After decades of Mario, how do developers bridge a widening generation...
Enlarge / A prototype wonder effect—featuring Mario's head turned into blocks that could be eaten by enemies—didn't make it into the final game.Nintendo In a game industry that seems to engage in periodic layoffs as a matter of course, it's often hard for even popular game franchises to maintain continuity in their underlying creative teams…
Super Mario Maker’s “final boss” was a fraud all along
When good robots fall into the wrong hands, bad things can happen...Aurich Lawson | Nintendo The Super Mario Maker community and "Team 0%" have declared victory in their years-long effort to clear every user-submitted level in the original Wii U game before the servers shut off for good on April 8. That victory declaration comes…
Super Mario Bros. Wonder devs created 2,000 game-altering “Wonder Effect” ideas
Enlarge / Just some of the unused Wonder Effect ideas submitted via sticky note by the development team.Kyle Orland SAN FRANCISCO—When thinking about what makes 2D Mario games special, Super Mario Bros. Wonder director Shiro Mouri recalled the excitement he felt playing the original Super Mario Bros., discovering things like the warp zone and hidden…
The Super Mario Maker community faces its final boss
Enlarge / "Trimming the Herbs," mapped above, is all that stands between "Team 0%" and its ultimate goal of clearing every Super Mario Maker level. As of late 2017, there were almost 85,000 "uncleared" levels in the original Wii U Super Mario Maker (SMM)—levels that had never been beaten by anyone except for their original…
Review: Switch’s Super Mario RPG remake updates one of the SNES’s...
Enlarge / Super Mario RPG is backNintendo Even among the many standout titles in the Super Nintendo's game library, the RPGs developed for the system by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) are special. Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI are probably the crown jewels, but Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy IV are nearly as revered and influential. Trials…
‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’ Makes Your Switch Controllers Sing
Photo: Oleg Elkov (Shutterstock)Nintendo’s Pro Controller for Switch is great, especially if you find the Joy-Cons to be a bit small for extended gameplay. But whether you prefer the larger Pro Controller or the convenience of the Joy-Cons, they both have something in common: a lack of speakers. As such, any accompanying gameplay sounds must…
Super Mario Wonder: Worth Getting a Switch For ...
Super Mario Wonder is a smile. A big, friendly, comforting smile. You may find the level of sweetness in Mario Wonder disorienting at first. Those little flowers that say things to you…the upbeat tunes. The helpful advice. Is this trying too hard? Or do I have to let go and welcome the embrace?Magic is my…
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the most inventive 2D Mario in...
Enlarge / Whatever is in those Wonder Flower, I want some.Nintendo Back in 1995, Nintendo released Yoshi’s Island, which included the game’s seventh level, “Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy.” After a relatively sedate and predictable first half, the last part of “Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy” introduces the floating white puffballs that give the level its name…
The Best LEGO Deals During October Prime Day
LEGOs are the greatest kids’ toys in history. Unfortunately, they know that, so they aren’t cheap, and they don’t go on sale often. And Amazon Prime Day is a rare exception that proves the rule.There isn’t a lot of LEGO on sale during Prime Big Deal Days, and most of the discounts aren’t exactly steep,…
