Super Mario is a series I hold near and dear to my heart. Heck, Galaxy 1 & 2 were some of my favorite games of the last generation. But this is a list from a critic standpoint, I think Nintendo has scrapped some stellar mechanics in recent Mario releases. So here are three things I believe should make a return to the Super Mario franchise.
1. Health Meter
Super Mario 64 was the first game in the series to give Mario a legit health meter. Finally when being damaged or hit by an enemy you didn’t shrink into a smaller, petite Mario. Sadly, this was scrapped when Super Mario 3D World was in development. I think bringing this small function back into the Super Mario series could drastically change (change!?) how Mario feels when playing, like previous games. I’m personally not a big fan of ‘petite’ Mario in 3D Super Mario games. Mini Mario begone!
2. Third Person View
This one may be sort of unethical, but the fact that Super Mario 3D World or 3D Land weren’t actually in 3rd person really upset me, and plenty of others. I loved 3D World, it was insanely fun for me and my family. However, it was so close to being exactly what I wanted, just not quite it. We last saw a third person Super Mario four years ago with Galaxy 2. I expect Nintendo to go the Galaxy route with their next big Mario game, but I would be really disappointed if it is not. Either way, Nintendo has yet to disappoint.
3. Free Roam Over World
That’s right, an open over-world. This is something that hasn’t really been done since Super Mario Sunshine‘s Delfino Plaza. The Galaxy games dabbled in it a little, but you didn’t get the same sense of openness, scale, or exploration of the previous two ‘3D’ Mario games.
So what do you think? Do you agree? Or do you think Nintendo should thrive on new ideas? Leave it in the comments below!
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Brett is one of MONG’s Editors, and obsessed with Pokémon lore. You can follow him on Twitter to hear about how lame he is!
Middle Of Nowhere Gaming 
Um, does the author NOT understand the definition of “third person”???
Please explain how Galaxy 2 and 3D World/Land are both NOT third person……….cause they CLEARLY are. I don’t understand this article because of that.
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In the article I say that Galaxy 2 is third person. While 3D World is close, but not quite. You could argue that it is but, to me, I would only consider 3D World third person if you could spin the camera a full 360 degrees.
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I should have mentioned, thanks for reading 🙂
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At times the camera angles are controlled because the world’s are not fully 3d so they cannot be explored completely. This forces them the change and hold camera angles sometimes.
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Super Mario Bros. Mushroom Kingdom:
•A reboot of Mario 64, but fully open world.
•No levels, just collect Stars around the kingdom
•Includes a sports stadium where multiplayer Mario sports games are held
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That would be fantastic.
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