New "open world" Mario title takes Mario to the city for Holiday 2017.

https://youtu.be/5kcdRBHM7kM

At its Nintendo Switch presentation late Thursday night, Nintendo announced Super Mario Odyssey, an "open world" 3D adventure that will take Mario to locations that "look familiar in the real world." The game is planned for a holiday season launch in late 2017.

A brief gameplay trailer for the game starts with Mario running down a detailed city street, jumping over yellow taxi cabs that are familiar to our world, but look somewhat out of place in the usual, fantastical world of Mario games. Other scenes in the trailer show Mario jumping rope in a city park, dancing to a boombox, running along skyscrapers, and swinging on lamp posts. Don't expect things to get too "realistic," though... Mario was also shown riding a golden lion at one point, throwing giant turnips, and fighting cat-shaped enemies.

The game was described as "a large Mario sandbox world... for you to run around in" in the style of games like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. That seems to point to a break with the more linear, hub-based gameplay of many levels in the Super Mario Galaxy games.

Mario's cap will also play an expanded role in Odyssey, growing into its own character complete with expressive eyes. Mario can hurl the cap like a boomerang for an attack on nearby enemies.