Super Mario Bros. Wonder originally had over 2000 different effects

After going years without a new 2D Mario entry, last year saw the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Finally moving away from the New Super Mario Bros. series, Mario Wonder introduced a bunch of new mechanics – including game altering ‘Wonder’ effects. Though the final game already has dozens of effects, at one point Nintendo had over 2000 different and unique ideas.

As reported by Eurogamer, during GDC, Takashi Tezuka (producer for Mario Wonder) and Shiro Mouri (Wonder’s director) discussed many aspects surrounding the development of Super Mario Bros. Wonder – including the game’s titular mechanic. According to the duo:

“We held brainstorming sessions where the whole team shared their ideas for Wonder Effects. It was up to everyone on our team to come up with ideas, regardless of job title or seniority; Nintendo believes that everyone on a team is a game designer.”

They continued, “At first, we asked everyone to write any and all ideas on sticky notes, without any conditions. After all, if you start with conditions, you stifle creative freedom. At this stage, we collected around 2000 ideas.”

Mario Wonder was praised for its abundant and constant creativity – thanks in part to these new wonder effects. Knowing now that the ones which made it into the final product were whittled down from over 2000 ideas shows the company’s focus on quality.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the Wonder Effects? What was your favourite new addition to Mario Wonder? Let us know down below.

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