5. We'll See A New 2D Mario Platformer (Made Out Of A Real-World Material)
At this point, it's essential and necessary that Nintendo reinvigorate the style of 2D Mario games. By releasing Super Mario Maker, the company has forced itself to change up the series and essentially cut ties with the New Super Mario Bros franchise once and for all. The decision to include New Super Mario Bros assets in Super Mario Maker most likely spawned from the fact that Nintendo has internally moved on from it, and is developing something altogether new. When you think about it, it would make little sense for the company to allow players to create New Super Mario Bros levels if they themselves intend to keep cranking out entries in the series. It would just diminish whatever they plan on releasing. Historically, the 2D Mario platformers have sold much better than their 3D counterparts, so there's no possibility of Nintendo dropping that style of game. Yet we've now entered the fourth year since the last entry in the series was released, so what's going on? In the meantime, Nintendo has been reinvigorating its other 2D platformer franchises by dramatically changing up their aesthetic. Consider Yoshi's Woolly World; a game that visually and in terms of gameplay revolves around everything being made out of yarn, and Kirby And The Rainbow Curse; a game in which everything is made from clay. Now that Nintendo has dropped many of the New Super Mario Bros series assets into fans' laps, it'll be coming up with a dramatically new visual style. Expect Mario himself to dip into the real-world craft item trend for his next 2D platformer (we've already seen it can work through Paper Mario).