The Nintendo Switch was released in 2017, and not long after, Mario Odyssey was too. Let me just start by mentioning, Mario Odyssey was one of the first games I’ve ever completed. It’s now been 5 years and we have all started to wonder, “When will the next Mario game be announced,” and more importantly, “What will the next Mario game be like?”

            I’m not Nintendo, nor does my uncle work for Nintendo. I don’t have any clue what their plan is for the story and setting. They could announce a Mario game about a zombie-toad apocalypse for all I know. However, from looking at Mario games and other recent Nintendo games, you can get a pretty good guess at what kind of game the next big 3D Mario game will be.

            It doesn’t seem like Nintendo is in any way against making their biggest franchises open world. It seems like they are doing exactly that. First, they did it with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and now they’re supposedly doing it again with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. So, it wouldn’t be crazy to think Mario games are going open world too.

            Mario Odyssey was semi-open world, and it worked really well. I think it’s possible the next Mario game could be like an extra-large kingdom from Odyssey. But really, I think Nintendo has already showed us a glimpse of what the next Mario game will be like.

            Since Mario Odyssey, many non-mainline Mario-themed games have released. There’s two Mario + Rabbids Games, two new Mario Party games, Mario Maker 2, various Mario sports games, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario 3D All Stars, Mario… well the list could go on much longer, but the game I actually want to talk about is Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. More specifically, Bowser’s Fury.

            The game is pretty much like the other Mario games, just shorter, but that’s understandable considering that the game is paired with Mario 3D World. You complete levels, collect Cat Shines (because the game is cat-themed), and eventually defeat Bowser, all in an open world.

            One of my favorite parts of the game is how each level is integrated into the rest of the world. When you get to the area where the level begins, the title of the level pops up on the screen. I loved how you don’t have to complete the levels in any specific order. I think that should definitely be included in the (hopefully) upcoming game. I also think that a new game should have a way to travel across the world quickly. In Bowser’s Fury, the world is made up of different groups of islands. It’s so much fun riding Plessie between them! Similarly, in Mario Odyssey, you ride the Odyssey to travel between different kingdoms. (I should probably mention, both games do allow you to quick-travel from the menu, but I just love the idea of having a vehicle, or even animal, you can ride on.)

            The overall design of the world is another part of Bowser’s Fury that I love. I especially love how each level would change after you completed it, making the world as a whole feel more alive. Once you complete enough levels, you unlock access to new islands, so the world grows as you progress through the game. With the map growing as you unlock new parts of the world, the game really felt like a classic Mario game without sacrificing the open world.

            In my opinion, the best Mario Games also feature a sidekick that helps you throughout the game. In Sunshine there was Flood, in Odyssey there is Cappy, and in Bowser’s Fury there’s Bowser Jr. Using that logic, I think there will almost definitely be some sort of sidekick in the next game. Maybe we’ll even get Cappy back for another adventure!

            I really think it’s important to make sure that, in any new game, the classic feel of playing a Mario game is the same. Mario Odyssey and Bowser’s Fury do that quite well. I think no matter what Nintendo does, it will be great, but if my theory is correct, Bowser’s Fury is just the test run of open world Mario.

            It seems Nintendo knows how to make an open world game, so I’m very excited to see what they will do! I hope I’m right, and Nintendo will be announcing an open world Mario game in the near future. But who knows with Nintendo? I guess we’ll see.

I really loved revisiting Bowser’s Fury again. The game is a perfect combination of Mario Odyssey and Mario 3D World, and the execution of the open world concept was amazing. Maybe I’ll even fully review the game at some point. I’ll use any excuse to play the game again. I love this game so much!