How do you want Super Mario Switch to Play?

[BenTheDemon]

As I was watching YouTubers' reactions to the 5 seconds of gameplay of the likely next major Super Mario game, I noticed people saying that they hope it strays far from 3D World. I found this odd, as I really liked 3D World. I thoroughly enjoyed the multiplayer and multiple playable characters of 3D World as well as the various throwbacks to classic titles.
Though from a single-player point of view, my favorite Mario game would be a tie between Galaxy and Galaxy 2. To this day, I still consider them my favorite games of all time. They had a great atmosphere to really enhance the great scope of these games. The soundtrack to this game was also an epic orchesteral masterpiece, adding to the atmosphere. Though I consider the level design of Mario 64 to be overall better, the level design of the Galaxies was still on par, and the atmosphere and refined control put these games on top.
Mario 64 was the first video game I ever played, so it has a special place in my heart, so I might have a bit of bias to it. That being said, Mario 64 is my second favorite 3D Mario game, and I think that it had the best level design and overall open world-ness. The nonlinearity very much added to the appeal of the game. It also didn't have too much backtracking (which I prefer in video games, as I like to complete whole worlds as I go to make 100 percenting more convenient.)
So that leaves Sunshine, my least favorite of the 3D Marios, but still an amazing game. As far as improvements, it's basically a peg below 64 in ever way. Though the improvements were mostly minor, they are still worth mentioning. The game had a great atmosphere, keeping with a tropical theme. The music was great and atmospheric, and the control was a bit more refined. But the things Sunshine did best, in my opinion, was the challenge and humor. Sunshine was easily more difficult than the other 3D Mario games, which I enjoy as a gamer, and the humor, while non in-you-face, was very subtle, yet brilliant. I found the absurdity of some missions hilarious at time, especially the giant watermelon that explodes if it bumps into a corner or touches water, yet it's perfectly fine being thrown off a cliff.

So, enough backstory. This thread is about discussing what we want in the next major Super Mario title. So as you may have guessed, here are my general ideals:
1. The openness of 64 with a great hub world.
2. The humor and challenge of Sunshine.
3. The atmosphere of the Galaxies. (Including matching soundtrack.)
4. The multiplayer and multiple characters of 3D World.

Here are a few more specific ideas that I would love to see added:
1. Remove the time limit of 3D World. Time limits discourage exploration.
2. Though Galaxy and Sunshine had very fun themes, I'd prefer a hodgepodge of themes rather than a central one for this game. Though throwbacks to Sunshine and Galaxy would be very welcome additions. A throwback world to Sunshine complete with F.L.U.D.D. gameplay would be a great addition to add variety. Let's bring back some Super Mario Bros. 2 enemies as well. A whole Subcon based world with Wart as the boss would be amazing.
3. Speaking of throwbacks, a Sonic Generations style "greatest hits" levels would be very fun, as long as the whole game isn't based on remixed levels. This could also be a very good idea for DLC.
4. Multiple playable characters would add excellent replay value to this game. If it were up to me, I'd have a whole cast of playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Rosalina as they played in 3D World, Wario and Yoshi as they played in 64 DS, and Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong as they played in DK64 (only 3D Donkey Kong game, so this would double as a great throwback). Perhaps even Bowser and Bowser Jr., though this would be harder to implement unless there is a new enemy.
5. The game is basically confirmed to have amiibo support, so some skins based on these characters would be pretty cool. It would take way too long to program over 50 unique character playstyles, so skins would be a great compromise. Who wouldn't wanna play Mario with a StarFox costume? Hell, Mario Kart 8 already flirted with the idea.
6. A mix of 3D an 2D levels. The Galaxies had a few 2D sections, but nothing really challenging. This worked really well for Sonic in Sonic Generations, so I think a Mario game with a mix of 2D and 3D gameplay would work just as well. (Damn, the more I think about it, the more I realize Mario Generations would just print money.)
7. This is very unlikely, but I love the classic powerup system, yet I much prefer Mario having his "Standard" look. So I'd like Fire Mario to return, but instead of changing the color scheme, perhaps Mario's hands could have a bit of a fiery glow to signify his firepower while still retaining his standard colors.
8. Yoshi riding. Even if Yoshi becomes a playable character like in 64 DS, I think Yoshi riding would be a fun gameplay mechanic. Green Yoshi could ride another Yoshi (Ewww. This is a kids game! Keep those dirty thoughts to yourself!)

Those are just a few of my personal ideas for how to make Super Mario Switch the perfect Mario game. Share your ideas below.

 

[Martin]

I want it to play much more like a 3D mario game than a 2D one like 3D Land and 3D World were, and that was always my biggest issue with those games (well, aside from the fact that 3D Land was a god-awful excuse for a Mario game and that I've only played about 3-4 hours of 3D World whilst babysitting). I feel like games like Galaxy, 64 etc. just had a much better game flow to them and were a better fit for the 3D setup than traditional Mario is, and I feel like where these games really missed the mark was just in the way the mechanics were handled. They just feel kinda klunky to play relative to the "true" 3D Mario games and as such I can understand why people don't want Mario Switch to play like them. The other thing is that having a flagpole was stupid 'cause it makes levels feel linear rather than like a treasure hunt/puzzle, and I want to see the return of stars as opposed to Nintendo pretending that a 3D Mario game is a 2D one.

I wouldn't mind seeing some elements of Skyward Sword implemented into it though, such as the stamina bar (meaning you have a set of standard movement speeds and then have to manage dashing well) although I would be fine whether they are implemented or not as a big part of mario is trying to complete the game as fast as possible without restrictions like that, but if there is no stamina bar I want them to ditch the dash button all together because it's very clunky if its not on a 2D plane. I think that a 3D Mario game should aim to experiment with different mechanics from the 2D games (things like launch stars, gravity, FLUDD, time limited power-ups beyond invincibility etc.) and I would definitely like to see another grand game adventure of a game like Galaxy, or I could even be happy if it was set up like Super Mario 64 where the gameplay is fast-paced and simple. Ideally we should be able to access multiple stars within a level like in 64 rather than the single-star setup of Galaxy so that it rewards hunting and searching for secrets more.