Koji Kondo’s Wonder Flower idea for Super Mario Bros. Wonder was rejected, but became a badge

During Nintendo’s recent GDC 2024 talk for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, it was revealed that Koji Kondo – the series’ longtime composer – suggested an idea for a Wonder Flower effect, but it was rejected before ultimately becoming one of the game’s badges.

After touching the Wonder Flower, Mario would become a live-action version of himself with human propositions. Players would progress while humming the background music and mimicking the various sound effects himself.

As for why Kondo’s Wonder Flower initial idea for Super Mario Bros. Wonder didn’t make the cut, director Shiro Mouri explained:

“As an idea, it’s very funny, but it’s hard to see the connection between pre-Wonder effect and during Wonder effect. And it’s hard to imagine the gameplay changing much by having Mario turn into a live-action, human proportion version of himself. There were a lot of ideas like this that didn’t meet the criteria of what constitutes a viable Wonder effect, and they were all closely examined as we figured out our approach.”

“While we couldn’t use Mr. Kondo’s idea,” Mouri said, “we thought it could instead be used as a badge, a system where players can select their own special powers. It was such an interesting idea, it would have been ‘mottainai’ (a waste) to not use it.”

One interesting fact: if you use the Sound Off badge in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the voice you hear is actually Kondo himself.

Meanwhile, other interesting cut ideas and prototypes were recently shared for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. You can check that out here.

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