New 2D Super Mario Brothers!

When the 3D revolution changed the face of gaming last generation, it was embraced by gamers. The slick adult look of some PlayStation games drew in new players, as well as tempting back many who thought they had grown out of videogames. Mario 64 reassured those that still hankered after the 2D precision of old that the platform game could handle the extra dimension with flair.

But there are many that still longed for the twitch action that they felt only 2D could deliver. This market was, to an extent, recognised by the industry. Fans of 2D shooters have been gratified by the release of games like Bangai-0, Zero Gunner 2, Ikaruga, the continuing Metal Slug series, Gradius V, Astro Boy GBA (though you’ll notice that many of these are the work of one company, Treasure). Similarly, beat ‘em ups continued to be made in the old way: games like Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, the Guilty Gears and the continuing King of Fighters series. In both examples, you see that both genres still had a lot left to give. Refusing to be unnaturally curtailed, they survived and evolved.

With 2D platformers, the story was a little different. Mario 64 was so impressive that its direction was adopted by pretty much all platform game developers, and Mario clones are still being released today. Certainly, some 2D platformers were still attempted, Yoshi’s Story for example. But tragically, none even came close to approaching the depth and richness achieved by Super Mario World, or even Super Mario Brothers 3 on the NES.

It is with jubilation, then, that we should embrace the news that Nintendo plan to release a new 2D Super Mario Brothers game for the DS. The game does make use of the DS’s 3D graphics engine, with the Italian plumber brothers being rendered in 3D. Let’s hope that this artistic decision does not compromise the precision that characterised the old 2D classics. Let’s also hope that it won’t be ridiculously short like newer platformers always seem to be – 100+ levels please! Those with longer memories will recall that some very similar footage was shown at last year’s E3. It’s perhaps an indication that this game has been in development for a long time time, so we’ve every right to expect something pretty special.

The fact that there’s no reason that this couldn’t have happened nearly eight or so years ago shouldn’t matter either. The point is, it’s coming. Yay!