Super Mario Heroes

Super Mario Heroes would be a game for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS with the same 2.5D perspective seen in the New Super Mario Bros. games.

The air of this game would be very "final battle for the fate of the world" in nature, and its versatility and detail would make it unique to any Mario game before it.

My idea for this game originated when the Wii U was in development and I saw a special tech demo titled New Super Mario Bros. Mii. To be honest, it was nothing more than a short version of NSMB where Miis were playable for no special reason. I was utterly fascinated with this option, so I decided to expand on it. I felt like customizable Mario characters was a brilliant idea, but simply making them Miis felt dull. Thusly, this game would allow someone to build their own Mario characters, or "heroes" for all intents and purposes, and use them to play through the game.

Plot
The setting of the game would, of course, be the Mushroom Kingdom to start out with. Princess Peach has called all citizens together for a critical announcement. At the beginning of the game, she announces that Bowser, in conjunction with his son Bowser Jr., the crafty Koopalings, Wario, and Waluigi, is about to launch his fiercest, boldest, and most dangerous attack ever.*

Pursuant to this, Mario and Luigi decide that an extreme plan is in order. Mario takes the stage and announces on behalf of himself and his friends that they are requesting help from all citizens who are brave and willing enough to fight the threat of Bowser. This is where the customizable characters would come in.

The player would be able to create princesses, toads, toadettes, plumbers, and the never-before-seen female plumbers. Needless to say, there would at least one (up to four) person(s) who answer(s) the call to action, i.e., the player(s).

(Note that no one is captured according to this plot, making this more of an action than an adventure game and breaking a Mario cliche.)

Final Battle and Ending
Once the heroes reach Bowser's throne room at the end of World 11, a screen opens up in the back wall where Bowser promptly appears, and reveals to the heroes that he has launched a coup d'etat in the Mushroom Kingdom and captured Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Toad. He then dares them to come and try to save them, at which point  Boswer Jr., previously defeated back in the Jungle World, runs into the room and laughs, but is then knocked  down by the heroes playing, who rush back to the Mushroom Kingdom on a rescue mission. Two levels have to be gone through before the final battle which are filled with Bowser's minions, and Bowser cannot wait to see the heroes fall to them. After successfully conquering these levels, the ledges and jumps in the castle must be traversed before the final showdown.

The way to defeat Bowser is to steal four keys from him: a red, which unlocks the cage Mario is held in, a green which unlock's Luigi's cage, a pink which unlock's Peach's cage, and a blue which unlocks Toad's cage. When Bowser is successfully injured, the keys, in order, fall away from him. One of the players then picks up the key and runs to the front of its corresponding cage. Although Bowser's attacks get progressively more daunting, the heroes must unlock all four cages, at which point the four freed prisoners deliver the final strike to Bowser and shoot him out of a cannon to the place from whence he came, which is now ruined thanks to the heroes. Once the threat of Bowser has been neutralized, a cutscene is played where all heroes who were playing the final level when it was subsequently beaten are awarded hero's medals by Peach, to the wild cheers of fellow Mushroom Kingdom citizens. Meanwhile, Bowser lies in deep sorrow in the ruins of the Fire World's major castle, when Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings begin dragging him away to recuperate, at which point they hear the ground begin to crack and they all fall into a hole. At this, all of them moan in pain, and the ending credits follow, which are blocks that can be broken for coins by the players.

Gameplay
The gameplay would be largely the same as the other New Super Mario Bros. titles, but it would have a particular difference in control that I feel has been necessary for a long time. I've noticed that NSMB offers many more options for movement than the classic 2D games, but maintains roughly the same compacted, simple level design.

This design has led many people to call the games "too easy," and I feel it should be fixed. This is why I would bring back mechanics such as vertical wall-running and P-balloons from Super Mario World, and the game's construction would be based much more around wall-jumping and quickfire jumping, similar to the Rayman platformers.

Character Customization
This is the element of the game that would set it apart from other Mario games. The main character is not a main canon character whom you pick over all else, and is not even a Mii, which is the usual form of customized character in the Nintendo franchise. The game would have a hub within itself that would allow the player to create their own character with the attendant distinguishing features of the type of character they choose to play as.

Up to four characters can customize heroes at the beginning of the game, who are then saved to the character roster. If four players choose to play at the beginning, they settle the matter of creating their heroes and venture out into the first world. As for the number of heroes that can be created, I would guess that either eight or twelve would be an appropriate number, depending on how fitting each would be based on hardware. However, the characters could be edited after creation, so that there would be no anger-provoking limitations on the variety.

The six types of heroes, as noted, would be prince, princess, toad, toadette, plumber, and female plumber. Also as noted, the characters would be customized according to their distinguishing features, such as the hat on a toad character or the hat on a plumber character. The customization process would go into intimate detail, including of any hair, colors, color distribution, facial features, height, build, etc. These characteristics would also influence the gameplay, in ways such as toads being faster, princesses being able to float, and plumber characters being faster or stronger depending on how they are assembled. This hearkens back to the design of Super Mario Bros. 2, in which characters played differently depending on their outward features.

Power-ups
With all new Mario games, there must come new power-ups. The most difficult idea to beat is the Flight hat from NSMBW, but here's a list of all power-ups in the game, with new ones that would hopefully add to the game.

Returning

 * 1) Super Mushroom
 * 2) 1-Up Mushroom
 * 3) Fire Flower
 * 4) Ice Flower
 * 5) Hammer Suit
 * 6) Tanooki Suit
 * 7) Flight Hat
 * 8) Mini Mushroom
 * 9) Starman
 * 10) Penguin Suit

New

 * 1) Spike Mushroom - Allows player to throw rolling spiked balls at enemies.
 * 2) Bee Suit - Allows user to fly at a moderate speed and climb on the sides and bottoms of objects.
 * 3) Stone Suit - Allows user to turn into stone three seconds at a time, but is lost when the player is harmed in vulnerable form.
 * 4) Lightning Flower - Fires three diverging lightning bolts in the direction the player's facing, and also makes them glow in darkness.
 * 5) Air Mushroom - Gives user ability to hover and use air to their advantage.
 * 6) Wooden Leaf - Allows the player to throw logs at opponents and break certain walls.

Worlds
The game would be divided into twelve worlds, with the fortress of each containing a sub-boss based on the nature of the world, and each final castle having a major boss. The first seven would have one of the Koopalings in each as the major boss, the other four will have more powerful and well-known villains as sub-bosses in recognition of the final bosses' gravity concerning the plot, as the last bosses are Waluigi, Wario, Bowser Jr., and Bowser, and then the final world would be a difficult-to-unlock special world. The worlds would be:

World 1: Grass World
A low-skill world, as in other Mario games. The minor boss would be Dino Piranha, the piranha plant/dinosaur hybrid from Super Mario Galaxy, and the major boss would be Larry Koopa.

World 2: Desert World
A semi-simple world, but with more ledges and traps. The minor boss would be an Angry Sun King, and the major boss would be Roy Koopa.

World 3: Forest World
An intermediate world, but with many strange creatures and pitfalls. The minor boss would be a Power Beetle, and the major boss would be Iggy Koopa.

World 4: Ocean World
A world full of reasons not to fall in water. The minor boss would be an Assassin Crab, and the major boss would be Wendy O. Koopa.

World 5: Mountain World
A precarious world full of hills that must be climbed. The minor boss would be a heat-seeking Banzai Bill, and the major boss would be Morton Koopa.

World 6: Cloud World
A world of tricky jumps, bouncy clouds, and dangerous risks of falling. The minor boss would be an Elite Blowing Cloud, and the major boss would be Ludwig Van Koopa.

World 7: Ice World
A slippery world that must be carefully navigated. The minor boss would be Baron Brrr from Super Mario Galaxy, and the major boss would be Lemmy Koopa.

World 8: Storm World
A dangerous world where one must be careful of bolts of lightning and progressing clouds. The minor boss would be the King Cheep Cheep and the major boss would be Waluigi.

World 9: Cave World
A dark, isolated world full of hidden dangers. The minor boss would be a Mega Swooper and the major boss would be Wario.

World 10: Jungle World
A world swarming with weird and dangerous plants, mostly Piranha Plants and some of their subspecies. The minor boss would be a Chain Chomp and the major boss would be Bowser Jr.

World 11: Fire World
A highly dangerous world with erupting lava and many death traps. The minor boss would be Kamek, and the major boss would be Bowser.

Secret World 12: Star World
A world with eleven levels, each being a taxing, impressive combination of all the intrigue of the world it corresponds to, and each being unlocked by finding all of the Star Coins in the world. The minor boss would be King Boo, and the major boss would be the Hydra from Super Mario Bros. 2.