It's time for another one of my gaming demands. Today I'm demanding that Nintendo get to work on New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo DS. Allow me to clarify, however. I'm not insisting on a sequel to last year's fantastic New Super Mario Bros. I understand that it's too soon to expect such a thing. No, what I'm after is for the classic Super Mario Bros. 2 to get a dose of the New treatment, bringing the old turnip-throwing gameplay mechanic back in a new guise much how New Super Mario Bros. revisited the original Super Mario Bros. formula. It's time to return to Subcon, the land of dreams.
Not too much should change for New Super Mario Bros. 2. Mario and friends should still be able to pick vegetables to toss at foes, enter Subspace in search of Super Mushrooms, and be able to hop atop wandering enemies for a brief ride. I just want to see the whole concept expanded: larger worlds and more playable characters. In addition to the core cast of Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Peach I want to see Wario and Yoshi added to the player roster. Imagine being able to use Wario's power dash to bash right through rocks that would otherwise have to be blown apart with a bomb. Picture being able to use Yoshi's flutter jump to reach a ledge that would normally be unreachable or ground pound down through diggable desert sand in an instant. The new duo would have their own weaknesses as well. Perhaps Wario's large size ranks him as the slowest runner, while Yoshi may have trouble picking vegetables with his ungainly tongue.
I want large levels that take up both DS screens, and I want to see the original environments back for more in addition to some new settings. We're in the land of dreams, right? So let's play that angle up and change each level slightly for each character as both their fantasies and their nightmares are spread out before them. Imagine a chase level where Mario races to save the princess from being carried away by Bowser, but play the level as Wario and instead you'll see Captain Syrup running away with a sack of Wario's precious gold. Let's explore the subconscious minds of our heroes with a Mario level built of pasta and a Princess level of royal splendor. The possibilities are endless and would provide for a wealth of little touches and game-based in-jokes that make so many long-time players smile.
Although the Super Mario Bros. 2 style of gameplay has been revisited in the various updated remakes of the game released over the years, Nintendo has never truly gone back and created a new adventure based around the game's core concepts. There is a lot of untapped potential just waiting to be explored for New Super Mario Bros. 2. Until Nintendo decides to pick up on the idea and run with it we're all left to dream about what may be. Wake me up if this game ever comes to fruition.
