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Here we go! Again!
The Wii U has just launched with a Mario game, the very good New Super Mario Bros. U, but were already dying for Marios next adventure. Why? Because, while the developers working on the New Super Mario Bros. series are surely skilled, Nintendo fanatics know the prime Mario developers belong to the 3D branch of Nintendo EAD in Tokyo, Japan. Over the past five years EAD was responsible for the superlative Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario 3D Land, and if Nintendo has any brains at all (and they do), EAD is working hard on the next 3D Mario epic.
A brave new world
When it comes to most of its franchises, but Mario in particular, Nintendo treats each new system as a new chapter in the characters history. Super Mario 64 was his first journey into the third dimension, Super Mario Sunshine introduced a combination of summery settings and watery powers, and Super Mario Galaxy sent Mario to the stars. Once the 3D platformer comes to Wii U, Mario needs to make a similar break from his past.
999 inventive uses for the GamePad
At a time when some were doubting the versatility of the Wii, but Super Mario Galaxy proved them wrong by introducing many new ideas that could only be done on that console. Thats due to a design ethos the director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 explained to us in an interview. He said, every time [Nintendo] comes out with new hardware, the unique capabilities of that technology drives [Mario developers] to find new combinations for gameplay thats familiar but made new by something special about that hardware. That combination of familiar and new, I think, gives people a sense of freshness.
Seeing what the team can pull off with HD graphics
The Wiis graphics paled in comparison to the 360 and PS3s 99% of the time, but both Galaxy games featured visuals that stayed competitive with many standard HD games. The digital artists at EAD were able to squeeze every ounce of power they could from the paltry Wii, so imagine what they could pull off with something remotely current like the Wii U.
New co-op techniques using the GamePad
While the New Super Mario Bros. games chose to focus on chaotic, party-friendly four player modes, the 3D Mario games never added any new multiplayer modes that impacted the precision of controlling Mario. The closest they came was mild co-op in Co-Star mode in Super Mario Galaxy 2, a feature that let a second player tag along as a Luma that assisted Mario without getting in the way. The Wii U could add something just as innocuously fun using the GamePad.
Learn some lessons from Super Mario 3D Land
After EAD made two of the Wiis best games, the developer entered unfamiliar territory when Nintendo tasked the team with creating a portable 3D Mario. The team had to completely rethink how they made stages, placed enemies are designed power-ups. And now they can bring that new perspective back to the Wii U.
No unnecessary online multiplayer
The trend these days--and the stated goal of publishers like EA--is to not release a game unless it has some online multiplayer component included. Nintendo has previously resisted that trend, usually only adding multiplayer when the game demanded it, like in Kid Icarus Uprising. And even with all the new options that the Wii U presents for online, we hope the next 3D Mario has that same focus.
Beautiful new music
Super Mario Galaxy had some of our favorite music in a franchise thats distinguished for wonderful tunes (be sure to read our in-depth love letter to it), and 3D Land had its own unique tunes. We admire EADs enthusiasm for adding new songs to the series, something that must continue on the Wii U.
Takes more risks than New Super Mario Bros.
If you compare the Galaxy entries to the New Super Mario entries from a profit standpoint, the New Mario games outdid the Galaxy games by selling more than twice as many copies. Despite that fact, the critical consensus put the Galaxy games and 3D Land on top, thanks in particular to those games being far more creative than the overly safe New Mario titles. And no matter what the sales say, we hope EAD stays on that path.
DLC that matters
Nintendo ignored the move towards DLC for many years, even while its rivals adopted it more and more to earn some extra income. Thats now changed, as New Super Mario Bros. 2 has already released paid DLC and eventually New Super Mario Bros. U will have some too. DLC and Mario are now attached at the hip, but when it appears in the next 3D game, it had better be worthwhile.
Be out holiday 2013
If you want to know when the game should be coming out, heres a little history lesson. Super Mario Sunshine came to GameCube nine months after launch, Galaxy came to Wii almost a year to the day after the system came out, and 3D Land came eight months after the 3DS went on sale in the US. Based on more than a decade of Mario history, the next 3D Mario will be out before November 18, 2013.
