Why would you do that?
Member
There is an argument that the New Super Mario Bros. games have a lack of variety in worlds compared to older Mario games. One counter argument is, "Well, what other worlds can they add? There's only a limited number of settings/biomes/etc." I'm here to explore that.
Older Games
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To start, let's take a look at the worlds in Super Mario Bros. 3. I will bold the interesting ones.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Grass/Plains - Desert - Water - Big - Sky - Ice - Pipe - Dark
Back in 1988, this was huge. So much variety in one game. I find the Big world and Pipe worlds interesting. They're not usual settings. Instead, they're settings that are IMO gameplay oriented.
Now, look at the next game. Not including Special worlds, because they don't have a concrete theme:
Super Mario World
Island - Plains - Cave - Bridge - Forest - Chocolate - Lava
Two new interesting worlds. These are unusual, not standard worlds.
New SMB games
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Now, look at the New SMB games:
New SMB
Grass/Plains - Desert - Beach/Water - Forest/Poison - Ice - Mountain - Sky - Lava
New SMB Wii
Grass/Plains- Desert - Ice - Beach/Water - Forest/Poison - Mountain - Sky - Lava
New SMB 2
Grass/Plains - Desert - (Don't know the others, but I know Forest/Poison and Lava are in)
What's this? All of the New SMB games have the exact same worlds as one another, but just in a different order.
Other Games and Non-Mario Games
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So... What worlds could they add instead? Let's look at Super Mario Land 2:
Super Mario Land 2
Tree/Honeycomb - Space - Tiny/House - Dark/Scary- Mechanical/Human/Stomach- Water/Inside turtle - Castle
So much variety, it's hard for me to even describe the worlds. (Shame I wasn't a big fan of this game. )
Mario games aren't the only games with worlds. Let's look at some other games.
Kirby's Adventure
Forest/Plains - Ocean/Beach - Building - Sky - Mountain? - Ocean/Ice - Rainbow/Night Time
Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Kirby Wii)
Forest/Plains - Ruins - Beach/Water - Ice - Building - Mechanical - Lava/Volcano
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Jungle - Beach - Ruins - Cave (Mice Cart) - Forest - Prehistoric - Mechanical - Lava/Volcano
A lot of interesting worlds here.
My thoughts
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The New SMB games individually have a lot of variety. 8 worlds, each with a different theme, many levels featuring a new, interesting idea only used once (like the bone coaster). However, when comparing the entire games to each other, it does lack variety. It is a little tiring if you play all of the Mario games.
In Mario 3D Land, there's this one stage, a music stage. Even though the stage is repeated 3 times throughout the game, it's still my favorite stage in the game, and I sometimes start Mario 3D Land just to play it. It's an idea that has not really been exploited in Mario games, and is fresh to me.
If New SMB U features at least one unique, interesting world, then I think it would really make the game a lot better and more appealing.
Conclusion
---------------------
It's pretty clear that the New SMB games could have more variety. But what? What would you like to see? What worlds would you be interested in seeing in future New SMB games?
Older Games
-----------------------
To start, let's take a look at the worlds in Super Mario Bros. 3. I will bold the interesting ones.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Grass/Plains - Desert - Water - Big - Sky - Ice - Pipe - Dark
Back in 1988, this was huge. So much variety in one game. I find the Big world and Pipe worlds interesting. They're not usual settings. Instead, they're settings that are IMO gameplay oriented.
Now, look at the next game. Not including Special worlds, because they don't have a concrete theme:
Super Mario World
Island - Plains - Cave - Bridge - Forest - Chocolate - Lava
Two new interesting worlds. These are unusual, not standard worlds.
New SMB games
---------------------------
Now, look at the New SMB games:
New SMB
Grass/Plains - Desert - Beach/Water - Forest/Poison - Ice - Mountain - Sky - Lava
New SMB Wii
Grass/Plains- Desert - Ice - Beach/Water - Forest/Poison - Mountain - Sky - Lava
New SMB 2
Grass/Plains - Desert - (Don't know the others, but I know Forest/Poison and Lava are in)
What's this? All of the New SMB games have the exact same worlds as one another, but just in a different order.
Other Games and Non-Mario Games
--------------------------------------------------
So... What worlds could they add instead? Let's look at Super Mario Land 2:
Super Mario Land 2
Tree/Honeycomb - Space - Tiny/House - Dark/Scary- Mechanical/Human/Stomach- Water/Inside turtle - Castle
So much variety, it's hard for me to even describe the worlds. (Shame I wasn't a big fan of this game. )
Mario games aren't the only games with worlds. Let's look at some other games.
Kirby's Adventure
Forest/Plains - Ocean/Beach - Building - Sky - Mountain? - Ocean/Ice - Rainbow/Night Time
Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Kirby Wii)
Forest/Plains - Ruins - Beach/Water - Ice - Building - Mechanical - Lava/Volcano
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Jungle - Beach - Ruins - Cave (Mice Cart) - Forest - Prehistoric - Mechanical - Lava/Volcano
A lot of interesting worlds here.
My thoughts
----------------------
The New SMB games individually have a lot of variety. 8 worlds, each with a different theme, many levels featuring a new, interesting idea only used once (like the bone coaster). However, when comparing the entire games to each other, it does lack variety. It is a little tiring if you play all of the Mario games.
In Mario 3D Land, there's this one stage, a music stage. Even though the stage is repeated 3 times throughout the game, it's still my favorite stage in the game, and I sometimes start Mario 3D Land just to play it. It's an idea that has not really been exploited in Mario games, and is fresh to me.
If New SMB U features at least one unique, interesting world, then I think it would really make the game a lot better and more appealing.
Conclusion
---------------------
It's pretty clear that the New SMB games could have more variety. But what? What would you like to see? What worlds would you be interested in seeing in future New SMB games?