There Were Over 50 Super Mario Bros Wonder Badge Prototypes

Ahead of the Super Mario Bros Wonder debut, Nintendo shared an interview series going over new features like Badges. These are a kind of equipment a player can set in the game to change their character’s ability. The idea is to offer them new options, as well as influence the overall difficulty. Part of the discussion went over their general implementation, as well as how there were over 50 options when they were working on prototypes.

Director Shiro Mouri spoke most about the Super Mario Bros Wonder badges. He noted that the goal was to keep abilities from being from being tied to characters, so any player could make a game more or less challenging via badges.

Here’s what he had to say about the new feature and its implementation:

We ended up with over 20 different badges. These were the top picks from more than 50 prototypes. In fact, if a specific ability is tied to a character, players must choose that particular character depending on the course. So, it was difficult to apply an edgy ability. Since we were able to separate out abilities in the form of badges, not only can players equip badges that make it easier to clear courses, but we could also create abilities that let skilled players do challenge runs. For example, a badge that makes you run nonstop or one that makes your character invisible to both you and enemies.

Some badges alter actions, like jumping higher after crouching, while others are aimed at beginners, like one that automatically bounces your character back out of pits. Switching badges lets you experience the same course differently or at varying difficulty levels. I think the game is designed to be cleared more easily, even for players who used to quit 2D Mario games halfway because they found them too difficult. It also led to a new gameplay element to collect badges. During multiplayer (16), different gameplay styles become available, like boldly choosing badges that require some skill. Everyone can become invisible, for example. 

In the first part of the interview series, the team discussed how Super Mario Wonder started out with a small development team. There was also no set deadline for it. It also wasn’t affected by the movie in any way. 

Super Mario Bros Wonder will come to the Nintendo Switch on October 20, 2023.