Gamespot reports that Nintendo has begun work on the next entry in their core Mario series. The company says it’s still a secret which console they’re working on, but are looking to bring new and exciting game mechanics to the platforming genre.

A Wii U title would mean even more use of the GamePad, according to an interview with co-director Kenta Motokura, saying “there’s still a lot more room for discovery and invention.”

Motokura also took the opportunity to explain the genesis of the Cat Mario powerup from last year’s Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U.

We wanted Mario to make use of not only the ground but other surfaces, which is what led us to this idea. At roughly the same time, we were looking at ideas for more exciting ways for players to run around the courses.

One of the things we investigated was having characters scamper around on [all fours]. For both movement styles, the test characters were either a normal-looking Mario or a version with a slight difference in color. In finally putting all this together into a new Mario ability, we felt that a cat ticked all the boxes…for the final design, we strove to make it as cat-like as possible, while keeping it clearly distinct from [3D Land’s] Tanooki Mario.

It might still be some time away, but the news that Nintendo is planning its next Mario installment is certainly exciting. Let us know what you’d like to see in a new Mario adventure in the comments section below.