Since Mario Odyssey‘s launch five years ago, Nintendo fans have been clamoring for another platformer in the Mario franchise. Since then speculation on what exactly the next platformer in the series might look like has run rampant. While it’s unlikely we’ll get any official confirmation anytime soon, one well-known leaker claims to have information on what that potential game might look like.
First spotted by GameRant, Zippo, a leaker known in the community for their Nintendo-specific content, claimed that a brand new 2D Super Mario game currently wrapping up development for the Nintendo Switch will have four playable characters. The leaker added on that the supposed playable characters would be Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, pointing out that this would be the first time Peach has been playable in a 2D Mario game since the NES’s Super Mario Bros. 2. Outside of the alleged game, Zippo also claimed that the designs for Mario and others will slowly incorporate the designs from the upcoming movie.
While this isn’t the first rumor about a new Mario game this year, Nintendo remains silent. As GameRant and Zippo pointed out, with the upcoming release of the Super Mario Bros movie, if there were to be an announcement for a new game, it would likely come about soon after the movie’s release. Nintendo is gearing up for a heavy year of content, so if a major announcement were to occur, it would certainly take place then. The last time Nintendo released a 2D Mario platformer was New Super Mario Bros. U for the Switch.