Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a real departure from the conventional Mario games because of its unique ideas. Many will recognize one of these ideas from the Dark Souls series, which also solves a multiplayer problem. During a Nintendo interview with Shiro Mouri, the programming director for the game, a concept was revealed that sounds exactly like a feature from Dark Souls.
In an Ask the Developer interview about Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mouri said that the game uses shadows to give the player a way of not feeling alone. These shadows are other players who are on the same course at the same time. It will sound familiar to many, since this is the same feature used in Dark Souls, where the other player has no effect on the other world but makes you feel less alone.
As one of the over 2,000 ideas pitched for the game, Mouri explains, “we came up with ideas to form this casual connection with players worldwide. We call other online players ‘live player shadows,’ and if you greet them, they might greet you back, give you an extra item if they have one, or even help you when you make a mistake. But they can’t attack or disturb you.”
This is one way Wonder is trying to change the “ordinary” features Mario games tend to have. The team remembered that some players in Mario can feel held back by players who aren’t as good. This way, they can feel a sense of companionship without the feeling that the other player is hindering them. It worked well in Dark Souls, and we imagine it will work well in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
This is also why they have so many characters to choose from. As Mouri explains, the live shadows are “one of the reasons why we decided to have the 12-character lineup from the initial stage of development. Even the world map is designed with the idea that players from all over the world keep popping up and wander around together freely.” This with the Tsundere live-commentary they considered would have been crazy.
From new expressiveness to real explanations for why the Goombas damage Mario, there are many reasons why you want to check on our countdown clock to let you know when the game will drop in your time zone.
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