Summary
The Super Mario Bros. Movietook an impressive dive into the sprawling history of Nintendo’s flagship franchise. Traveling from Brooklyn to the Mushroom Kingdom, there was room to reference locations familiar to the franchise’s colossal fanbase. The host of details, surprises and Easter eggs the film packed in ensured its rewatchability, even if a 92-minute run-time could only scratch the surface.
The Super Mario Bros. Movievisited the Mushroom Forest, Peach’s Castle, Jungle Kingdom and Dark Lands, but there are more to discover. Nintendo’s flagship franchise is famous for finding new spins and locations for its platforming installments. But the plumber and his brother Luigi have also bounced through many genres. With lots of blocks stomped by the first movie’s success, the upcoming sequelhas much to live up tobut also has the chance to jump into some of the more extraordinary parts of the brothers’ history.
Where Could The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 Go?
The Super Mario Bros. Moviewaspacked with referencesto the gaming legends’ epic history. Many locations were recognizable from Mario’s adventures since his first appearance in 1981’sDonkey Kongarcade game. But some classic lands from the games only made a fleeting appearance, particularly in the montage journey Mario and Peach took to gain the support of the Kongs of the Jungle Kingdom. Fans didn’t see much of places like the Bob-omb Battlefield, Sand Kingdom or Yoshi’s Island.
Inside Peach’s Castle, there were pictures ofMario 64levels that mirror the portals in that 1996 game. That gave fans hope that Mario and Luigi would soon be slipping on ice and avoiding quicksand in future installments. But a whole load of lands the brothers have visited on console deserve a chance to shine on the screenalong with a host of enemies.
Exploring Other Worlds
Okay, Mario Kart had to speed out of the traps in the first film, and fans can expect a racing sequel and the return of fire, ice, jungle, and a whole load of mushrooms in the sequel. But given the movie’s massive success ($1.4 billion), it should have the courage to jump into some of the most inspired and strangest locations that only die-hard Mario fans think about — particularly where there’s a neat game mechanic it can exploit on screen.
The first film was supremely confident handling its IP — not so easy considering thefamous 1993 attemptto bring the Mario Bros. to live action — so the sequel shouldn’t shy from digging deep to please fans and general viewers as it serves up visual spectacle and plot-propelling action.
Interior Puzzles
It’s likely then, that some of the games’ innovative interior settings are less likely to find themselves providing inspirations for a sprawling blockbuster. That said, there are tremendous callbacks to the franchise’s beginning that could follow up on Peach’s obstacle course in the first movie. Heading back to the brother’s first adventure,Super Mario Bros.’scastle levels posed a puzzle as players had to steer their hero down the right path with a clock counting down.
Expanding on that puzzle element,Mario 64’s “Wet Dry World”is an excellent example of that game’s effortless use of 3D. PredatingThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s infamous Water Temple, it found Mario having to change the water levels to access stars.
Playing With Size
The gaming franchise has a great history of going blockbuster, which has got to appeal to filmmakers.Super Mario Bros. 3’s fourth world was called “Giant Land,” where everything from blocks to Goombas was huge.Many fans will have great memories of Mario facing huge obstacles in 3D in parts ofMario 64’s “Tiny Huge Island” level. More recently,Super Mario Galaxy 2presented gigantic enemies in World 4’s “Super Massive Galaxy.”
Traversing Platforms
With Mario and Luigi having mastered their abilities inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, the sequel needs to up the challenge of that old gaming staple: traveling through the air. Sure, jumping is great, but over four decades there have been many ingenious twists on getting from platform to platform. The future could see the brothers timing their leaps onto the back of Albatosses, Para-Beetles, or directional and count-down lifts.
The elusive levels ofSuper Mario Bros. The Lost Levels’ “Fantasy World” combined underwater and overground levels.An even more niche nod would be the “Tree Zone” ofSuper Mario Land 2. In that quirky level, Mario could swim through tree sap sections but had to watch out for an enemy that deserves its moment on the screen: Moofishes.
More Than A Mario Kart
The Rainbow Road was a nerve-jangling stand-out inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie,and Mario Kart is bound to get a starring role in the sequel. But karts aren’t the only vehicles Mario has used in the games.Super Mario Landsaw the plumber take to a submarine and plane to battle bosses Dragonzamasu and Tatanga. InNew Super Mario Bros., Mario rode a giant Wiggler for the duration of “World 7-3” — a kaiju-twist on the later “World 8-3” where Mario raced underwater to escape the oncoming maw of Mega Unagi.
Riding some of those strange creatures will remind fans of Yoshi, who has to take a starring role in the sequel following the first film’s post-credit scene. Here’s hoping there’s a lengthy spell on a Yoshi Island packed with Dash Peppers that give the dino the speed to scale steep slopes as inSuper Mario Galaxy’s “Hightail Falls.”
There’s always a chance Mario could discover the fun of Isle Delfino’s Pinna Park, navigating pirate boats and roller coasters (and even a giant mechanized Bowser) as he did inSuper Mario Sunshine.
The Sweet Stuff
Every Mario fan knows the fun and challenge of the sweet-themed levels. With its floating forks and dripping saccharine platforms, the “Sweet Sweet Galaxy” inSuper Mario Galaxywould get fans licking their lips. The sugary appeal of the sponge cake-lined “Candy Kingdom” and the “Luncheon Kingdom” inSuper Mario Odysseywould be colorful and memorable additions.
To Space And Beyond
The twoSuper Mario Galaxygames took Mario zooming into space, so that’s not beyond the realm of possibility after the Rainbow Road antics ofThe Super Mario Bros. Movie.The “Space Zone” ofSuper Mario Land 2gave Mario a space suit and all the fun of lower gravity. That was also prominent in 3D in the “Moon Kingdom” ofSuper Mario Odyssey. That level meant higher jumps and slower movement, completely changing player tactics — a great approach to bringing new challenges to the screen.
Whether Mario heads to space or not, after the more straightforward narrative propulsion of the first film, the second movie should reference Mario’s history of challenging physics. A notable example was “Tick Tock Clock” inSuper Mario 64. The physics of the level varied depending on the time Mario jumped through the clock-face entry portal.
Papering It Up
Super Mariois first and foremost a platformer, but the franchise has had great success in other game genres, including unexpected career changeslike Dr. Mario.
A bout of Mario Tennis orMario Strikers Chargedmight not be on the cards, but there’s enormous potential in referencing the hugely popularPaper MarioRPG. It would be fascinating to see that expanded into a spin-off film, but after the first movie neglected this well-loved part of the franchise, it’s well overdue for a 2D appearance.
Getting spooky
Luigi deserves a spooky spin-off based on theLuigi’s Mansionfranchise, but that doesn’t mean the ghosts, ghouls, and Boos that have made their presence felt in theSuper Mario Bros.games don’t deserve a run in the next movie. After all,King Boo had a minor cameoin the first film.
InNew Super Mario Bros 2, “Ghost House” introduced the terrifying Boohemoth — a giant boo that ominously crept up on the plumbers until they turned around. InSuper Mario Bros. U, “Spinning Spirit House” lived up to its name with rotating platforms and invisible walls that could be expanded into a fantastic set-piece.
Lacking the Boos but a spooky stand-out in Mario levels, “Shadow Play Alley” inSuper Mario 3D Worldwas a level that played out entirely in shadows. It was innovative for a platformer and could inject tension into the animated movie.That 2013 game loved finding new and creative ways to subvert what fans knew and loved, such as chasing the famous end-of-level flag in the ‘Great Goal Pole’ or ‘Fuzzy Time Mine’ where players had to escape a building horde of fuzzies. That’s a healthy approach to ensure the nextMariomovie keeps things interesting on screen.
Bigger And Better Mario Enemies
As Mario and Luigi travel to new worlds, they’ll meet new enemies. Fans might not want to catch Bowser and Bowser Jr in a hot tub as challenging as that battle was inSuper Mario Sunshine, but there’s a vast back catalog of other foes to draw on.
Aside from the big bad voiced by Jack Black and frenemy Donkey Kong (Seth Rogan), some impressive bosses are ready to leap to challenge the brothers on screen.One weird and quirky boss it would be great to see is the underground and easily distracted boss, Major Burrows fromSuper Mario Galaxy.
Back on Isle Delfino,Super Mario Sunshinemay have met a mixed reception from fans but served up some classic bosses.The brilliantly named Phantamanta was a shadowy enemy that split into 96 smaller manta rays when Mario and Fludd attacked. The same game also introduced the memorable Gooper Blooper who has appeared and evolved in several games since.
The Mario Challenge
The main challenge for theMariomovie franchise is building on its considerable early success. A warning comes from the poor performance ofThe Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. While it expanded the premise of the popular first movie and was critically well-reviewed, its box office performance set the franchise back.
As Nintendoconfidently expands into multimedia, there could be the temptation to reference the expanded Nintendoverse. Fans will remember whenSuper Mario 3D Landwent top-down in “World 5-2”. As the rearranged numbers hint, that was a joke reference to earlyLegend of Zeldagames to mark that epic franchise’s 25th anniversary. It’s possible that theSuper Mario Bros. Moviestarted the journey to a giantSuper Smashcrossover, but Nintendo willneed to be careful with its sequels.
Fortunately, 1985’sSuper Mario Bros. inadvertently included a warning that the movie is jumping the Guppy. If the next films find the brothers ending up in Minus World, the impassable glitch level in the 1985 original platformer, even the most die-hard fans will suspect they’ve gone too far.
