Super Mario Bros. Wonder developers discuss Nintendo's push to reinvent its classic side-scrolling formula
eurogamer.netIt's been 11 years since the last proper Mario side-scroller, a fact that surprises Nintendo's veteran exec Takashi Tezuka when I point it out. Tezuka has worked on dozens of projects since the launch of 2012's New Super Mario Bros. U — including Super Mario Maker, Nintendo's create-your-own-Mario sandbox. Still, such a wait for more handcrafted Mario levels seems notable.
Why so long? Speaking with Nintendo, it sounds like the company's desire to keep its classic side-scrolling formula fresh has remained paramount. There have been so many 2D Mario games now — including a whole string of releases that sought to emphasise their freshness by sticking "New Super Mario" in their title. After those — and after letting players go wild with the company's own Mario toolkit — what could Nintendo do next? Something that feels truly new again, I'm happy to report.
In Super Mario Bros. Wonder I can be a Mario who shoots bubbles, capturing enemies and errant koopa shells in upwards floating soap suds, then suddenly transform into some form of sentient goomba — though I'm still Mario with his iconic hat, of course. Waddling across platforms and dodging enemies via stealth mechanics, I pass a talking flower who loudly wonders how I'll taste. Sure, why not.
«There was a lot of feeling about creating something else, something new,» Tezuka tells me, in an interview conducted after a hands-on session last week at Gamescom. «After Mario Maker I was actually asked by a lot of people about what's next — what's gonna happen next? I told them that at the time we were still thinking of a lot of new things to do. So I'm glad we now have the opportunity to show them!»
«In terms of the concept for creating a new Mario, we came up with the
Read more on eurogamer.net
