post any random Mario thought on your mind

What if they made it so player could take control of them during the cutscene, and it's the most difficult stage in the entire game because the entire boss crew is there, but if you win, you win.
 
And if you lose, your punishment is to... play New Super Mario Bros. Wii?
 
Well several games out there have stuff like that as cute little alternative endings.

One of the more notable ones in recent memory is far cry 4 where if you basically just sit there at the table in the beginning and do nothing for a little while you get an ending right there.
 
You know, I absolutely love it when games let you play the final level from the very beginning, but it's excruciatingly hard and you have to actually play through the game to make it reasonably beatable. Games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair.

The closest Mario ever came to actually doing this was Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, which allowed you to access the gate to the final level relatively early on, although you couldn't actually get through the gate early without a certain glitch. (It seemed to be something that could have worked in Paper Jam too if only they hadn't destroyed that blasted bridge...)
 
I think Super Mario World lets you access the Special Zone levels like Groovy relatively early on.
 
I think Super Mario World lets you access the Special Zone levels like Groovy relatively early on.
I guess there is that (I believe that lets you access Valley of Bowser early as well?), but that requires a lot of secret goals and completion of secret levels. I'm talking about games that actually give you access to the final level early on as part of the storyline, and yet you can't reasonably beat it without playing through the rest of the game.
 
feeling like my brain grew a new galaxy after reading this


Tanabe said that any upgrade system wasn't needed. Holliday concurred: "Upgrades and skill trees aren't very Luigi. He is a reluctant hero who already has the skills and bravery needed to tackle any problem. Players are helping Luigi overcome his nervousness to expose his true talents. Cleaning, destroying and collecting are engaging, Zen experiences that everyone is familiar with since childhood. It is compelling even if there is no other reason than the act itself."
 
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Wow, I simply thought Luigi had minimalist equipment since that's typically the par for spooky games. I am enlightened.

Also, I don't think "cleaning" is something I would describe as "zen" nor "engaging".