i don’t see the problem when you say that “they want to cram 3D mario down our troath” there might be more people that like 2D mario more than 3D… i don’t know and i really don’t care but i know there are enough people that love 3D mario so i don’t see a problem if they try to cram more 3d mario on the troath of people that like 3D mario,same for fire emblem
heck nintendo throws several pokemon game at once barely making any sort of improvement to the formula with some of the titles being redone versions of old titles and it still manage to make millions… wouldn’t you call that “cramming pokemon down our throat” yet people don’t seems to have a problem with it
To the contrary, it was the beginning of 3d Marios that removed Nintendo as industry leader. It was 2d Mario that not only put Nintendo on top but saved console gaming. More recently, it was 2d Mario that helped rocketed the DS to its stratosphere numbers and still sells well years after its release.
For the most part, most of Nintendo’s franchises had 2d “old school” implementations on the handhelds while the console iterations went 3d.
Zelda went 3d with Ocarina. However, Zelda stayed its overhead view in the handhelds.
Metroid went 3d with Prime. However, new 2d Metroids came out for the handhelds.
Mario Kart went 3d on the N64. However, the new GBA Mario Kart kept the SNES Mode 7 style.
When Mario went 3d, there were no alternatives. At this time, there was no real new Mario game unless you want to count the Wario Land games (and who does? although they are good games).
This is what I remember. Super Mario World is advertised and launches with the SNES. We all make a wild dash for it. It is Super Mario Brothers 4 and even advertised as such in Japan.
However, Super Mario World was a rushed title. It was not allowed to ‘slow bake’ like, say, Super Mario Brothers 3. Super Mario World was rich with 16-bit graphics and sound. But it WAS a launch game.
We could not wait for Nintendo to make Super Mario Brothers 5, a Mario game that would fully use the SNES. What we got instead was Yoshi’s Island, a game of crying babies, of controlling only Yoshi, of watching Yoshi turn into a helicopter or mole, a linear map, and a crayon and babyish world. The reaction to Yoshi’s Island was fiercely negative to many people. While Yoshi’s Island is a good game, it was not Super Mario Brothers 5.
I suspect Miyamoto must have been peeved that people reacted better to Donkey Kong Country than to Yoshi’s Island. I never dreamed I would have to wait nineteen years to play Super Mario Brothers 5. And I stopped buying Nintendo consoles because there was no true Mario game on them.
People describe Super Mario Brothers 5 as “2d Mario” (where it is actually ‘true Mario’). Separating games like Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Brothers 5 as 3d Mario and 2d Mario isn’t accurate at all. It suggests the games are the same but one is in 3d and one is in 2d.
This is not the case.
Star-Hunter Marios have a different gameplay altogether. You run around a 3d arena to obtain a star. The obstacles mostly include puzzles and a few enemies here and there. Once you get the star, the level alters slightly and Mario has to get the star in a different way. Star-Hunter Mario isn’t about speed or platforming but spatial pathfinding.
True Mario games are not about getting a stupid star. They are about going from point A to going to point B. The game has speed as you dash through the level and, in some true Mario games, even fly through them. True Mario games are platformers because it takes no effort to jump on a platform. In Star Hunter Mario, it takes considerable effort to jump on a platform. It is so frustrating that Star Hunter Mario games end up focusing on pathfinding or puzzle solving rather than platforming.
How about a 3d version of a true Mario game? It would be about reaching the end of the level, of racing through it, of getting there before time runs out, and avoiding enemies as well as pulverizing them. Such a game has never come out.
What would a Star Hunter Mario game look like in 2d? I imagine it would resemble Yoshi’s Island. It would be about finding… things. It would be about scavenger hunts in large arenas.
I believe Nintendo developers knew people wanted true Mario for over 19 years. You can tell they prefer making Star Hunter Mario over platform Mario because of Super Mario Galaxy 2. They just cannot wait to make another Star Hunter Mario! Meanwhile, platform Mario is not updated in over a decade. A sequel to Star Hunter Mario is going to be released before the Zelda game for the console! And Miyamoto lately said he wants the future of platform Mario to be “User Generated Content” which translates to “I don’t want to make this type of game content, YOU, my customers, go make it”. Mario Galaxy 2, which Nintendo has no business making in the first place, is taking its time with it. Platform Mario, which Nintendo abandoning resulted into poor console performance of the N64 and Gamecube, is obviously being rushed. Just look how much and how fast the game has changed since E3 2009 and that is just a few months!
I don’t mind it being rushed, just as I didn’t mind Super Mario World was rushed. What matters is that the game exists, and that its presence will clue Nintendo in to what the market wants.
People keep asking me, “Why is there no hype for Super Mario Brothers 5?” It was like unnoticed at E3 2009 and wasn’t talked about much. Other times, it was mocked. Some called it a “casual game”.
I said to them, “Current gamers have forgotten the brilliance of Platform Mario. But when it appears, they will remember. And it will become Game of the Decade.”
The excitement for the game has increased exponentially for Super Mario Brothers 5 as people watch others play it and realize how much fun it is. It will be one of those games you keep going back to, time after time. It will become a classic. It will create new golden memories.
It is a game a child will get for Christmas and discover what it is like playing Mario on the living room floor just like the rest of you did. It is a game fathers will play with their sons, or mothers with their daughters. It is a game that couples can play together. It is a party game. It is a solo game. It is a game for everyone.
But most of all, it is a game that should never have stopped being made.
Malstrom's Articles News 