How Astro Bot and the next 3D Mario will shape the Nintendo Switch 2
A new 3D Mario is almost guaranteed within the first year of the Nintendo Switch 2 but what form will it take and does it have anything to do with Donkey Kong?
A new 3D Mario is almost guaranteed within the first year of the Nintendo Switch 2 but what form will it take and does it have anything to do with Donkey Kong?
As a rule, it is impossible to predict Nintendo and yet… that’s not been entirely true for the Nintendo Switch 2. Many guessed that the console would still look similar to the original and it was correctly predicted Mario Kart would be one of the first games to appear, as there hasn’t been a wholly new entry in over a decade. They seem like easy guesses in hindsight but when trying to understand Nintendo nothing is easy.
And yet, there are also a few other things that can, more or less, be taken for granted. It seems very likely that Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game, for example, and given its popularity in Japan it’s hard to imagine there won’t be a Splatoon 4 this year. But also, it’s very obvious that Nintendo will want a new Super Mario platform game on the system sooner rather than later.
Often, new Super Mario games have been launch titles, with classics such as Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, but that’s not always the case. Super Mario Odyssey was released in October, after the Switch 1’s March launch, and given how closely Nintendo seems to be following the same formula for their new console it’s easy to imagine them launching the Switch 2 with Mario Kart 9 and then having a new Super Mario out in time for Christmas.
Will there be a new Donkey Kong game on Nintendo Switch 2?That is only a guess though as it’s been over seven years since Super Mario Odyssey and the team responsible (Nintendo EPD) has produced no other similar title since, so theoretically they could’ve been working on a follow-up all this time.
That’s not very likely but there have been rumours dating back to at least 2021, that EPD is working on a new 3D Donkey Kong. If true, it seems this may have been intended for the 40th anniversary of Donkey Kong (which is also the 40th anniversary of Mario) but thanks to the pandemic that important milestone was never even acknowledged by Nintendo.
It’s unclear what form a new Donkey Kong game might take, especially given he’s had a recent makeover – starting with his appearance in the Super Mario Bros. movie – that is closer to his original look and less like his 90s era Rare design. The Rare influenced Donkey Kong Country Returns was recently remastered, so Nintendo hasn’t completely retconned the old games, but his new look can clearly be seen in the Mario Kart Nintendo Switch 2 footage.
The last 3D Donkey Kong game was Rare’s extremely flawed Donkey Kong 64 in 1999 and it’s very unlikely EPD will be looking to make anything similar themselves.
A better guess, and an approach they’ve taken with many of their classic franchises recently – most obviously Zelda – would be something more reminiscent of Donkey Kong’s original appearance. But, of course, in that he was the villain and never moved from his spot atop a half-built skyscraper.
There have also been rumours of a more traditional 3D Mario game that will be an early release for the Switch 2 and there’s no reason to think that’s not true. Although it’s certainly impossible to guess what theme or gimmick it might have.
Astro Bot provided some unexpected competition for Nintendo (Sony Interactive Entertainment)What will be interesting is whether it tries to reflect the success of Astro Bot in any way. The developers of Sony’s exclusive went out of their way to acknowledge their debt to Nintendo, in their The Game Awards acceptance speech, but for many that have never played a modern 3D Mario game Astro Bot is their only experience of a modern, high quality 3D platformer.
Mario games are much more mechanically complex than anything in Astro Bot, so it’s going to be very interesting to see if Nintendo leans into that, as a point of difference, or if they pull back and try and make something easier and simpler.
This will be the first time Nintendo’s had any serious competition, in terms of platformers, since the Mega Drive era and their response to that is going to be very interesting, especially as Sony has already said it wants to make more family friendly games.
Will there be a new 3D Super Mario on Nintendo Switch 2?There is another theory though and while it has nothing to back it up, other than the unexpected remake of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong last year, it is a compelling idea: what if the new 3D Mario and the rumoured new Donkey Kong were one and the same game?
That is how things started off with the original coin-op, after all, and it would be interesting if perhaps you switched control between both or there was some sort of co-op element. Or perhaps it’s a single-player game in the style of Bowser’s Fury, which featured Mario running and jumping as usual, while also being menaced by an almost unstoppable, and much larger, foe.
Bowser’s Fury was only ever included with the remaster of Super Mario 3D World and felt very much like an experiment that hadn’t quite made it to the status of a full game. Coincidentally, it was released in 2021, when the first rumours of a new Donkey Kong game emerged, so… who knows.
Well, Nintendo knows, obviously, but they’re not saying anything until the Nintendo Direct on April 2 – and perhaps not even then if the game is further out than currently assumed. The chances of anyone guessing what Nintendo are up to are very low but the one thing you can be certain of is that a 3D Mario game, of some sort, is on its way and that it will almost certainly be worth waiting for.
Super Mario Odyssey – what will it’s follow-up be like? (Nintendo)Email [email protected], leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
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