WithThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo took one of its oldest franchises in a bold new direction. Abandoning the more linear structure of previousZeldagames,Breath of the Wildis a massive open world experience, giving players unprecedented freedom for the franchise, while still feeling decidedly like aZeldagame. The gamble paid off, asThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildbecame one of the highest-rated and most influential video games ever made. And now it’s time for Nintendo to giveSuper MariotheBreath of the Wildtreatment and bring the franchise to an open world.
Super Mariohas experimented with open-ended sandbox video game worlds before. While the earlierSuper Mariogames are linear in structure,Super Mario 64features sandbox levels, as doesSuper Mario SunshineandSuper Mario Odyssey. TheSuper Mario Galaxygames andSuper Mario 3D Worldreturned to more linear level design, but the fact remains thatSuper Mariohas already dipped its toe in open world gaming.
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And now is the time for Nintendo to throw theSuper Mariofranchise in the open world pool, especially after a recent entry in the franchise proved how well the core gameplay would translate to an open world structure.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
If anyone doubts that theSuper Mariofranchise could excel in an open world environment, they just need to playSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. TheBowser’s Furyportion of theSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s FurySwitch release is a brand new adventure that is a small-scale representation of how a potential open worldSuper Mariogame might play. It effortlessly blends open world exploration with linearSuper Marioplatforming challenges, and the result is something that feels both like old-schoolSuper Marioand completely new at the same time.
The setup ofBowser’s Furyshows Mario exploring Lake Lapcat, a large body of water with various islands dotted around it. Each island has its own secrets for Mario to discover, including objectives that can be completed toearn Cat Shines, as well as hidden power-ups and other things of interest. Mario is at first confined to just a few islands, but as he collects Cat Shines and removes more of Fury Bowser’s corruption from Lake Lapcat, more of the lake becomes available to explore.
Eventually, Mario has free reign overLake Lapcat, able to visit any island at will, with the ability to fast-travel added before too long. These mechanics of exposing sections of the map and fast-traveling between important areas are longtime tropes of the open world genre. But despiteSuper Marionever fully embracing an open world format, until now, these tropes feel right at home in aSuper Mariogame.
Bowser’s Furyis essentially one super-sized version of a typicalSuper Mario3D platforming stage, and it shows that this open world formula would work very well. For the nextSuper Mariogame, Nintendo could take what it’s learned withBowser’s Furyand run with it, creating a full-fledged open worldSuper Marioexperience. In fact, it would be surprising if Nintendo’s next main seriesSuper Mariogamewasn’tan open world experience, asBowser’s Furyplays almost like a test run of those concepts.
What Not to Do
Generally speaking, Nintendo fans and game critics seem to be in agreement thatBowser’s Furyis a high-quality 3D platforming experience.Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furyreviewshave been mostly positive, with particular praise given to the new ideas found inBowser’s Fury. But despite the high praise the game has earned,Bowser’s Furyis not without its faults.Bowser’s Fury’s flaws can likely be chalked up to Nintendo experimenting with an open worldSuper Marioformat, and thanks to that experimentation, the developers know whatnotto do in an open worldSuper Mariogame.
One aspect ofBowser’s Furythat has not landed well with everyone is the Fury Bowser gimmick. Essentially, Fury Bowser shows up every few minutes or so, causing a storm to overtake Lake Lapcat and make all kinds of hazards rain from the sky. Fury Bowser actively tries to attack Mario andhis partner Bowser Jr.by shooting devastating fire blasts at them, and players have to actually use these fire blasts to destroy specially-marked blocks in the game.
The problem is that this interrupts the flow of the gameplay, as fans either have to wait outFury Bowseror go collect a Cat Shine to send him packing. Having to wait around to destroy Fury Blocks is also counterintuitive and stands at odds with the game’s generally fast-paced nature. There are other Cat Shines in the endgame where players have to wait around for Fury Bowser to arrive before they can pursue them, and while he can be summoned with amiibo, those playing the game with no amiibo are stuck literally standing around and waiting.
Had these elements been stripped out ofBowser’s Fury, it would have been a leaner, and even better, gameplay experience. If Nintendo does decide to move forward with a full-fledged open worldSuper Mariogame, it can learn from its mistakes and deliver something that pushes the long-running franchise forward in a big way.
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