Super Mario general topic

[ChaosXVI]

I'm open to more exploration based levels again, but the problem with doing that is Galaxy 2 was nonstop fun, never a dull moment.  No matter what, in a big exploration based game, there are moments of "downtime" and that just won't due for 3D Mario anymore I think.

 

Really the big draw of that Yoshi's Land rumor was that it gave a chance for a new, unique 3D Yoshi game that likely could've been exploration focused, leaving 3D Mario to stick to a more linear structure, and then everyone wins...but now that rumor is looking less and less likely.

[Emmett L. Brown]

I think the best approach to bringing more exploration into the 3D based Mario titles is to bring in a cross between the Blue Coins of Super Mario Sunshine and the Star Coins of the New Super Mario series. Have 3 hidden Star Coins in each linear 3D level, placing them so that they reward players who hunt for secret rooms or pull off tricky platforming into optional paths. Then in the hub world you can exchange a certain number of Star Coins for another Star.

 

The Blue Coins in Sunshine were a good idea. They just took the concept way too far by making them so hard to find, stuffing way too many into each level, and leaving you no way of keeping track of which ones you were missing.

[Conando]

I will agree that the Blue Coins were freakin' stupid; that's definitely not the way to encourage exploration. The comet medals, star coins, and green stars in later games were better. When I think about it, I suppose I can except some exploration based worlds as long as not every single one is as open ended and slow like 64. I enjoyed the few in Galaxy 2 enough.

[Emmett L. Brown]

Speaking of Sunshine, can anyone tell me what the point of collecting Shines was? To unlock the final boss you have to beat Shadow Mario in each area, so what's the use of grabbing extra Shines from secrets, hidden levels, and feeding that god damned raccoon blue coins?

[Conando]

Just to get an alternate ending screen. They really could have just made it stages, since the Shines pretty much replace the goal post or flag pole at the end of old Mario game stages. I remember when I was younger, and didn't understand that you had to beat Shadow Mario in all the stages in order to unlock Corona Mountain. Got pretty frustrated when I had like 80 Shines and still no final stage.

Edited January 14, 2013 by King Of Awesome

[JezMM]

Yeah, the problem with Sunshine was that each of the 7 episodes on each course were mandatory.  Unlike 64 and Galaxy where you can pick and choose what extra stars you want to take on (Galaxy 2 less so but the first star on each Galaxy was usually fairly straightforward and if you had that much trouble you could usually take a different route on the map to move forward).

 

3D Land of course did have all levels mandatory, but there was very little puzzle element to 3D Land so it wasn't an issue.  Sunshine was far more often "wtf do I even do" than "this is too hard I want to do a different course".