So… which is it? Would you like to see more Galaxy and 3D World, or do you crave the openness of 64 and Odyssey? Me personally I’d love a mixture. No need to go full open-world, but definitely would not want to see a A-to-B linear entry. It’s been 9 years… I need a BIG 3D Mario sandbox to do my jump and dives in. (Though if I were to choose one: Sandbox. Easy.)

Thankfully, Nintendo continues to operate in both lol. We would be getting a sandbox release next, which I personally prefer.

I prefer the open style but they should really keep the 2.5D 3D Land / World series going too. It's very different and good for co-op play.

Almost 13 years since 3D World released and we haven't had a sequel. That's almost the same time we waited from Super Mario Land 2 to NSMB for a 2d mario reboot lol.

Both. Dont marry to a style, do both. Do everything. You only get one life in this god forsaken earth.

I don't consider 64 and Sunshine to be open world or sandbox. Yes, there's a main hub. But you basically go to a world, get shines in order, unlock next world, repeat. It's a very linear experience.

But as to the question, I feel Mario is best linear, anyway. My favorite Mario games are linear as it gets. I like them that way.

I wouldn’t call any of the 3D Mario games to be sandboxes either. They’re all objective based and linear. But either way.

Based on the ones I have the most fun with, and how I categorize them:

Galaxy style > Super Mario Bros 3/World style > 3D Land/World style > SMB1 & 2 style > Odyssey style > NSMB style > 64 style > Sunshine style > GB game style.

Not saying one is better than the other, only these are the general order of how much I enjoyed them at the particular times I played them, and how much I’d look forward to any of these styles of game. Also, NSMB isn’t as cut and dry as there is a wide chasm between NSMB Wii (favourite) and NSMB2 for me. So these are averages, there will be considerable overlap. This would only be for the next game, the order could change later (based on what gets released next), I’m in favour of having many different types of Mario games, even the types I don’t think I’d like.

Also, I’m not sure where wonder fits, I didn’t play it… either 3/World, 1/2, or NSMB.

64 and Sunshine are sandbox in that you hop into a level and (often times) aren’t restricted to one single star objective. You could go for 100 coins, you could finish the red coins, or if you see another star in a tangent path you more often than not can go over and grab it if you’re skilled enough. It’s distinct from Galaxy and the 3D subseries in that those games plop you into an entirely unique world every level and tell you to go through the mission in a very fixed manner (with some exploratory elements sprinkled throughout).

I can see that. I guess I just never thought of them as that because I play them in a very linear way. I go into the first world, see what the first shine is, go get it, then go into the same world, get the second, third, fourth etc. until I'm gotten them all, then move on to whatever world 2 is. I don't think I've ever really played them in true, open-world style.