According to a well known Nintendo insider, Super Mario. Bros. Wonder on Nintendo Switch is “hard” and “absolutely decimating testers.” The report comes the way of Zippo, who notes that “if you think this game is going to be a walk in the park, then you’re in for a rude awakening.”
This makes me less excited for it.
When I was a kid, part of the joy of platformers WAS their difficulty, especially SMB2 (my favorite). But now I’m older and stressed, man. I just wanna play happy fun Mario times and not feel growing rage at how I can’t get past the Bob-omb in level 5-2.
Given Nintendo’s history, there will almost surely be assist options or other ways to make the game more accessible. Nintendo tries to cast a wide net, especially with Mario games.
Out of curiosity, do you mean SMB2 USA (one of my very favorite games of all time!) or SMB2 JPN (rage inducing difficulty on purpose UGH)?
In regards to the topic, I don’t think it’s the difficulty that’s bad in old games, but the outdated game design philosophies. Get rid of extra lives and just let the player keep trying. Don’t punish the player by sending them so far back, making them replay what they’ve already played a ton of times. No unfair deaths, losing should ALWAYS feel like it was the player’s fault for making a mistake. Don’t make the player wait very long before getting to try again. Give the player options to skip a difficult section (for now) and play other stages. Provide powerups they can earn to get past difficult sections.
The Japanese one, believe it or not. I was a very lonely child and spent a lot of time perfecting that game.