Did these ideas remind you of the videogame Portal just now, luigalaxy. Anyway, about these gimmicks that come with these energy ball puzzles, like i said, there are various methods of how you can direct these balls, for example, when mario is rolling on top of the ball, he can spin these vanes to direct the energy ball to the receptor and another gimmick that involves reflecting the energy ball by holding the koopa shell in front of Mario. I am rather interested to know what you might have in mind for a future Mario game, or should i create a new thread dedicated for this subject. And about the SMG2, i am really hoping that there will be some wild gravity platforming, if you know what i mean.