Cut Super Mario Bros. Wonder Effect Shows Just How Silly The Game Could Have Been

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.

As reported by , some of the ideas from the brainstorming sessions were shared by the game's director Shiro Mouri, and producer Takashi Tezuka during a panel at the 2024 Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco on March 20. These includedideas such as Mario riding a unicycle, and jumping on a pogo stick, which were shared on X by Chris Kohler of Digital Eclipse.

Nintendo revealed these ideas on a slide for 's "", with several unused Wonder Effects and levels, including images of Mario standing atop a giant Goomba, and surfing along a giant wave. Perhaps the best and most bizarre idea seemed to make its way into the prototype stage for the game, as Nintendo showed footage from one of its early levels that ultimately got cut.

This prototype level showed a "", which was comprised of multiple, different colored blocks that created a giant version of Mario's head, with enemies chomping away at it and gradually breaking down the blocks. It's a shame this was cut, as it would have been a fun call back to the series' original, pixelated, 8-bit look.

With the team previously stating that there wasn't a deadline for 's prototype stage, resulting in over 2000 ideas, it was nice to finally see some of them at GDC. Fans have already responded positively to some of them, particularly the surfing Mario, and have expressed a desire to see such a level come to the game via DLC in the future.

Chris Kohler/X (via. Nintendo Life)

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an action-adventure platformer that takes the titular