Wockio
Kikwi Enthusiast
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TL;DR: EPD Tokyo's abscense sus. Isle Delfino cut from Mario Odyssey sus. Sunshine references in Bowser's Fury sus.
Something that frequently comes up during development speculation is what's been up with EPD Tokyo since the release of Super Mario Odyssey, and thinking about this lead me to the following scenario:
You guys remember how Isle Delfino was in the map for Odyssey's promotional materials? And how there's an untextured bump in the geometry of the Odyssey's globe right where Isle Delfino would be? This on its own isn't necessarily conspicuous. All games have cut content, so what? But then in 2021 comes Super Mario 3D World with its brand new sidegame, Bowser's Fury, that for whatever reason incorporates Sunshine elements into its 3D World DNA. Collectibles are back to being shines, Bowser Jr. is here in a central role and he wields his paintbrush for the first time since Sunshine, and the plot is kickstarted by the characters going on a vacation. There is of course a whole lot of water, all while being the first seamless open world 3D Mario, just like the original concept for Sunshine.
What if, during the late stages of Odyssey's development, it was decided to take the Isle Delfino throwback out of the game and repurpose it into a full Sunshine remake that plays just like Odyssey? Perhaps aiming for it to coincide with Mario's 35th anniversary. Think about it, Sunshine would appreciate a remake while being modern enough that it could be adapted to modern standards, unlike 64 which I feel is intrinsically a product of its time down to its level design.
In the middle of development, they see the remake is far too constricting, and decide to turn it into more of a reimagining. But somewhere along the way they hit a roadblock, or perhaps a realization if they are gonna put all that work into modernizing an old game while adding new stuff to it, why not just invest those time and resources into an original game that won't tie them down? And thus, in late 2019, Super Mario Sunshine Remake is cancelled.
Nintendo's top executives decide to fill in the gap left by Sunshine for Mario's 35th with 3D All-Stars and 3D World. However, as to match the standard set by New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and to make the game more appealing, they want 3D World to have its own expansion. With development of the original game having been done over half a decade ago, adding new levels is decided against as some of the original designers may be busy or no longer even around, and levels made by other developers might not fit in with those of the original game. So instead, EPD Tokyo decides to homage their defunct project by repurposing some of its key elements into Bowser's Fury, such as Fury Bowser itself and having it be set in a seamless, open world connected by water. I'm not implying it is a scrapped prototype like it's been suggested, as I feel its roots are too tied to 3D World for it to have been thought of as anything else at any point during development. Rather, they built a 3D World game that repurposes some concepts originally envisioned for a separate project.
At some point after that, work began on the new 3D Mario now targetting Nintendo's next system, and a 2D game that is for now speculated to be Donkey Kong. Then there is the restructuring of their offices some time in 2020, and of course the pandemic, and it's easy to see why they have been absent for so long, but I think that's set to change with the launch of the next console and hopefully 3D Mario to go alongside it.
Something that frequently comes up during development speculation is what's been up with EPD Tokyo since the release of Super Mario Odyssey, and thinking about this lead me to the following scenario:
You guys remember how Isle Delfino was in the map for Odyssey's promotional materials? And how there's an untextured bump in the geometry of the Odyssey's globe right where Isle Delfino would be? This on its own isn't necessarily conspicuous. All games have cut content, so what? But then in 2021 comes Super Mario 3D World with its brand new sidegame, Bowser's Fury, that for whatever reason incorporates Sunshine elements into its 3D World DNA. Collectibles are back to being shines, Bowser Jr. is here in a central role and he wields his paintbrush for the first time since Sunshine, and the plot is kickstarted by the characters going on a vacation. There is of course a whole lot of water, all while being the first seamless open world 3D Mario, just like the original concept for Sunshine.
What if, during the late stages of Odyssey's development, it was decided to take the Isle Delfino throwback out of the game and repurpose it into a full Sunshine remake that plays just like Odyssey? Perhaps aiming for it to coincide with Mario's 35th anniversary. Think about it, Sunshine would appreciate a remake while being modern enough that it could be adapted to modern standards, unlike 64 which I feel is intrinsically a product of its time down to its level design.
In the middle of development, they see the remake is far too constricting, and decide to turn it into more of a reimagining. But somewhere along the way they hit a roadblock, or perhaps a realization if they are gonna put all that work into modernizing an old game while adding new stuff to it, why not just invest those time and resources into an original game that won't tie them down? And thus, in late 2019, Super Mario Sunshine Remake is cancelled.
Nintendo's top executives decide to fill in the gap left by Sunshine for Mario's 35th with 3D All-Stars and 3D World. However, as to match the standard set by New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and to make the game more appealing, they want 3D World to have its own expansion. With development of the original game having been done over half a decade ago, adding new levels is decided against as some of the original designers may be busy or no longer even around, and levels made by other developers might not fit in with those of the original game. So instead, EPD Tokyo decides to homage their defunct project by repurposing some of its key elements into Bowser's Fury, such as Fury Bowser itself and having it be set in a seamless, open world connected by water. I'm not implying it is a scrapped prototype like it's been suggested, as I feel its roots are too tied to 3D World for it to have been thought of as anything else at any point during development. Rather, they built a 3D World game that repurposes some concepts originally envisioned for a separate project.
At some point after that, work began on the new 3D Mario now targetting Nintendo's next system, and a 2D game that is for now speculated to be Donkey Kong. Then there is the restructuring of their offices some time in 2020, and of course the pandemic, and it's easy to see why they have been absent for so long, but I think that's set to change with the launch of the next console and hopefully 3D Mario to go alongside it.
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