s main quest, please find some way to balance the game for both single player and multiplayer. Don’t gimp single player’s balancing for the sake of multiplayer.

So there you have it, four things Zelda 3DS should and shouldn’t learn from NSMB. What do you think? Do you agree with my points, or do you think I was totally off in one or more of them? Sound off in the comments below, and if you want to see my earlier speculation on the future of console and handheld Zelda titles (back in the ancient days of October 2012), check out this article here!