Email: New worlds for Mario

Hey Master Malstrom,
In your most recent post, you asked if we had any ideas for NSMB
worlds. Well, I’ve got a few that I think you and my fellow readers
will like.

First, medieval world. This would be sort of like the opposite of your
future world. There could be medieval tapestries in the backgrounds
and, say, Koopa Troopas wearing armor and carrying swords. Perhaps
Nintendo could even create new enemies such as knights to fit the
theme.

Second, glass world. This could make for some tricky platforming.
Think destructible environments that would collapse whenever Mario
provides too much impact. Beginning players would cautiously tiptoe
through the levels while experienced players would zoom through the
levels and watch everything shatter in their wake.

Finally, construction world. There could be bars suspended by
construction machines that would function as moving platforms or
falling ones, and hammers falling from the sky that Mario would need
to avoid. This would probably be the most traditional of the worlds,
but it would still be quite a bit of fun.

Thanks for reading and keep up the great work!

The only issue with the medieval world is that it is getting too close to the traditional fantasy. Mario is differentiated from the usual RPG fantasy world stuff. Medieval characters might get a little too close to that.

Construction World could have interesting mechanics, but how can a world be devoted to constructing. What are they constructing? And why is an entire world devoted to constructing?

I really like your glass world. Let’s tune it up some and make it Crystal World (where it still has ‘glass’). There could be so many gameplay elements to it. Of course, glass can shatter (like that room in Super Metroid). But you could use the crystalline glass to reflect and bounce things off at unique angles like the fire balls. Sound and music could be utilized in the gameplay by bouncing on a crystal a certain way which could cause shockwaves and ramifications (tripping up the goombas walking around).