Super Mario Universe (Inora)

Super Mario Universe is a 2D platformer developed by Inora for the Nintendo Switch. Intended to be a sequel to the critically acclaimed Super Mario World, the game uses a similar engine and art style. The game is centered around exploring holes in time and space and recruiting new playable characters with their own abilities and stats. Like the Splatoon series, the game continuously receives free updates that add new playable characters, levels, and tweaks.
The game's plot revolves around Mario forming an army to defeat Princess Starfruit, who is attempting to alter the universe's timeline for her benefit. Reception thus far has been (TBA).
==Plot==
Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad are all having cake together when a massive portal opens behind her castle. The four head off to investigate the rift, finding that elements of the world are changing around them and smaller portals to other universes and dimensions are opening. They confront the source of this portal, the mysterious Princess Starfruit, who is operating a massive mech.
Before fighting them, she offers them a chance to join her or get out of the way, but they refuse. After making quick work of the mech, she flees through another portal. Meanwhile, the four enter the massive portal and end up in the Paper Mario universe, specifically in Rogueport. They meet up with the wise Professor Frankly, who tells them that Starfruit is attempting to change reality.
He goes on to say that causing such massive changes is destructive and that as she continues to warp time and space, more tears will appear until the multiverse eventually collapses. The four then set out to form a group of heroes and villains from across the dimensions in order to defeat her army and stop her from destroying all of reality. After giving chase through six worlds across time and space, they arrive in the Starfruit Kingdom.
Upon arrival, they find that the citizens view them as evil and the princess as their protector. After confronting her in her castle, she explains why she's doing all of this. The Starfruit Kingdom they're in is actually located in another universe where she and her people peacefully exist. In the main universe, her kingdom was destroyed by a natural disaster, leaving her people without a home.
She decided to take charge and work to alter reality so that the disaster never happened, but it only resulted in time and space being torn apart. Starfruit breaks down and apologizes for the destruction as the incarnation of the destruction appears, a mindless entity known as the Singularity. As she muses that things seem hopeless, everyone Mario has recruited along the way appears to help her rebuild the mech.
The army soon fixes it up, and Starfruit pilots the mech to battle Singularity and save reality. In a climactic battle, Singularity is defeated and the tears in the universe begin to close up. As they all say farewell, the Starfruit Kingdom begins to fall apart, having only been created through altering time and space. Princess Starfruit and her people return to the main universe sadly.
There, Princess Peach, the Mario brothers, and the people of the Mushroom Kingdom volunteer to help them rebuild their kingdom. They happily accept, and the two groups work together to create a new Starfruit Kingdom. The game ends with the four having tea at Starfruit's new castle, having made a new friend.
==Gameplay==
Super Mario Universe is a 2D platformer that resembles Super Mario World in basic gameplay, physics, and mechanics. Players go through levels by taking on platforming challenges, defeating varied enemies, and solving puzzles. Every character can walk, run, jump, sneak, wall jump, pick up and throw items and certain enemies, and use their signature special ability.
The main element that sets the game apart from it's predecessor is the large amount of characters, each with different stats and a technique only they can use. The player starts with four characters, but can amass more through progressing, completing optional tasks, and visiting Toad Houses. Once a day, players can visit a Toad House and get a random reward like an item, coins, or a new character. Some rewards are more rare than others.
After using the Toad House, it disappears, only to pop up in a new location 24 hours after. However, Toad Houses can be visited more than once a day. To do this, players will need to pay a fee of 50 coins. This change means that coins are kept over levels, though 1-Ups are still earned everytime the player earns 100. Another place to spend your coins is at Toadsworth's Item Shop, which can be accessed from the overworld at any time.
The player selects their character before the level begins, ala Super Mario Bros. 2. A few other changes are also present. For one, lives and Game Overs have been removed completely, as the player starts at the beginning of the level or their last checkpoint if they die. The inventory system from New Super Mario Bros. Wii returns, but other features like the Super Guide do not. The traditional time limit has also been removed, allowing for further exploration.
Levels are split into eight worlds, which are explored via world maps. Each world has six levels, with a mini-boss fought in the third level and a boss fought in the sixth level. Besides the levels, minigames randomly pop up across the worlds that can be played to earn items and coins. World maps also feature a Toad House per world and Toadsworth's Item Shop can be accessed at any time from there. Settings can be accessed, players can save at any time, and they can use items from their inventory to effect the world map and for levels themselves.
Besides the main game, there are three other modes. The first is Bonus Games, which can be played with up to four people. The first of these bonus games is Item Battle, where players duke it out with items on a Super Smash Bros. like stage. The second of these bonus games is Coin Collector, where players explore a stage to collect the most coins in the time limit. The last of these is Stage Race, where players can race through any of the game's completed stages.
The second is Time Trial, which tests the player on how fast they can clear the level, with online leaderboards. The third mode is Event Levels, which are levels added by Nintendo over time. These levels add new playable characters and often have a set theme.
==Characters==
Currently, there's five characters.
===Starter Characters===
Players start with four characters at their disposal.
Character	Description
Mario 	
Everybody knows Mario. He has a long and storied history of adventuring, exploring, and saving a whole lot of princesses, worlds, and universes. This time, it's up to Mario and his crew to save all of reality. While a silent protagonist, Mario is always expressive and courageous, sticking up for the weak and protecting the helpless.
Mario is a balanced character with no real strengths or weaknesses. His special ability returns from Super Mario World, being the Spin Jump. By tapping LB on the ground, Mario will do a Spin Jump, allowing him to break blocks underneath him, defeat enemies with ease, and bounce off of spikes.
Luigi 	
The younger and taller Mario brother, Luigi is practically known for living in his brother's shadow. Despite this, he always keeps a cheery demeanor and has gone on more than a few of his own adventures. While often brave, Luigi has a deathly fear of all ghosts, especially Boos after a few unpleasant encounters.
As expected, Luigi is a slippery character with high jumps. Luigi's special ability is the Super Jump, which is performed by holding down the A button. Upon releasing it, Luigi will jump super high and slowly flutter down. This is useful for getting to high places without a power-up and defeating aerial enemies, but requires a decent charge-up to be used.
Toad 	
Peach's loyal servant and a close friend of the Mario brothers. Various Toads have appeared over the years as mailmen, shopkeepers, guards, and more. But this cheery Toad is the original, having appeared in the first Super Mario Bros., where he told Mario that his princess was in another castle.
Toad can't jump very high, but he has the fastest running speed out of the default characters. His special ability is Sliding, which is initiated by tapping the B button while running. This allows Toad to go even faster and defeat enemies who aren't spiky and don't have shields. Using this on a hill or wet ground speeds him up.
Princess Peach	
With not only her kingdom but all of reality at stake, Peach decides to join in on this adventure. The leader of the team, her kind personality and patience make her a popular princess. But don't confuse this sweetness for being soft, Princess Peach has a temper and isn't afraid to take on her enemies. For added athleticism, Peach has swapped out her dress for a tank top, shorts, and boots.
Peach has the slowest running speed of the default characters, but has an incredibly useful special ability. This is Floating, which she uses by holding the A button in mid-air. While floating, Peach will stay in the air for a few seconds, allowing her to make jumps others couldn't with relative ease and making platforming easier.
===Universe Characters===
These characters can be found across the game and recruited by meeting them and/or completing a task.
Character	Description
Princess Starfruit	
Recruited by completing the story.
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Princess Starfruit is the headstrong, independent princess of the Starfruit Kingdom. Unlike Peach, Starfruit has never had a hero to rely on, meaning she takes charge and does everything herself, even if it has disastrous consequences. Some of her text and animations indicate that she has a crush on Peach, meaning she might be a rival to Mario.
Starfruit is a slow character with floaty jumps. Her special ability is Recruiting, which can be used by pressing the B button while near an enemy without a power-up equipped. This will make the enemy follow her and attack other enemies. This assistant can die like a regular enemy and will not follow her into levels.
===Random Characters===
These characters are recruited randomly through Toad Houses.
===Event Characters===
Event characters are added in updates and can be unlocked through event levels.
===Enemies===
TBA
===Bosses===
TBA
===NPCs===
TBA
==Items==
TBA
==Levels==
===Story Levels===
====World 1: Mushroom Kingdom====
From the main universe, the Mushroom Kingdom is home to the crew. The miniboss of this world is Bowser, and the boss is Princess Starfruit in her mecha.
Level 	Description
Mushroom Plains 	
The grassy plains just outside of Peach's Castle. This level is fairly basic, teaching players the controls, mechanics, and design of the game. The layout is reminiscent of other first levels in the Super Mario series, featuring basic horizontal platforming.
After the basics are taught, portals are introduced. These hold mini-challenges where items, coins, and characters can be earned, but they will also sometimes spawn random enemies who don't belong in the level. The end of the level has players wall jumping up two columns of blocks to reach the flagpole.
Toad Town Sewers 	
The enemy infested tunnels beneath Toad Town. This level features a lot of secrets hidden behind bricks and pipes, and ramps up the danger with more bottomless pits and foes to fight. The main gimmick is the thick slime that coats the ground, making it slippery.
At the end of the level, players must go through a section where they slide down tubes full of running water, jumping at the right time to avoid enemies and cross tubes. The last tube funnels into a pipe that leads to the level's flagpole.
Bowser's Castle 	
From the sewers, the crew reach the home of their arch-enemy: Bowser. The level opens with a section where players traverse rocky ground, jumping over pits of lava and avoiding fireballs that fall from the sky. After riding a raft over the flowing magma, which acts as an enemy gauntlet, they enter the castle itself.
Here, things are a bit more familiar. A "greatest hits" collection of elements from previous iterations of the castle, players must brave Fire Bars, gate climbing, rising lava, and more. In the final chamber, the crew must avoid Bowser's fire breath before confronting him. After defeating him and explaining their greater goal, he reluctantly joins the team.
Lake Land 	
The next spot on their journey takes them to a large lake. This aquatic level is home to the usual enemies and hazards, but features two major changes. The first is portals that will drain the lake or fill it up further, changing the level geometry and revealing secrets. The second is currents that toss the character around, leading them to new rooms and halting or helping their progression.
Eventually, the crew exit the lake through a pipe. This leads to the second half of the level, where players must cross the lake using bridges and lily pads. But be careful, aquatic enemies will leap into the air to attack and lily pads will sink after a few seconds. This section leads to dry land, where the flagpole is found.
Shroom Skies 	
It wouldn't be Super Mario without a level in the air. The first part of the level has players hopping across mushroom platforms, some that bounce and some that don't. Other features are vines, clouds that move, donut blocks, and turning blocks. Yoshi is introduced in this section, and his abilities are incredibly useful here.
Suddenly, a King Bill is shot out of a portal to attack the crew. The only way to escape is up, so this section is a frantic vertical climb that uses the level's previous mechanics as ways to escape from the invincible enemy. After a crazy chase, they're able to dodge the King Bill, who leaves through a portal at the top of the level. A path of clouds leads to the flagpole.
Dimensional Vortex	
After land, lava, a lake, and...the sky, players finally reach the massive portal looming behind Peach's castle. This section is a grass level, but features vertical platforming and swimming, utilizing what players have already learned. Portals frequently appear here, and all sorts of hazards and enemies come out of the massive portal to attack.
Upon reaching the portal, they confront the source: Princess Starfruit! In her massive mech suit, she battles against the crew, but is eventually defeated. She makes her escape, while the crew go through the giant portal, leading to...
====World 2: Rogueport====
A piece of the Paper Mario universe, Rogueport and it's surrounding areas are full of adventure! The miniboss of this world is Grodus, and the boss is the Shadow Queen.
====World 3: Yoshi's Island====
A beautiful island, home to the Yoshis. As a baby, Mario fell here and went on his first quest. The miniboss of this world is Naval Piranha, and the boss is Baby Bowser.
====World 4: The Nexus====
A space station from a possible future that connects all kingdoms, both on land and in space. The miniboss of this world is Ironspider, and the boss is Tatanga.
====World 5: Isle Delfino====
A key piece of the crew's history, Isle Delfino was the home of one of their vacations. The miniboss of this world is Shadow Mario, and the boss is Gooper Blooper.
====World 6: Dark Future====
A dark future where Bowser has killed Mario and rules over the Mushroom World. The miniboss of this world is Captain Shellshock, and the boss is Giga Bowser.
====World 7: Amalgamate====
A universe created from bits and pieces of other partially destroyed universes. The minibosses of this world are the Steam Powered Reznors, and the boss is Fawful.
====World 8: Starfruit Kingdom====
An alternate version of the Starfruit Kingdom created through meddling in time and space. The miniboss of this world is a rematch against Princess Starfruit in her mech, and the boss is the Singularity.
===Event Levels===
TBA
===Minigames===
TBA
==Reception==
TBA
==Trivia==
*The game was primarily inspired by Super Mario Bros: Multiverse Degeneration and Cosmic Road Trip.
Category:Mario (series)
Category:Mario Games
Category:Games
Category:Fan Games
Category:Platforming Games
Category:2D Games
Category:2D Platforming Games
Category:Nintendo Switch Games
Category:Inora
Category:Sequels