The Design Philosophy That Created Bowser's Fury
Channel: Video Game Story Time
Date: 2021-01-15

The trailer for Bowser's Fury shows a distinct departure from Super Mario 3D World, the game which it ostensibly builds off. While 3D World is cute and fluffy, with Cat Mario and pals (Peach, Toad, Luigi, and - spoiler alert - Rosalina) exploring colourful, linear levels, Bowser's Fury is a Mario Odyssey style open world level in which Giga Cat Mario and Fury Bowser square off in a giant rain-slicked clash of the titans.


Oh, and Bowser Jr teams up with Mario, just to really throw things for a loop.


If anything, Bowser's Fury looks like the core idea of Cat Mario from Super Mario 3D World, run through the Mario Odyssey Filter, allowing for a completely different art style and gameplay focus. This feels like the missing Mario Odyssey that Nintendo never gave us, for whatever reason.


This being the case, here's the big question: why Fury Bowser? Why Giga Cat Mario? Why make Bowser's Fury such a dark, moody, atmosphering adventure, and why team Mario up with Bowser Jr, providing unexpected sympathy for the (son of) the devil?


Well, this all fits nicely with the gameplay and storytelling design philosophy used on Mario games, which is known as resonance. This was developed as a result of a somewhat lively discussion between Mario producers Shigeru Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi, as a way of finding a balance between Miyamoto's focus on gameplay and Koizumi's focus on storytelling.


Essentially, the resonance philosophy states that the game's world should spark the player's imagination, pushing them in new ways by shaking things up as they play, in order to leave a lasting impression. Fury Bowser is certainly a good example of this in action, as fans around the world have become obsessed with what many are calling "God Slayer Bowser" even after merely seeing the new game's trailer.


Considering that Bowser's Fury looks to be a small addition to the already very old Super Mario 3D World, this resonance is important - it's the best way of convincing Nintendo fans to double dip if they already own 3D World on Wii U!Anyway, hope you're all doing well.


Sorry to all the Scott Pilgrim fans who wanted us to do something on him today instead - we'll see what we can do, we're right there with ya!



Lots of love,

BretonStripes (http://twitter.com/bretonstriped) and Kotor (http://twitter.com/kotorcomics)



Sources:https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/shigeru-miyamoto-wants-to-create-a-kinder-worldhttp://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wiiu/super-mario-3d-world/0/2http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/supermariogalaxy2/0/2