Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is Nintendo’s latest port of an older game to the Switch. However, it’s not just a rehashing of the Wii U’s successful Super Mario 3D World—it’s tagging on a whole new adventure. Mario and Bowser Jr. are working together in a Super Mario Odyssey-esque quest to free Bowser from the grips of madness. A second player can even take control of Bowser Jr. and manually lend a hand to Mario’s player. It’s not every day that Mario works together with one of his enemies, so Bowser’s Fury is a pretty unique expansion. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
But those who played Paper Mario: The Origami King recently probably remember that Mario and Bowser Jr. worked together for some time. It’s odd that Nintendo would publish two of these kinds of situations back to back. Although Bowser Jr. hasn’t necessarily been characterized differently in these games, it comes across a little bit like his relationship with Mario might be changing, almost as if Nintendo is feeling out a new role for Bowser Jr. in Mario games. Super Mario games have never been known for being plot heavy, but that doesn’t mean characters don’t change over time. Maybe Bowser Jr’s relationship with Mario is changing, or maybe it’s Bowser that’s starting to change.
The contexts of The Origami King and Bowser’s Fury are pretty similar. In The Origami King, Bowser gets folded up by King Olly and becomes completely helpless, so Bowser Jr. helps Mario overthrow the Origami King in exchange for help saving his dad. In Bowser’s Fury, it’s Bowser Jr. that approaches Mario and asks for help. Bowser’s condition is considerably different in Bowser’s Fury, since he’s clearly more powerful than ever, but he’s too out of control to lead his kingdom. There’s two common threads in both narratives: Bowser is getting in trouble, and Bowser Jr. knows that Mario is the best person to help him out.
Bowser Jr. has always had an odd relationship with Mario and Bowser’s conflict. Since he learned Princess Peach wasn’t actually his mother at the end of Super Mario Sunshine, he’s just had a nebulous willingness to agree to help his father fight with Mario over the Princess. It’d be fascinating if Nintendo decided that Bowser Jr. was ready to gain some agency. Maybe he’ll become something of an antihero, sometimes furthering Bowser’s goals and sometimes backing up Mario and Luigi when greater threats appear. Super Mario isn’t necessarily the type of franchise many would expect to have antiheroes, but Bowser Jr. could be a fun take on the trope.
Alternatively, Nintendo might be deciding to focus less on narratives where Bowser is always responsible for the game’s conflict. Maybe Bowser will spend less time making trouble and more time getting into trouble. Future Mario games might involve more stories where Bowser gets captured by other villains or becomes ill somehow like in Bowser’s Fury, all of which somehow risk causing problems for Mario and company. On the one hand, it would be a breath of fresh air as a break from narratives based on Peach as a damsel in distress. On the other hand, Nintendo has a hill to climb if it wants to transform Bowser from an antagonist into a helpless acquaintance to Mario.
Odds are probably low that Bowser will suddenly stop being Mario’s nemesis over the next few years. Maybe he won’t be the cause of problems nearly as often, but he’ll surely still be butting heads with the Mushroom Kingdom on the regular. As for Bowser Jr., who knows what’ll happen to his character over the years? He’s a recurring antagonist, but he’s not nearly as central as his dad. Nintendo has significantly more room to experiment with him, especially after Bowser’s Fury and The Origami King both drew lots of attention. There’s clearly a market for Mario games not focused on fighting Bowser for Peach’s sake, so maybe Nintendo should try it some more.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is available now for Nintendo Switch.
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