The clock has been ticking for a while now, so here’s everything we have on what will be the next Mario Game after Super Mario Odyssey and Bowser’s Fury. Nintendo has recently announced two games for 2023, but we’ll look beyond that to cover a few other options, including our thoughts on the next 3D Mario game.
Perhaps the biggest surprise since the release of Super Mario Odyssey is that there wasn’t any significant DLC for it, except for the Luigi’s Balloon World, which was more of a mini-game. In all fairness, games in the series don’t usually have paid expansions, but if there’s one where it would have made the most sense it’s Odyssey.
AdvertisementObviously, all of the focus has been on The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom recently, but with that out, we finally had the announcement for the next Mario game. There was no E3 2023, but the June Nintendo Direct Presentation was pretty big for the plumber with a remake and a new 2D game announce by Nintendo (full details below).
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What will be the next game after Odyssey and Bowser’s Fury?
The first new Mario game announced during the Nintendo Direct Presentation was Super Mario Bros Wonder, which is a brand new 2D side-scrolling platform game. You can find out more about the title with the link below, because there’s a not of new mechanics that have been confirmed. It has been given a release date of October 20th, 2023.
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The second title is Super Mario RPG, a graphically enhanced remake of the classic SNES game. You can see the video below to get a view of the improved graphics and how the game is shaping up. It’s due for release on November 17th 2023.
While the latter is sort of 3D in style, it’s not really a proper 3D title, plus it’s a remake, so not brand new. For this, our options below should give you an idea about what might be coming down the road in 2024 and beyond.
AdvertisementIn addition to the two 2023 games, the September Nintendo Direct presentation confirmed that we will also be getting a remake of Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door in 2024. There’s also going to be a remake of Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Mario vs. Donkey Kong next year, but we’re hoping that Nintendo might have more in store for us.
2024 and beyond option 1: We’ll get Super Mario Odyssey 2
A big shout for the next Mario game with a 3D platform style is a direct sequel to Odyssey, giving us all new worlds to explore and a new set of bosses to take on. Whether or not this will involve Cappy is open for debate, but it does stand to reason considering the success of the first game and it’s enduring impact on Nintendo Switch sales.
That being said, not all games in the series get a sequel, direct or otherwise, so it’s far from a foregone conclusion. There was no Super Mario 64 2 or Super Mario Sunshine Returns, which is shame, because… well… they would be epic.
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If that isn’t enough, some of the sequels are so different from their predecessors that they’re almost unrecognizable in comparison, and that could well be the case with the next game. Super Mario Bros. 2 is totally different to the first side-scrolling platform game and it was a similar case with Super Mario World 2 Yoshi’s Island.
There are more direct comparisons in the series, though, with the likes of Super Mario Galaxy 2 being very close to the previous game. It’s a similar story to the New Super Mario Bros. titles and it’s something that would probably work best for Odyssey 2.
That would give us Cappy and maybe a few new gameplay mechanics in a whole new adventure with the ship taking the team to new worlds. It would be cool to combine this with a little of the Galaxy magic with Lumas and Rosalina getting in on the story and setting action, but they don’t need this to make the game great.
AdvertisementThe biggest thing would be just to deliver some really cool new worlds and bosses with more of the brilliantly creative platform action and it’ll be a gem. With Bowser’s Fury exploring the idea of an open world it would be impressive for the next game in the 3D series to take this to a new level of genius.
The problem with the sequel theory is that it’s almost six years since the last game, which is kind of unheard of. Mario Galaxy 2 came out just three years after the first game and Yoshi’s Island released five years after Super Mario World, so we might already be past the threshold of possibility.
We’ve had a lot of Mario sports titles since Odyssey came out, along with Bowser’s Fury, Sparks of Hope, Super Mario Party Superstars, Paper Mario The Origami King, Maker 2 and the 3D All Stars remake series. That probably rules out another sideline game next, but if the timing for the sequel to Odyssey throws it into doubt the next option is something completely new.
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Option 2: We’ll get a brand new Mario adventure for the next game
If we’re getting something brand new next for Mario’s 3D exploration, the big question is what that might be. We’re working on a high confidence that it can’t be that far away with the gap to Odyssey growing bigger and bigger and new normally means a creative explosion from Nintendo, so that’s what we’re looking for here.
AdvertisementThe open world idea could still be the winner and with the Super Mario Bros. Movie out in April 2023 it could be linked to that somehow eventually. There are plenty of biomes that feature in the film and it would be so cool to be able to transition between them seamlessly in a similar way to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom.
The troubled performance of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet as the first open world title in the series may leave you thinking that this is a pipe dream. However, Nintendo did it perfectly back in 2017 with Breath of the Wild, then there was Bowser’s Fury on a smaller scale and they were back and their best with Tears of the Kingdom this year, so it’s technically within their grasp.
If it isn’t linked to the movie then another option for the next 3D Super Mario game would be for it to swirl together all of the coolest mechanics from every other game into one big melting pot of an adventure. Imagine being able to fly the Odyssey to vast new worlds and choose between Cappy, Flood, the Poltergust or any number of power ups and suits to get the job done.
Throw in long jumps, double jumps, Cappy jumps and some karting action and you’ve got something that would be ridiculously special. Mario being able to fly over a huge 3D recreation of some of Super Mario World’s epic landscapes would be nothing short of amazing.
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What console will the next 3D Mario game release on?
AdvertisementWith one minor exception, which we’ll touch on later, that’s our main next Mario game options done, but with the Nintendo Switch now 6 years old there might be a change of guard in the offing. Nintendo hasn’t talked about a new console, but six years is the norm between system launches, so it’s logical to assume that something is brewing.
It would also make sense with the recent arrival of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom and the prospect of a free upgrade to the next console. The Switch Pro has been rumored for a long time, but it’s looking less likely now we have the OLED model, so we might be on for something like a Super Switch in the next 12 months or so.
If there is a new console, it makes sense to launch it with either a new Zelda or Mario game. With Tears out already, Mazza seems like the main contender, which worked very well with both the Super NES and the Nintendo 64.
Finally, and it’s one heck of a punt, but the VR market is slowly starting to grow, so it’s possible that Nintendo might throw their cap into the ring next. If that’s the case then it would be cool to be able to lace up as Mario in a new open world 3D setting that supports VR.
The only evidence we have to support this is that there was a 360 degree demonstration of Pokémon Legends Arceus early in 2022. The technology is highly linked to VR headsets, so it can be seen as a possible hint that Nintendo is at least exploring the possibilities of Virtual Reality.
We’ll update you with more details on the next Mario game as they’re confirmed. You can also check out our computer games section to keep tabs on other releases. Visit the Nintendo website at www.nintendo.com/ for more details.
