Super Mario Bros. Movie concept art confirms several big characters were cut

Koji Kondo joined Nintendo in 1984 and ended up composing basically every memorable theme from the Mario or Zelda series. The legendary composer had a particularly wild idea for a stage effect in last year's Super Mario Bros Wonder, and while that idea was rejected, it did end up giving Kondo the opportunity to bring his voice to the game.

It's not often we get to hear a senior developer of a Super Mario Bros. game philosophise about game design. At gamescom last year, Takashi Tezuka, executive officer at Nintendo and producer on Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Shiro Mouri, the game's director, gave us a glimpse, as they spoke with Eurogamer about their intentions for Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

A Super Mario Bros. fan has 3D printed an impressive custom Piranha Plant and Warp Pipe Switch dock. Since the Switch was released, multiple third parties have made their own docks for the console, but this one could be the most unique.

This past weekend was the busiest yet in what has already been a busy year for video game releases. Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin, and Princess Peach: Showtime all launched on the same day. Something for almost every type of game, and if Showtime is what you've been playing over the weekend, you may now want to kit yourself out in matching merch. Nintendo has a Peach Collection available now, and the message on the collection's tags is a cool tip of the hat to how far Peach has come and how her role has changed.

During a GDC talk yesterday, Nintendo looked back at the creative process for Super Mario Bros Wonder, particularly how the large development team dealt with incorporating everyone's input when creating the game's 'Wonder effects'.

Last year, Nintendo brought Mario back to his 2D roots with a surprise new game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The critically acclaimed platformer was an instant crowd-pleaser thanks in no small part to its namesake feature, Wonder Effects. These power-ups completely transformed Mario’s world, letting its developers experiment with wacky ideas from wiggling pipes to singing Piranha Plants.

The developers behind Super Mario Bros. Wonder recently shared some unused Wonder Effect designs at this year’s Game Developers Conference. The latest mainline Mario platformer launched on the Nintendo Switch in October to rave reviews and record-breaking sales figures, with many praising Super Mario Bros. Wonder for its colorful graphics and imaginative additions to the classic 2D Mario formula.

could have had far more silly and bizarre elements, according to the game's creators. The title already saw the introduction of new power-ups that could transform the player into an elephant — something that Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto reportedly wasn't a fan of in the early design stages, saying it didn't look like a Mario character -, provide them with a drill to burrow into the ground or up into the ceiling, or a bubble-spewing flower to capture enemies.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a much-needed shake up for the 2D series, giving our favorite Italian plumber a design change and a creative new world to explore. You never really knew what you were going to get when starting a new level, and a lot of that was down to the Wonder Effects, which drastically altered each level every time you picked up a Wonder Seed.

A new crime show is headed to Netflix, adapted from the same novel series that brought about one of the most divisive thrillers of recent years, The Snowman. 

This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we talk about where Nintendo can take its moustachioed mascot next when he returns for the Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel.

Production artwork for the Super Mario Bros. Movie shows a number Mushroom Kingdom characters who didn't make it into the final film — including Princess Daisy, Toadette, Eurogamer favourite Birdo, and the loyal Toadsworth.