Today I came across a leak/"leak" for the next 3D Super Mario game, which is allegedly dubbed Super Mario Titans. Here's part of the description being paired with some off-screen images;

"It’s called Super Mario Titans and it’s basically a full open world 3D Mario. every world you find a new ally and instead of them just following you around you actually level them up by doing platforming stages together. Once they’re strong enough they unlock this superhero Titan form and team up with Mario to take down that worlds boss and overcome platforming challengs (sic) in the open world."

And some of the images are majestic.

260313_Super Mario Titans_Buff Mario 260313_Super Mario Titans_Beeg Koopa

260313_Super Mario Titans_Yoshi Flying 260313_Super Mario Titans_Super Bowser Chasing

From what I can glean on the reddit threads and the GBA Temp forums, the vocal think it is fake, AI, blah, blah, blah. Then there is the other half of the vocal posters that are analyzing, defending, blah, blah, blah. I'm not here to really argue if this is a leak or a "leak." What I want to talk about is how I miss stories like this one.

Do you remember Sonic being unlockable in Melee? I'll never forget the "Grinch leak," so cleverly named for the Grinch ad in the periphery. I remember writing an analysis on the "leak" for The Last of Us Part II from E3 2016.

Okay, so all three of those examples were for fake leaks. There are classic leaks with larger implications than the next Smash roster, like the "adorably" all-digital Xbox Series X, or the infamous Insomniac leak, or the very real leaks for The Last of Us Part II. But there's something about these fake ones that I love and miss.

The fervor and discussion around leaks that may or may not be real? There's something far more enticing about blurry phone photos than a tweet from some prominent leaker. The are brazen—real or not! There's an audacity at both the person producing the photo and the information. In a way, the effort is much higher than just posting a thread and saying what you may or may not have heard.

If this is all fake, I say bravo! The ballsy craftsmanship on display is worth some applause. If it is real, I say bravo! The ballsy photography on display is worth similar applause. What is more impressive is that I find that big Nintendo games rarely leak in this fashion. I remember lauding the fact that the Switch 2 reveal may have had zero secrets for the hardware, but the game lineup was a mystery.

More impressive though is that the games haven't leaked. Perhaps the word is not "impressive," but rather that it is more exciting. If the Switch 2 is really due out in April (which feels shockingly soon and overdue at the same time), then the console is being manufactured right now. Of course the leaks are going to burst forth. Since all the first-party games are made, you know, in Nintendo, the control around the conversation is much more tight lipped. And why do we buy the hardware? To play the games!

When that control around the conversation breaks, it makes for a fun and speculative time. Oh, if we were still doing Millennial Gaming Speak, we'd have a fun time with this story.

Leaks have immense power to shape perspective. If you like the leak and it doesn't come to pass, you can become disappointed. Same happens when inverted. I think lots of folks forget to bring along their big chunks of salt to these conversations and revel in the fun of it.

This is not to say that leaks have devastating consequences. Look no further than horrific response to The Last of Us Part II leaking—those still haunt that studio to this day. Insomniac's entire business was laid bare. We know what that studio is doing for the next decade. If this Super Mario Titans is real, I know the team is crushed to have its surprise reveal have wind sucked out of its sails and not be able to respond.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say I had fun this afternoon poking around threads and gawking at the images. I had fun writing this very blog post! And now I will have more fun by leaning into conjecture mode and my two cents on this game if it is indeed real. Let's look at more of the supposed description of the game;

"Each world has warp portals that take you to more traditional tight platforming levels. Not like Odyssey’s quick little side rooms but more like full on 3D World style stages. You can instantly switch between Mario and your ally like the Lego games just by tapping a button. Beating these stages is how your ally levels up.
Some stages are locked until you have enough emblems so you have to explore the open world and collect them to unlock more levels.

Allies aren’t just for the stages. You use them all over the open world to reach hidden paths clear obstacles Mario can’t handle alone and open shortcuts."

Honestly, it sounds kinda sick. It's that nice fusion of Odyssey's transformations and Super Mario 3D World's multiplayer and character differences. Throw in a little Bowser's Fury's1 kaiju boss battles and you got a neat sounding loop. I think the costumes and gimmicks look goofy, but feel inline with the costume element in Odyssey.

The main hook is the Titan superhero powers for Mario and the allies mostly used for bosses and big moments but the core of it is still classic Mario exploring worlds collecting emblems unlocking proper platforming stages powering up your crew and beating each world boss to grab the jewel.

I can see the multiplayer hook that Nintendo loves their Mario games to have. I see the evolution from the more recent titles. Beeg Koopa is clearly a successor to Beeg Yosh. I like it. I want to believe it. Only time will tell if it was all a hoax or a leak for the ages. Either way, I had a fun time and am looking forward to whatever the next 3D Mario game ends up being.

Footnotes

  1. Oh no. That title is hideous as a possessive. ↩