When it comes to big game releases, many people want to know not just what led to the game’s success but what elements were inspired by other games or media. After all, there are no new ideas out there, but you can get clever with showcasing things so they’re not directly tied to what came before. In the case of Super Mario Bros Wonder, they had many things to be inspired by, including a younger development team pointing out what to do so that the game could shine. However, they also had the recent animated adaptation of Mario and crew to showcase how things should move.
Yes, we said “move” because the Super Mario Bros Wonder team, specifically producer Takashi Tezuka, revealed to NPR that the movie inspired them to push the animations and visuals of the game further than they had in the past so that the two properties looked similar:
“Traditionally, our development costs have gone into the gameplay experience itself. Of course that’s absolutely essential. But this time we really wanted to pour some of that into the animations. … People who are coming from the Mario movie are going to see that and think ‘this is what Mario does, this is how Mario moves,’ and we wanted them to experience something similar to that.”
That’s an interesting thing to note and attempt to do. But, then again, the movie was a surprise success that got over a billion dollars at the box office, and Nintendo would love that kind of success for their upcoming game. So, if they could make it appear like the two had “similar moves” and such, why wouldn’t they attempt that?
But fear not. The game has plenty of things to separate it from the movie. The biggest one is that Chris Pratt doesn’t voice Mario in the game, and we should all be thankful for that. However, the game does have several new gameplay elements that will entice fans to play it and see what happens as they get further into it. The Wonder Flower is easily the biggest one, as the mysterious item will change the level in every possible way to challenge the players. Some new enemies will add some freshness and new obstacles to overcome. The badge system will offer new opportunities for players to attempt levels in new ways and expand what their characters can do.
All of these elements, plus the new animations, will be visible when the game releases on October 20.
