Highlights
- Yoshi was originally planned to have the ability to throw eggs in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, inspired by Yoshi’s Island.
- The egg-throwing ability was scrapped during development due to its challenging gameplay, potentially hampering new players.
- Despite the removal of the egg ability, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been highly successful, becoming the fastest-selling Super Mario game.
The producer of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Takashi Tezuka, has revealed that the game’s development team originally planned to have Yoshi be able to throw eggs. The inspiration for this scrapped ability seemingly came from the classic SNES game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, which allowed the Yoshis on the island to turn enemies into eggs and use them as weapons to help clear courses.
While Yoshi first appeared in 1993’s Super Mario World, his role expanded several years later in Yoshi’s Island. The SNES game acted as a prequel, with Mario and Luigi being infants. The game tasked an island of Yoshis with returning Mario and his captured brother to their parents, and it gave the players new moves, including the ability to swallow enemies and turn them into eggs. Despite this egg-throwing feature appearing in other Nintendo games over the years, it is not in the recent Super Mario Bros. Wonder. However, things almost turned out differently.
One Super Mario Wonder Feature Stands Out as Its Best
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a game of many firsts, but one new gameplay feature stands out as its most dynamic and impactful addition.
During an interview with Famitsu, translated by Nintendo Everything, Tezuka detailed the scrapped concept for Yoshi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. According to the producer, he believed Yoshi’s gameplay could be improved by including an egg-throwing ability. “As for Yoshi’s actions, I thought it would be better if he could throw eggs, so we tried to create a prototype and test it,” Tezuka said. Unfortunately, the producer noted the prototype for the egg ability was challenging to use. Ultimately, this caused the feature to be cut, with Tezuka saying it could hamper the experience for new players. He went on to say that he believed the current gameplay for Yoshi was best.
While the egg ability never made it into the final version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it could have been interesting to see how the feature would have impacted gameplay. The Yoshis are already some of the easiest playable characters in the game due to their flutter jump and damage immunity. If the egg throwing turned out as tricky as Tezuka claimed, it could have created a strange contrast in difficulty for the Super Mario Bros. Wonder characters described as “great for beginners” by Nintendo.
As for Yoshi’s actions, I thought it would be better if he could throw eggs, so we tried to create a prototype and test it.
Despite the ability being scrapped, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been very successful for Nintendo. Since its October release, the game has done incredibly well, becoming the fastest-selling Super Mario game. According to sales data, Super Mario Bros. Wonder sold 4.3 million units in only two weeks, likely selling even more over the holidays. Time will tell if DLC for the game will be released in the months ahead to help keep the popularity of the game trending upward.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
A return to the franchise’s 2D side-scrolling roots, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Supporting up to four-player co-op and featuring playable characters like Princess Peach and Luigi, Super Mario Bros. Wonder revamps a classic formula with fresh twists, including a mechanic called Wonder Effects that cause stages to come alive.
- Released
- October 20, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EPD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
