Highlights

  • Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces new characters and settings, but they shouldn't be left stranded in just one game.
  • Mario Bros. Wonder breathes new life into classic Mario games with weirder aspects turned up to 11, like the Flower Kingdom and wonder flowers.
  • The new characters and enemies introduced in Mario Bros. Wonder could help revive the Paper Mario series, bringing back its magic and beloved features.

Mario’s latest outing, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, introduced fans to scores of new elements for the platforming series. Leaving these new characters and settings stranded in Super Mario Bros. Wonder though would be a massive mistake on Nintendo’s part.

Mario Bros. Wonder is Nintendo’s latest attempt to breathe new life into the side scrolling format of the classic Mario games, this time by embracing the series’ weirder aspects and cranking them up to 11. The game sees Mario and friends visiting the Flower Kingdom, and their king, Florian, introducing a brand-new part of the Mario world outside the familiar Mushroom Kingdom. As usual, Bowser barges in to cause trouble, and the heroes must utilize wonder flowers, which cause all kinds of gameplay changes, to defeat him. The Flower Kingdom and its new inhabitants, friend and foe alike, would be wasted if these characters only appeared in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, so they might be the key to reviving the stale Paper Mario series.

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The Paper Mario Series Needs to be Redrawn

Paper Mario holds a spot in the hearts of Mario and RPG fans alike, once being games that expertly merged the wacky Mario world with deep turn-based battles. Early Paper Mario games were unrivaled successes, spawning a series that is still running today. The success of the recent Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake has reminded fans how incredible these games used to be. Unfortunately, the series has become characterized by gimmicks, lackluster stories, and combat that doesn’t feel rewarding. This series deserves better, and embracing some of the new elements introduced in Mario Bros. Wonder could bring back some of what made the original games so magical.

How Super Mario Bros. Wonder Could Save Paper Mario

Across even the worst of the Paper Mario games, one thing that has remained consistent is the emphasis on exploration. Every game in the series finds some excuse to throw Mario outside the parts of the Mushroom Kingdom that are usually depicted. By introducing the Flower Kingdom and its various biomes, Nintendo has built itself the perfect new world to toss Paper Mario into. Places like Shining Falls or the Fungi Mines would be so much fun to see more of. This would also give an opportunity to examine what has happened to the kingdom since Mario left. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Bowser Jr. took all the water from the Sunbaked Desert, but after his defeat, Mario brought the water back. Paper Mario could give that part of the world a whole new life with an oasis full of new inhabitants and challenges to undertake.

A standout inclusion in the early Paper Mario games came in the companion characters who became Mario’s party members. Each character was a different type of creature, usually one that is an enemy in the side-scrolling adventures. Characters like Lady Bow, Goombella, and Admiral Bobbery gave players a new appreciation for some of the series’ most iconic enemy types and proved that not all creatures of their kind are destined for evil. Though the party member mechanic has been abandoned in the more recent games, it’s a feature that many Paper Mario fans want to return, and Mario Bros. Wonder has opened the door for that return by introducing dozens of new enemy types, who could become beloved characters in the Paper Mario series. New characters based on new enemy types such as Hoppos, Trottin’ Piranha Plants, or Swirlypods have so much to offer in their designs, both in terms of potential characters, and potential movesets in the RPG battles.

A return to form for the Paper Mario RPGs is sorely needed, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder has created the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to reinvent the series. Blending the familiar format of the old Paper Mario games with the new setting of the Flower Kingdom could result in a game that fans new and old could appreciate together. Hot on the tail of the Thousand-Year Door remake, now is the perfect time for a new era of Paper Mario games, and the world of Super Mario Bros. Wonder is where it needs to take place.