The S-3 stage serves as a good example of Super Mario Bros arbitrariness in their positioning. To get the third Star Coin, the player should obviously limit their searching to the final area, to the right of the second coin. After thoroughly exploring the environment – testing all pipes, killing all enemies, jumping against all blocks, and jumping randomly for invisible ones – they should encounter a high platform that can only be reached with the Raccoon Suit.
When flying there, they should perceive a line of coins, rising out diagonally of the screen in the exact direction of their flight. To follow this line of coins, however, will not make them arrive in a secret area containing the Star Coin. Following the line of coins will make them just collect those coins and fall to the ground. Now, on firm ground, frustrated, players could then notice the existence of two other platforms high above them.
Returning a second time to these two platforms
They would have to fly back to the first platform, ignore the coins, and then fly to those two. As they are separated by a small gap, players could then assume that this is the visual indication of an invisible block and would jump between them, but discover… nothing. Returning a second time to these two platforms, they would have to jump now without any pattern, and following any logic whatsoever, to finally discover the invisible block above the platform on the left. That is, not only do coins serve, in this level, a purpose opposite to what they should, distracting players and leading them on the wrong path, but the lack of logic in the position of the invisible block, instead of rewarding for exploration, will most probably infuriate players instead,.
Even the act of collecting coins, the supposed focus of the game, is not a fully developed idea. There is a gauge informing the player how many they have collected up to that moment, but there is no online leaderboard, which would serve as a great incentive. Its absence means that the record the player achieves will be almost exclusively personal; “almost” because at least you can show it to another player by the 3DS Street Pass functionality. But, in any case, the developers even decided to set a maximum limit of 30,000 coins per stage, which would have prevented a variety of high scores in a possible detailed online leaderboard anyway.
The Gold Flower turns the plumber
The new powers are, at least, better suited to the goal of collecting coins. The Gold Flower turns the plumber into gold and makes him capable of casting golden energy balls that turn any block or enemy into coins – and is possible to increase the amount gained if you can eliminate several at the same time. The golden circle makes the enemies golden.
When eliminated by Mario they also produce coins – and finally, there is the golden block, the best of them: after being hit several times it fits on the protagonist’s head and starts to generate coins over time. What makes this power more interesting is the risk-reward element it adds to the game: if positioned in a dangerous place, the block can leave the player undecided about staying put for a while to grab it. And since the block generates more coins if the player is running, it still encourages and rewards dangerous behavior.
The Second New Mario Bros
Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine are two examples of how 3D Mario games have succeeded at reinvention by adding new dimensions of fun to even the most fundamental gameplay elements, such as leaping. The contemporary 2D releases seem to adhere to a different standard, with a concentration on recognizable aspects and the game’s major gimmick (as shown in the Wii edition, which did rather well thanks to its multiplayer mode). Nevertheless, the focus of New Super Mario Bros. 2 is on collecting money, which is a terrible choice given the series’ history of valuing elaborate level design.
Usually, the plot of Mario games consists on Mario rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser. Developers also don’t consistently strive to add layers of complexity to gameplay. After all, a Mario game’s primary need is that it be easy to pick up and play. Each new game instead aims to find fresh and interesting ways to make use of the same core principles it introduced in the prior one.
The player’s first encounter with a goomba
There are few better examples than the levels of Super Mario Bros. Everything in them works together to get the gamer reach the end flag. The player’s first encounter with a goomba emphasizes the need of leaping quickly. Pipes are both a hidden shortcut and a training tool for this crucial gameplay aspect. Coins incentivize adventuring by allowing access to previously inaccessible areas and rewarding collectors with an extra chance of survival. And the tunes are timed to the beat of the dance.
That is to say, everything in the game serves the same purpose: to broaden the scope of play. The progress continued with Super Mario Bros. 3, which included the ability to return to earlier screens (completing horizontal mobility) and to fly (developing vertical travel across the levels) with the help of the Racoon Suit.
The original New Super Mario Bros
There is no substantial growth in New Super Mario Bros. 2’s gameplay options. Yet its main selling point is badly executed as well. In this game, you must amass a fortune in gold coins—specifically, one million. Instead of basing the levels around this purpose, the designers of the original New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS just built with it in mind.
Although trying to keep the series’ trademark platform components and reintroduce some old ones, such the increased verticality brought about by the Racoon Suit, levels sometimes struggle to handle this high quantity of coins, which are also often arbitrarily positioned.
The many tasks associated with their accumulation
The ridiculous number of coins also undermines the effectiveness of the many tasks associated with their accumulation. In a typical Mario game, the coins serve multiple purposes: after collecting one hundred of them, Mario is granted an extra life; coins hidden in perilous areas allow players to set the game’s difficulty at their own pace and are rewarded for doing so; and coins scattered throughout the level encourage exploration by revealing previously hidden passages, shortcuts, and other secrets.
The issue is that proper placement of the coins in the stages is vital for these elements to have any influence at all. This was typically accomplished by following these guidelines: there shouldn’t be too many of them on Mario’s basic path to the flag, as that would discourage exploration, and there shouldn’t be too many of them, as that would prevent them from alerting the player to the importance of their locations.
Their overabundance in New Super Mario Bros. 2
As this is not how coins are usually used, their overabundance in New Super Mario Bros. 2 has a negative impact on the aesthetics of the game. It’s no longer necessary to find a hidden block or gather eight red coins to obtain a life, since the player will have more than four hundred lives to spare thanks to the thousands of regular coins acquired during the game.
Picking up five coins placed beside a pit is risky, but it’s not worth it since there are twenty more coins on the following stage. With so many coins lying about, it’s hard to tell which ones are meaningful, making exploration more like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The third Star Coin is located to the right of the second coin
The S-3 level is illustrative of the arbitrary nature of their placement. The third Star Coin is located to the right of the second coin, thus the player should focus their efforts there. A high platform accessible only with the Raccoon Suit should be found after careful exploration of the surroundings, including checking all pipes, killing all adversaries, jumping against all blocks, and leaping randomly for unseen ones. If they’re traveling in the right direction, they should see a row of coins ascending diagonally from the screen. But, following this chain of coins won’t lead them to the hidden location where they may find the Star Coin.
If they follow the line of coins, they will just pick up the coins and then collapse to the floor. Now that they were safely rooted to the ground, the unhappy gamers could look up and see two more platforms. To go to these two, they’d have to return to the first platform, where they’d have to bypass the coins and fly. Players could leap between them, thinking the space between them indicates an unseen barrier, only to find… nothing.
They would have to return to this pair of platforms
In order to find the invisible block above the left platform, they would have to return to this pair of platforms and leap between them without following any pattern or logic. That is, the coins in this level serve the opposite goal of what they should, distracting and guiding players down the incorrect route, and the illogical placement of the invisible block will likely enrage them rather than reward them for their curiosity.
The game’s purported central focus—collecting coins—isn’t even completely realized. There is a meter that displays the player’s current total, but there is no online leaderboard to encourage players to keep collecting.
The player’s accomplishments will be kept almost entirely private without it, with the “almost” due to the fact that you may still display them to another player using the 3DS Street Pass feature. To minimize a lack of variation in top scores in a potential in-depth online leaderboard, the creators even opted to establish a maximum limit of 30,000 coins each level.
The pursuit of monetary gain
The updated abilities are, at the very least, more conducive to the pursuit of monetary gain. With the help of the Gold Flower, the plumber may transform into solid gold and fire golden energy balls that will convert any block or adversary into coins; eliminating many enemies at once will result in a larger payout. The golden circle turns the bad guys golden, and when Mario destroys them, they drop money as a byproduct. The best of the bunch is the golden block, which, after taking a few hits, can be worn atop Mario’s head and gradually generates cash.
The risk-reward nature of this ability makes it more engaging, mario game as the player may be torn between remaining put and moving to a safer area in order to take the block if it is placed in a hazardous area. Nevertheless, the block still promotes and rewards risky conduct by producing more coins if the player is fleeing.
