Did Super Mario Maker kill Super Mario Bros. ?
Super Mario Maker: The Factory of 2D Mario
Super Mario Bros. celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Without having invented the 2D platform game, he will have built the real bases, some of which are now an integral part of game design, all genres included. The episodes have multiplied and the latest is New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, released on the Nintendo Switch in 2019. Even if the opuses maintain a certain quality and are still commercially successful, it must be recognized that the series is starting to turn in circles. Nintendo is capitalizing on the saga and its cult gameplay, however, until it released a brand new game for Wii U in 2015: Super Mario Maker. This title accompanied by a level editor allows players to create stages with all the assets and skins of different Super Mario Bros. 2D. Easy to learn, it allows you to draw in environments, enemies, crates and other well-known objects of the license. It was a critical success, but the fate of the Wii U hampered its commercial achievement. Super Mario Maker was then ported to Nintendo 3DS in a lightened version of its community aspect. There, the opposite effect occurs: the portable console enjoys great popularity, but the reception by the press is less enthusiastic, the fault of the limits of the machine.Games Release date Number of copies sold in 2020 in millions New Super Mario Bros. U 2012 5.80 New Super Luigi U 2013 3.05 Super Mario Maker 2015 4.01 New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 2019 6.60 Super Mario Maker 2 2019 5.48 The semi-failure of the Wii U was subsequently swept away by the undisputed success of the Switch. The latter notably welcomes games from the previous generation, in more generous versions, including past DLCs. This is the case, for example, with Mario Kart 8 or Hyrule Warriors. In the middle of these returns, it is a real second episode of Super Mario Maker which comes to point the tip of its nose. It receives a good treatment with the arrival of very important new features for the community (such as slopes, objectives and a group of new objects. Thanks to free updates, Super Mario Maker 2 has finally integrated the awaited creation of worlds and integration of new bosses: Now you can craft an entire Super Mario Bros.
The end of Mario 2D?
That's great news than to empower gamers to create endless new games inspired by their favorite Super Mario. But taking a step back, it's impossible not to wonder if with Super Mario Maker and its inexhaustible content, Nintendo didn't just kill his 2D Super Mario Bros. series. Now we can make them by shovel, from A to Z and in any style we choose… That's right, not everyone has the skills of Nintendo developers, but many players have stood out and have proven that they have mastered the secrets of good level design, combining original, wacky and sometimes, brilliant ideas.So how Nintendo could succeed in releasing a new episode, successor to the New Super Mario Bros Wii for example, hoping to compete with the density of what Super Mario Maker offers? Perhaps by revolutionizing the series? Nintendo could always come up with new costumes, enemies, and settings that wouldn't fit into Super Mario Maker. However, that might not be enough: real game design variations seem necessary. Maybe with new characters, techniques, or skills, environments that are totally out of step with the previous ones and, let's be crazy, a much deeper storyline (there's no harm), Super Mario Bros. would have a chance to be renewed.
Moreover, as Super Mario approaches 35 years, Nintendo is trying a new experience: a competitive online game (Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required) at 35 players under the model of a battle royale. The title will be available to subscribers between October 1 and March 31, 2021. An original approach which proves that it is still possible to capitalize on the license, but no "real" new episode in sight. Nintendo seems to want to continue to bring the essence of the series to life but by adopting other approaches.
'' 'Between sharing the levels of Super Mario Maker, the compilations of Super Mario Bros. Nintendo Switch Online ports, remasters, remakes or the retro catalog, we're not about to bury the concept of the 2D platform game. Nevertheless, Nintendo will have to renew its genius to tackle a real new opus that would not repeat with what Super Mario Maker fans have seen these last elders. Fortunately, there is still the general public, who appreciate the "turnkey" side of the Mario Bros 2D series, which requires less commitment than the community aspect of SMM.
