Coming up with new mobility options for 3D-Mario games.

Evil Captain Odyssey

Evil Captain Odyssey

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It seems that most 3D-Mario games have come with their own mobility option for Mario to use. 64 set the baseline of Mario's modern moveset, Sunshine added FLUDD and it's various nozzles, Galaxy added a course correcting spin-jump, and Odyssey added the Cap-throwing mechanic.

Therefore the question I pose to you is this: What in your opinion makes for a good mobility option in a 3D Mario game, and what ideas would you add if you were put in charge of the next 3D Mario game?
 
I think what makes the unique movement options so special is that they have multiple purposes. There will always be times when you want to use them.

In Sunshine, FLUDD can be used to clean goop, attack enemies, and allow you to course correct your position by hovering. That's even excluding the other nozzles.

I recall that the Galaxy devs added the spin attack because they thought that it would be hard to always jump on enemies on spherical planets, and having a move that attacked on all sides would be best. If you use it in the air, it also lets you get more height and course correct.

Odyssey's cap throws can attack, capture certain enemies, and let you bounce off of it for more height and course correcting once again.

As for the other 3D games and most of the 2D ones by extension, they have a wide variety of powerups that usually only do one thing, but those things are different depending on the powerup. They are something you earn, and they're temporary as getting hit will remove them. Having these powerups can help in many ways whether it's a projectile or a hover, and there can even be some strategy for which ones you want to use at any given moment.

All of these are useful as ways to help casual players proceed through the game, and are useful for experienced players to do cool tricks and skips. They also build on Mario's existing moveset, rather than remake it entirely, which is why I think these are more well-received than the gimmicky movesets like the Star Ball. I do think those gimmicky stages do serve their purpose in the context of a full game as pace-changers though, as it is fun to do something entirely different every once in a while.

I think this is a good formula for mechanics like this and that any future ones will probably follow it. As far as ideas of my own for a new game... hmm... I think I'll have to come back to that because everything I can think of right now is too similar to existing ones.
 
Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't remember where I heard this, but someone pointed out that all of the main mechanics in the 3D Marios are represented by characters, llike FLUDD, Master Luma, and Cappy. This is a great way of doing it because it adds a personal connection to these mechanics and it gives a reason for Mario's moveset to change between games beyond just "oh yeah Mario can do this now".

Like if we were to take Daniel's skateboard idea Nintendo would turn it into Oliver the Talking Skateboard (Ollie for short), a member of a race called the Boardians who thrive in the Boarderlands. Idk I came up with that in 30 seconds you get the idea.
 
ViableBunnyBudd said:
Like if we were to take Daniel's skateboard idea Nintendo would turn it into Oliver the Talking Skateboard (Ollie for short), a member of a race called the Boardians who thrive in the Boarderlands. Idk I came up with that in 30 seconds you get the idea.
Click to expand...

That's a good name for a skateboard, but he'd run the risk of being confused for Olly from Paper Mario: The Origami King.
 
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