Mario 3DS Returning to Plumber’s Roots

The Mario series has gained quite a reputation as a franchise capable of reinventing itself, but can it de-invent itself? According to Yoshiaki Koizumi, director of Super Mario Sunshine and Galaxy, that’s exactly what Mario will have to do next in the upcoming Super Mario 3DS.

Koizumi was recently quoted saying that the N64, GameCube and Wii titles focused too much on exploration and had moved away from the “tight, quick-fire, precision platforming” reminiscent of the NES and SNES days. “I feel like the core experience is something that we may have started to get away from a little bit when we first started presenting games in 3D like in Super Mario 64,” says Koizumi, “but the real basics of the Super Mario series is that players have to get to the goal of a level without dying. You have short levels with a very quick tempo, and it should be a very thrilling experience.”

The Mario 3DS director may have a point, since Mario has gotten rather sluggish—perhaps the result of too many Italian dishes—since his transition to the third-dimension, but is regression the answer? No doubt there are many fans who miss classic Mario, as evidence by the sales numbers of New Super Mario Bros., but Nintendo would be unwise to completely shun the appeal behind Super Mario Galaxy 2. Come on, Nintendo, there’s no reason we can’t have both!