What's Next for Mario?

He's stolen our change at arcade machines across the globe. He's introduced many of us to console gaming. He's been to the Mushroom Kingdom and Isle Delfino. He has even traveled the galaxy across countless planets. Twice.  Yes, Mario has seen many places, and it's inevitable that he hasn't seen the last of his adventures. As long as the world is turning and inhabited by humans, Nintendo will continue making Mario titles. But where can Mario go, now that he has been to space?

Although Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of the greatest games of all-time in the eyes of most reviewers, plenty of gamers were let down by the lack of innovation they've come to expect from the main entries in the 3D Mario series. Some still feel that the second Galaxy is no more than, well, a glorified expansion pack to the original. It's kind of hard to blame them, when there are a lot of other ways to get more bang for your buck. But what needs to be done to stop more and more people from thinking this way?

Mario games are known for revolutionizing the genre of platforming (and sometimes the whole gaming world). Mario 64 introduced precise analog control, Sunshine introduced FLUDD (which may not have been the greatest in itself, but it may have encouraged the use of items in platforming), and Galaxy flipped the whole way we see platforming with a new take on gravity. The simple, linear levels of jumping around and completing a level, just to get a star at the end is starting to get a little stale. We don't need a Galaxy 3, we're going to need new ideas.

I'm no Miyamoto, but one interesting idea is to give more freedom to the player. Maybe an open world that allows you to seamlessly go from a hub world into a level objective. Kind of like Mario 64, with elements from Legend of Zelda added in. I won't make an attempt at suggesting how the new gameplay enhancements or any of the art style should work, I'll leave the more creative things to Nintendo.

I know Mario isn't known for its story, and it doesn't need a story at all, but if they could make a fun little tale to go along with the adventure I think it would bring things together nicely. I'm not talking a huge backstory on the Mushroom kingdom, with 30 minute cutscenes, but I'm thinking something along the lines of how the Subspace Emissary mode in Brawl was done.

One thing I know for sure, Mario should take a nice vacation. We probably won't see another entry to the main series until the next generation of consoles, and that's about how it should be. It gives us time to enjoy the two Galaxy games without feeling like the market is being flodded. Plus it just gives some more time to think of some nice new ideas, and polish everything up. Maybe in 3-5 years we can see the next entry.

Just imagine what will be done then with the advanced technology. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are already incredible looking games, just think of what it'll be like on an HD console at the same level or better than the graphics PS3 and 360 are capable of today. Not to mention with Nintendo, we have no idea what kind of control scheme they may cook up. Who knows what turn the series will take? All we can do is hope for another special adventure for Mario.

Logan Smithson, NoobFeed