Today is MARCH 10 (MARCH 10, are you home??), so it’s no surprise that we’re thinking about Super Mario Bros. again. Wonder, the first new 2D Mario game in 11 years.
Wonder flipped the script on 2D Mario. The ‘Nova’ series ran for a whopping 17 years, and the visuals and level design were in dire need of a refresh. Wonder did just that, but the question is, should it happen again?
One of the Wonder’s biggest selling points (at least for us) was how fresh everything looked. Yes, this was still a 2D platformer with wacky power-ups and themed worlds, but everything felt so different. The characters were more expressive, the music and environment seemed to adjust with each step, and the Miraculous Flowers added a unique gimmick to each level — the likes of which we haven’t seen in the series in a long time.
It would be easy to cross our fingers and hope that such ingenuity is Nintendo’s blueprint for Mario in the future. But as anyone who has played the ‘New’ series will tell you, this is not a safe bet. People liked Wonder. People liked New Super Mario Bros. on DS. While the former could garner praise standing on its own two feet, the latter would spawn four more games all in the same vein.
What we are saying is, ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder 2‘ is not the most radical idea.
This may not be a bad thing. The amazing effects kept each level fresh and we have no doubt that Nintendo has another game worth of them packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. ‘Wonder 2’ could be 2D Mario’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 — an iterative sequel that takes everything that worked in its predecessor and builds on it with new levels, power-ups and even characters.
Then again, would such a sequel diminish Wonder’s originality? For one game, Nintendo managed to keep the surprises coming thick and fast, but there’s a good chance that spark will fade if overused — even the biggest scaredy-cat will stop jumping if a horror movie relies too much on ‘quiet, quiet, BANG!‘
It’s a fine line and we’re not quite sure which side we’ll come down on. So we thought it best to lay it out for you, our ever-wise readers. What do you think? Would you like to see Super Mario Bros. Wonder 2 or is the originality of the first game better left intact? You can complete the following survey with your answer and then share your opinion with the comments.