Removing the timer in Super Mario Bros. Wonder was "necessary" to evolve the series, says Nintendo
Simply put, it was time
A great deal of 2D Super Mario titles have been released over the decades, and one of the mainstays in those titles has been a timer. While there was certainly room for exploration, Mario fans knew that timer was always ticking down, pressuring you to make your way to the goal. If you didn’t run through to the end before that timer hit zero, it was game over.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has tweaked and changed numerous Mario mechanics and features from previous installments, and that includes the decision to remove the level timers. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Producer Takashi Tezuka and Director Shiro Mouri spoke on a number of topics, including the decision to remove the timer.
According to Mouri, the move to do away with level timers was a “necessary” one, as it allowed for new ideas to come to light, and made room for the Mario franchise to evolve. You can see more of Mouri’s comments on the decision tbelow.
Regarding the time limits, some courses’ Wonder effects have a time limit so having two layers of timers became a problem. The discussion on what to do about it is when the question “Do we even need a timer?” first came up not only among new staff, but from those who have been around for a while as well – we then tried to test removing the time limit.
We asked the staff to play it in that state and hear their opinions, but removing the time limit did not cause players to start exploring without worrying about time; after all the goal’s purpose did not change. I just felt there was more time to freely do what I wanted, so until now the “goal’s purpose” was protected, and this time we concluded to have no time limit.
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haleman1704
7M agoThe timers bugged me for some time.
To me, the timers in 3D Land and 3D World were really annoying. It felt like the games are holding me back from fully exploring the games.
I am glad it's gone.
tendonin
7M agoI noticed the timer was missing when I first played and then didn’t notice it was missing for the rest of the game.
hawk
7M agoI really appreciated having the extra time to explore the levels looking for secrets.
There may be times in the future where they could even do away with the concept of lives.
Oh heck no! I don't want lives gone in Mario games. Ok I get the incentive that lives in 3D games don't make sense but lives are a part of a challenge and teach players that they can't just keep dying over and over again to complete levels.
Eliminating lives would eliminate 1-Up Mushrooms completely. Why remove a collectible in a game when its easy to get such a collectible in the first place?
As for the timer being gone, they aren't saying that its gone permanently but rather that its not in this game because there are events that are still timed.
nekotaku
7M agoNo, it was dumb... Just make it optional. Sad that we still don't have a game like Mario World. Luckily the game is so great I can still keep playing it.
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