THE END
I am infinite, I am nothing
I think we can all agree that after 4 New Super Mario Bros. games, the 2D side of the franchise has gone quite stale. Sure, Mario Maker 1 & 2 were excellent games, the second one being one of my favorite games of all time. People have said that 2D Mario can no longer work and that Nintendo should leave it behind, but I disagree. I enjoy these games a lot, in fact New Super Mario Bros. Wii was the first game I ever played, so I would love to see 2D Mario continue in a different style. So here's my concept for a brand new style of 2D Mario gameplay, borrowing from past games, (both 3D and 2D) and maybe even some other games as well. And while I think a fifth New Super Mario Bros. game could work if it changed up more stuff from the past games, mainly the art style, I think it would be better if we make a new style of 2D Mario entirely.
< Art Style >
For this style, I am going with a more 2.5D approach, similar to modern 2D Kirby games and the 3D World style from Mario Maker 2. Everything would have vibrant colors but the 3D models could have more detailed lighting. Same for the levels, backgrounds could have breathtaking lighting effects, like sun rays going through clouds or between trees, dust effects in Ghost Houses, and best of all, airships with rain and lightning. This could be a great graphical showcase for the Switch while the two-dimensional gameplay uses less processing power. Animations also play a huge part, with fluid and expressive animations.
< Gameplay >
The most important part. Mario would move with the Left Stick, though the run button would be removed, instead having more analogue control over Mario. Tilting the stick slightly would make him walk, tilting fully would make him run. The B and A buttons would still make Mario jump. The wall jump, stomp crouch, slope slide and ground pound are also here. Now, where's the new stuff? Well, now that the run buttons are free, Mario can now attack using the Y or X buttons, just like in Mario 64. Attacking while standing will make Mario do a normal combo, while in the air he will kick, giving him a bit of extra height.
Another "new" mechanic is the parkour system from Super Mario Run. Yes. While running, Mario will automatically vault over objects like blocks, pipes, springs, and even enemies, though the last one requires you to press either X or Y just right to vault (some enemies can't be vaulted on at all). Missing the timing will just damage Mario. While vaulting, you can press jump and Mario will do a very high jump, or alternatively press attack to launch Mario forward while pushing away from the vaulted object/enemy. Some objects and enemies can be launched backward by doing this, damaging other enemies and interacting with other elements. Both can extend your mobility greatly, and the forward launch's momentum carries into Mario's run for a bit, but jumping can keep that momentum. Mario can also grab on ledges by pressing jump right next to them. Pressing jump immediately after grabbing the ledge will make Mario jump, and tilting left or right on the stick will make Mario simply get up and move forward. The ZL and ZR buttons also play an important role. While grounded, pressing either of them cause Mario to roll, getting a burst of speed that also carries over for a bit, and the roll animation can be cancelled anytime with a jump. Pressing while Mario is in mid-air will execute a ground pound, though this time it's more instantaneous and bounces from enemies.
As you can probably tell by now, this is a game about movement, even the combat involves movement of some kind. Getting to the goal as fast as possible rewards you with more coins, which I'll touch on a bit. The camera is also pulled back and pans in front of where Mario is facing instead of directly at him. So if Mario is facing right, the camera will pan to the right, a bit past Mario. This is so you can more easily see incoming obstacles, though you can also choose to have the camera simply center on Mario if you want to. I can see comparisons made to Classic Sonic, but the difference is that Sonic emphasizes the interaction between the character and the level's geometry, while this more so emphasizes how the player's actions affect how Mario moves. Mario can still run upwards slopes like normal and run down slopes without much increase in speed.
Next, the power-ups and HP system. Power-ups work like normal, although with a few added moves. For example, the Fire Flower will shoot fireballs like normal, but when doing the forward launch while vaulting, Mario will cause an explosion. Mario now has 3 slices of health, and recovers one every time he collects a Super Mushroom or a power-up. One power-up can be stored and used with the - button. The coins you collect in levels can be used to buy stuff in different shops, like equipment, such as boots that make him faster, overalls that give him 1 more health, power-ups to store, special objects and simply outfits.
Finally, I'd like to touch on a possible multiplayer mode. The main campaign can be played by 1 or 2 players, playing as Mario or Luigi. There are three other multiplayer modes, playable by 2-4 players (playable by Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Wario): Coin Battle, Race and Brawl. In Coin Battle, players compete to grab the most coins before time runs out. In Race, they must compete to finish a level first before the others. In Brawl, players must fight each other using different power-ups and knock each other off the stage. All of these can be played locally or online.
I won't touch on story or worlds since this is just a gameplay concept, so share your ideas and feedback if you'd like.
< Art Style >
For this style, I am going with a more 2.5D approach, similar to modern 2D Kirby games and the 3D World style from Mario Maker 2. Everything would have vibrant colors but the 3D models could have more detailed lighting. Same for the levels, backgrounds could have breathtaking lighting effects, like sun rays going through clouds or between trees, dust effects in Ghost Houses, and best of all, airships with rain and lightning. This could be a great graphical showcase for the Switch while the two-dimensional gameplay uses less processing power. Animations also play a huge part, with fluid and expressive animations.
< Gameplay >
The most important part. Mario would move with the Left Stick, though the run button would be removed, instead having more analogue control over Mario. Tilting the stick slightly would make him walk, tilting fully would make him run. The B and A buttons would still make Mario jump. The wall jump, stomp crouch, slope slide and ground pound are also here. Now, where's the new stuff? Well, now that the run buttons are free, Mario can now attack using the Y or X buttons, just like in Mario 64. Attacking while standing will make Mario do a normal combo, while in the air he will kick, giving him a bit of extra height.
Another "new" mechanic is the parkour system from Super Mario Run. Yes. While running, Mario will automatically vault over objects like blocks, pipes, springs, and even enemies, though the last one requires you to press either X or Y just right to vault (some enemies can't be vaulted on at all). Missing the timing will just damage Mario. While vaulting, you can press jump and Mario will do a very high jump, or alternatively press attack to launch Mario forward while pushing away from the vaulted object/enemy. Some objects and enemies can be launched backward by doing this, damaging other enemies and interacting with other elements. Both can extend your mobility greatly, and the forward launch's momentum carries into Mario's run for a bit, but jumping can keep that momentum. Mario can also grab on ledges by pressing jump right next to them. Pressing jump immediately after grabbing the ledge will make Mario jump, and tilting left or right on the stick will make Mario simply get up and move forward. The ZL and ZR buttons also play an important role. While grounded, pressing either of them cause Mario to roll, getting a burst of speed that also carries over for a bit, and the roll animation can be cancelled anytime with a jump. Pressing while Mario is in mid-air will execute a ground pound, though this time it's more instantaneous and bounces from enemies.
As you can probably tell by now, this is a game about movement, even the combat involves movement of some kind. Getting to the goal as fast as possible rewards you with more coins, which I'll touch on a bit. The camera is also pulled back and pans in front of where Mario is facing instead of directly at him. So if Mario is facing right, the camera will pan to the right, a bit past Mario. This is so you can more easily see incoming obstacles, though you can also choose to have the camera simply center on Mario if you want to. I can see comparisons made to Classic Sonic, but the difference is that Sonic emphasizes the interaction between the character and the level's geometry, while this more so emphasizes how the player's actions affect how Mario moves. Mario can still run upwards slopes like normal and run down slopes without much increase in speed.
Next, the power-ups and HP system. Power-ups work like normal, although with a few added moves. For example, the Fire Flower will shoot fireballs like normal, but when doing the forward launch while vaulting, Mario will cause an explosion. Mario now has 3 slices of health, and recovers one every time he collects a Super Mushroom or a power-up. One power-up can be stored and used with the - button. The coins you collect in levels can be used to buy stuff in different shops, like equipment, such as boots that make him faster, overalls that give him 1 more health, power-ups to store, special objects and simply outfits.
Finally, I'd like to touch on a possible multiplayer mode. The main campaign can be played by 1 or 2 players, playing as Mario or Luigi. There are three other multiplayer modes, playable by 2-4 players (playable by Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Wario): Coin Battle, Race and Brawl. In Coin Battle, players compete to grab the most coins before time runs out. In Race, they must compete to finish a level first before the others. In Brawl, players must fight each other using different power-ups and knock each other off the stage. All of these can be played locally or online.
I won't touch on story or worlds since this is just a gameplay concept, so share your ideas and feedback if you'd like.