In particular, there's been one idea that I have that meshes very well with one of the ones that IGN's Brian Altano talked about recently.
When Mario 64 came out, it made the biggest roundabout for the series since it jumped from Atari and Arcades to the NES with Super Mario Bros. Since then, things have become slightly stale, with the exception of the two Galaxy titles. They were a breath of fresh air, but you can't really go back to them without feeling like you're beating a dead horse.
You need to take what you have already established, with an idea like Mario 64, and expand upon it. We live in a day and age where we can effectively see a seamless Mushroom Kingdom. There doesn't need to be a hub world. There doesn't need to be paintings or portals to jump into that separate you from one theme and the next.
Instead, let me explain what I think would be an interesting twist to the classic 3D Mario game.
The very first time you leave Peach's Castle, you can see the world stretching out before you. In the distance, hills that you can actually ascend peek out over the houses of the people. Some of these houses - and those that dwell within them - can be interacted with. Many are there just to give a feeling of realism. As you pass through the village, you can see a toad child chasing around a green koopa troopa. As you approach the pair, you learn that the child is crying, and the koopa troopa takes off into the horizon. You speak to the toad child, and are informed that the koopa troopa took the child's favorite tanooki doll.
This may not be the first quest you get, but it's simple enough to explain the parameters to you. A quest-giver has assigned a need to you, and it's your job to deliver. As Mario, you run out into the wide open of Mushroom Kingdom to track down the sneaky koopa thief.
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| If you let the tanooki go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. |
That's it. That's how the game starts. You don't have Bowser kidnapping Princess Peach to start. Hell, if you really want to produce a decent narrative, you don't even have Bowser show up at all for an hour or two. You're giving Mario a chance to see the world through ordinary circumstances for a few precious moments, and then...
Bam. One of the biggest airships Mario has ever seen shows up behind the darkened, smiling clouds in the distance. By this point, Mario's already been awarded a star or two (the day and night cycle doesn't start until after the first few explanatory events are passed). You know that you have to race back to the castle to save Peach. You use all the moves in your arsenal to try and reach it, but you're just not quick enough. The airship blows a hole in the roof of the castle, and Bowser, on an oversized anchor, descends down within. We hear Peach cry out, and then in the next few moments, see the king of the koopas as he's winched back into the battleship, Peach grasped tightly against his side.
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| Not actual size. |
I'm going to give you a bonus just for sticking with me this long. If you want to give the game some semblance of linearity, lock certain things out until you acquire a certain amount of stars. Or, if you want to step away from a dated method of blocking content until the right time, have it so the tried and true power-ups that have made Mario famous return in some fashion, but are unavailable until certain goals are reached. Oh no, all the fire flowers burned up in a drought caused by one of magikoopas schemes. Looks like you're going to have to go to the desert land and climb mount cliche to get a wild fire flower to bring back to the flower fields to plant. Once you do that, they start showing up around the map in places that you would need them to advance.
There's the beginnings of your story and your game right there Nintendo. You're welcome. That's free.
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