It’s easy to think that a company like Nintendo simply loves to “retread old ground” with some of its franchises so that it can crank out games easily and get good sales. There was a time when you could make that claim for certain series, including during the Switch era when ports were rampant instead of new entries in fan-beloved franchises. However, it’s also true that during the Switch era, Nintendo took many risks within its many franchises and put new spins on them to help them stand out. Super Mario Bros Wonder was easily one of the best examples of that, and the risk paid off huge.
It’s actually rather easy to point out just how much of a change the game was to past 2D Mario titles. First, several “standard” elements of the game were either heavily changed or flat-out erased due to the development team having some “new faces” to help with development. They wanted to bring the 2D platformer into more “modern times,” and that meant making it feel like something you’d see in other titles today.
The key thing that made the title stand out, though, was the Wonder Flower, which could be found in every single level and warped reality to make things much more unique than any platformer before it. Seriously, some of the things that happened in those levels truly boggled the mind, and gamers loved it. It quickly became the fastest-selling title in the franchise’s history and has sold over 15 million units overall. Thus, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that The Big N would want a sequel.
That brings us to Mr. Nintendad, a popular rumor spreader, who stated on his Instagram that the game was indeed getting a sequel, but we’re not likely to see it until 2028.
On the one hand, given the sales and critical success of Super Mario Bros Wonder, a sequel feels natural. Plus, the team admitted that they had “thousands” of ideas for what to do with the Wonder Flower in the game, so they could easily bring it back and have things get even wilder in the sequel. Gamers would be up for it.
On the other hand, this could be “too simple a sequel,” which has hurt Nintendo in the past. That being said, with the Nintendo Switch 2 on the way, Mario will be heavily represented, and with a 3D platformer inevitably being announced for it, a 2D platformer is also warranted.
