So, a thought came to me the other day. I'm not sure what brought it on, but here it is. Let me me know what you think.
I was reminiscing to myself about the various power-ups and suits in the
Super Mario series. For me, I don't think anything has topped
Super Mario Bros. 3. The amount of power-ups in that game have yet to be matched, and some of the elusive ones (like that super-slick Hammer Bros. suit!) are just so much fun to use. I was a little disappointed by the lack of decent power-ups in the DS version of
NEW Super Mario Bros., but was pleasantly surprised at the variety in
NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii. It at first appeared to be a return to form from the 8-bit glory days.
But then I noticed something. There was no real equivalent to the Racoon Suit. Or Tanooki Suit. Or the Magic Cape. Heck, Yoshi can't even sprout wings in this game like he was able to in
Super Mario World - his debut game. Mario and the gang were permanently stuck on the ground, for the most part. There was no power-up or suit that let you bound into the air, leaving solid earth below you to explore the skies for cloud platforms with coins, hidden pipes with bonus areas, or secret exits. In both
Super Mario Bros. 3 and
Super Mario World, I felt this great feeling of exhilaration as Mario leapt into the air and took off into the sky. The sensation was thrilling. The mystery of what might be "up there" and the urge to go exploring piqued my curiosity as a child. I loved it.
You might be able to imagine my disappointment when
NEW Super Mario Bros. debuted on the DS and I found there was no flight power-up. Just the standard-issue Fire Flower, and the (as it turned out) mostly useless Blue Shell Suit. (I don't really count the Mega Mushroom or Mini-Mushroom as real power-ups) Yeah, it was kind of a let-down... but I let it slide because for one, this was the first new 2D
Super Mario in like, FOREVER, and two; this seemed more like an homage/throwback to the ORIGINAL game, not the sequels. Not being able to fly kinda "made sense" in this case. So I let it go.
But then the Wii sequel came out, and I was thrilled to see the return of stuff like Airships, the Koopalings, a map screen with shortcuts and various paths, and a fairly wide variety of suits and power-ups. Including... what was this?!? The Propellor Suit?!? OMG YES! Mario can fly again! Oh happy day!
...... and then the day comes when I realize that Propellor Suit only makes Mario and the gang spring meagerly up into the air to the top of the screen (at best) and then slowly float back down. Yeah, this was more of a powered-up jump ability. Not true flight. I was bummed. I was wondering the other day why, why was there no flight power-up when Nintendo was clearly aiming to cater to the fans of
Super Mario Bros. 3?
Then it hit me. It was because of multiplayer. Of COURSE there couldn't be a flight suit. How could there be? How could Nintendo (or any developer) deliver a satisfying local multiplayer experience when one player could bound up into the sky, leaving the others down below to wallow in the dust he/she inevitably just kicked up? The game's camera would have to either follow the player into the sky (leaving the grounded players in the dark) or keep still on the ground and have the skyward bound player lost over the top of the screen. Being able to fly in that situation wouldn't work.
I thought that maybe in the NEXT "NEW"
Super Mario game, Nintendo might give Mario the ability to fly again... but could they? Not on a console, and definitely not in local multiplayer. It wouldn't work again, for the same reasons mentioned above. And could Nintendo deliver another
Super Mario game on a console *without* simultaneous multiplayer? I mean, yeah. I guess they could. But wouldn't that feel like a step back?
Now I wonder if Mario will ever fly again in 2D. It's certainly possible he will in a 3D game, since those are still predominately single-player-only, thus negating any camera issues with other players. But will it ever happen again for him in traditional 2D? It saddens me to think
Super Mario World would be the last 2D Mario game that let our red-capped-hero fly. What a shame, y'know?
Perhaps a 3DS game in the same vein would work. At least then in multiplayer (local or online) everyone would have their own screen. But how likely is that to happen? Will Nintendo even bother with a new flying power-up? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks for reading... thoughts?
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