It’s been made very clear that Super Mario Bros Wonder is meant to be a very different kind of 2D platformer for Mario. We can tell visually that certain things have been changed and upgraded, and the gameplay has numerous new elements that separate it from past titles. But in a trio of special developer interviews with Nintendo, the team behind the game has revealed key insights showing just how far they went to try and buck certain trends and make things better for gamers. For example, they knew that some people felt that the 2D titles were “unforgiving” and that the 3D titles had more “freedom” in them.
So, to counter that, they looked at certain 3D titles and then adjusted things to give players more choices and the ability to “complete it their own way.” Game Designer Koichi Hayashida said specifically:
“With all that in mind, we felt that a 2D Mario game adapted to the times would be one that you could complete your way. For example, up until now, 2D Mario games have been in a format where players complete each course in sequence. But in this title, players who want a challenge can start with a difficult course, and beginners can start with an easier one. Each course has its difficulty indicated too.”
We’ve seen that “freedom” in the overview trailer, where players will be given a “spot” of land to walk on freely and pick the course that they want to dive into first. That will come in handy if players have a certain power-up and they feel it will be useful on a certain course versus another.
Another key change was that they wanted only certain characters to have “natural abilities” that could be exploited. In the past, characters like Luigi and Peach had unique talents that players used to get through levels. In Super Mario Bros Wonder, the “main cast” is on an even playing field, but the badges they can get will allow them to get new abilities based on player desires. That way, everyone can float if they have the right badge versus being forced to only use Peach.
Speaking of the badges, programming director Shiro Mouri noted:
“We ended up with over 20 different badges. These were the top picks from more than 50 prototypes.”
So you’ll have plenty of badges to choose from as you go through the levels and try to beat them in your “own style.” Just remember, you can only equip one at a time!
The game releases on October 20th, only on Nintendo Switch!
