When it comes to the 2D Mario games, one of the biggest issues they’ve had in the last few years is a lack of originality. Indeed, with New Super Mario Bros being the flagship series and its aesthetics being reused for titles like Super Mario Run, the games have all mostly looked and played the same, with the same themes, songs and content being present in all of them.

It’s a disappointing state of affairs, and one that betrays how creative the Mario series used to be.

But it seems things are going to get much better soon! Why? Because in today’s Nintendo Direct, the company announced a brand new 2D Mario game in a completely new style! Take a look:

As you can see, this Super Mario Bros Wonder is everything we’ve wanted in a Mario title. The art style is new and more detailed than ever before, with beautiful backgrounds that really stand out from the crowd. New enemies and mechanics are literally a dime a dozen, with everything from crawling pipes to skating Koopas and rolling hippos being present in levels.

And the characters and powerups? Damn, we’ve never seen a 2D Mario game with this many unique playable characters and powerups before at all. Mario can become an elephant, rolling spike ball or lanky silhouette, Peach and Daisy are actually playable rather than relegated to the damsel in distress. It’s all good stuff.

So congrats Nintendo! After years of samey 2D Mario platformers, you’ve finally created one that revolutionises the entire series, and adds the kind of unique content and ideas the franchise used to be known for back in the NES and SNES days. We’re very excited for this one when it releases on October this year!

Source:

Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Direct 6.21.2023 (YouTube)