I’ve become very frustrated that Nintendo no longer defines Mario, Zelda, or Metroid based on the emotions and reactions of the players (Zelda would be the feeling of growth, exploration, and combat, Metroid would be the feeling of isolation, alien environment, etc.). Today, Mario and Zelda are defined by poor platitudes.
With Zelda, Nintendo defines it as ‘story and puzzles’. Really? No one I know looks at Zelda and thinks ‘story’ or even ‘puzzles’. Zelda was always about a guy with a sword going out, exploring an overworld, whacking monsters, finding dungeons, and getting loot. Where did the crap of puzzles come from? Or the story?
I strongly suspect that Nintendo viewed the Gaming Message Forums when NSMB Wii was released, saw our hardcore friends chanting ‘level design is awesome’, and created the platitude that ‘level design’ is what made NSMB Wii’s success. So with NSMB U, they just focused on ‘level design’.
I really hate the level design of the NSMB games including NSMB Wii and NSMB U. I much prefer the level design of Super Mario Brothers 3 or even Super Mario Brothers 1. The levels are too long. I thought they were too long in Super Mario World, and they were certainly way too long in Yoshi’s Island. If you have to provide a ‘midway point’ in the level, it is too long anyway.
Without the complication of the stupid midway point, shorter levels had the benefit of making faster progress on the map which made you feel you were going places faster. The game was also more concentrated in its coolness. Playing a game like NSMB Wii feels incredibly boring and bloated. The levels just go on and on for way too long. When Miyamoto replays Super Mario Brothers 3 and finishes the levels to say, “That was IT!?” Yes, that was it. For all my life, I have never heard anyone complain about the length or about the design of the levels of Super Mario Brothers 1,2,3 or World. Only with World did people begin to complain about their length and especially about replaying the same level again to get the next exit. One of the genius moves of Super Mario Brothers 3 is that you can’t go back to a level. Once it is done, you must keep pushing forward. This kept the game from being bogged down with completing one level multiple times, it also didn’t allow the player to hang out in World 1 collecting 1-ups all day. Why such a simple concept like this is lost on the Nintendo people is a mystery to me. NSMB reminds me more of Yoshi’s Island with its stupid coin collecting and how boringly easy the game is.
You can tell the NSMB series is broken when you ask anyone, “What did you find memorable about the NSMB game?” and the person has no answer. I cannot tell you anything memorable that occurred during any NSMB game I played. However, I can go on and on about the classic Mario games. I can talk about the sun attacking me in Super Mario Brothers 3 or Kuribo’s Shoe. I can talk about Vanilla Dome and sacrificing Yoshi on a Butter Bridge jump in Super Mario World. Super Mario Brothers 2 is full of Birdo memories and Shy Guy nightmares. Remember capturing the flying carpet and zipping through the level? Or going through the pipes and digging the sand down through the tunnels? Do you remember in Super Mario Brothers the flying Cheep-Cheeps or Bowser throwing hammers?
NSMB offers no memories because the game was made by technicians. Technicians are great for making machines. But it is why the game feels like it has no soul, why it feels factory made. The game has no personality in it from its forgettable music to its clip art graphics.
“I played Super Mario World after it was released on the Wii U, and let me tell you how shocked I was at how bad the level design was in Super Mario World compared to NSMB U.” It is game design we care about, not level design. I’d rather play something with good game design and bad level design instead of a bad game design with good level design. Give me the flying birds from Ninja Gaiden any day. Or the frustrating parts of Mega Man 1. At least those games are memorable. They offered adventures. NSMB games do not feel like adventures. They feel like mechanical obstacle courses. And WTF is with the racing Nintendo is trying to add with NSMB U? This is not Hudson’s Adventure Island.
Does anyone know what a Mario game should feel like at Nintendo? Six years ago, Nintendo said “Mario games are about the Mario character,” and it didn’t matter if the Mushroom Land wasn’t present (Sunshine) or that every Mario game was in 3d. I’m amazed how Nintendo has realized the Mushroom Kingdom matters and that 2d does matter, yet they return to a default platitude instead of reassessing their assumptions. If the first few assumptions ended up being incorrect, why not re-examine the rest of the assumptions?
I would love the next 3d Mario to use the same graphics and sound from the Galaxy games with Nintendo telling us the experience is all about the ‘level design’. Let’s see how the fans would react to that.
Super Mario Brothers is the most important video game in the world. Yet, Nintendo treats the successor games like they are some indie game.
Nintendo is telling us they don’t think Super Mario Brothers is worth spending money or passion on. Therefore, we are telling Nintendo we don’t think their system is worth spending money or passion on. What goes around, comes around.
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