Super Mario general topic

[Old dead account]

I see we have topics for a few certain freshly released games but not one for this series as a whole.

 

This is the place to talk about the Super Mario series as a whole, and not limited to just the games. Seen as Sonic's former rival and the actual messiah of the gaming world for pulling the industry out of its own great depression, it's possibly because of this chubby red guy that we saw gaming survive past the 80's and in fact flourish in the 90's. This is a series that I have been with since day one of gaming for me. Unlike my Metroid Topic, I'm not going to describe every single Mario game since there are so many of them, between the main series, kart series, sports series, RPG series and others that I may have missed and most of those individual games have sold over 10 million units, more than most game series put together.

 

The main series games are all very well put together games that are mainly very fun and expertly designed. I can't help but feel that the NSMB series is getting pretty lazy and soulless though since NSMB2 feels like just an expansion pack of the original NSMB where as NSMBWii felt like bit of an improvement in level design if anything, although I can't speak for NSMBU since I haven't played it, but it looks like a slight improvement but not much else. The other platformer Marios felt like legit innovations/deviations from each other, 64 jumping to 3D, Sunshine having a bigger world and a new tool to use, Galaxies taking place in space and on a gravity bending design, 3D land mixing 3D with point A-B style, etc.

 

I think Mario as a whole has reached slight slump but I have confidence that they can easily get him out of it. Besides, he still sells million per game.

[Sly4Good]

Screw Mario, I'm going to talk about Luigi's Mansion!

 

Luigi's Mansion is a wonderfully creative Gamecube Launch title that, unlike most Mario Games, features Luigi as the main character. Unlike his older brother, Luigi doesn't go through Warp pipes or jump on Goomba's this time around. Instead, with the power of the Poltergust 2000 and the guidance of a Mister E. Gadd, Luigi has to go travel around this mansion that he mysteriously won from a contest he never entered and find Mario. However, the mansion is riddled with Boo's and Ghosts and other ghastly hazards. In order to progress through the mansion, Luigi has to capture these special ghosts, called "Portrait Ghosts." These ghosts normally require some special trick in order to find their weak spot, their heart (such as making Sue Pea wet her bed, or playing a guessing game with Jarvis). 

Luigi's Mansion also has some pretty creative bosses. You have Chauncey, the spoiled brat who shrinks you down the the size of a toy soldier and attacks you with his toy's....and screams at you with a rather disturbing wail. You then have Bogmire, a shadowy ghost who launches duplicates of himself at you, in which you're required to find the right Bogmire. Next is Boolossus, a huge Boo made of 15 other boos who, uniquely, after defeating him/them, lightning hits the mansion and causes a blackout. Since Ghosts love the dark, you pretty much will encounter ghost after ghost after ghost until you manage to restore the power. After that, you have Vincent Van Gore and his monster rush. Finally, you face King.....Bowser? Well, It's actually King Boo in a pretty convincing Bowser get up, that has some really hard to avoid attacks unless you're prepared for them.

After defeating King Boo, you rescue Mario and you live happily ever after in your new house....or tent.....or Mansion...it all depends on what ranking you get, A being the highest rank, H being the lowest. You can improve your ranking by collecting money prizes throughout the game. Gold Coins, Red Diamonds, and King Boo's Crown, the cheapest things you can get, are all worth 5000 G's. You   keep on working up the cost latter, with things having their worth increase dramatically, until you get to Gold Diamonds, which are worth a whopping 20,000,000 G's! Your goal is to collect over 100,000,000G's (or if you're playing the PAL version of the game, 150,000,000G's)

Finally, you also have a hidden mansion version you unlock after beating the game once, in which, unless you have the PAL version (which I'm not going to talk about because the PAL version's Hidden Mansion is drastically different from the North American/Japanese NTSC version), all enemy's will have double the damage, but your Poltergust will have twice the power.

 

All in all, Luigi's mansion is a fantastic Spin off, and I wait with open arms for it's sequel, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, to be released.

[Mangoaxe5]

The series has gone downhill. They need to drop the whole "Peach gets kidnapped in every game" story. They should let Peach be a playable character.

Right now the rpg's are the only blight spot in the series.

Super Mario RPG is my favorite Mario game. And I really wish that Nintendo and Square would fucking get back together and give us a true sequel.

Edited December 27, 2012 by Vampfox

[Emmett L. Brown]

Super Mario Bros is the greatest platformer series in the world. Which makes it funny that in the best game of the series you don't control Mario at all. That's right, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is the best platformer ever made. Why? The key is diversity. Out of 46 levels (plus an additional 6 secret levels) every single one either provides a unique obstacle or introduces as new element of gameplay.

 

The music is great, the crayon-style graphics give the game a timeless appeal, and Yoshi's controls are simply perfect. There's no dash button, but you never need it because Yoshi moves at the exact right speed to maintain speedy progression while being able to react to incoming obstacles. The flutter-jump means you always have the chance to correct yourself during a taxing platforming section.

 

And the way you deal with enemies? It's brilliant! You can jump on them, you can ground-pound, you can grab them with your tongue, or you can fire eggs at them. Or, you can spit watermellon seeds, breathe fire, breathe ice, knock them over with koopa shells, home attack with baby penguins, turn them into stars with a POW block, crush them with a chomp rock, and finally you can grab a Super Star to turn the controls over to the mighty invincible, wall-running Powerful Mario. It never gets monotonous by constantly introducing new enemies and more importantly; new ways to use those enemies to interact with the environment.

 

Speaking of enemies, how about the bosses? Can you name another platformer with 12 unique bosses that never recycle the same strategy? Ground-pound Marching Milde into smaller and smaller copies. Push the Potted Ghost off the edge before he does the same to you. Rebound eggs off walls to get around Bigger Boo turning intangible when you face him. Skip eggs over water to hit Naval Piranhna's belly button. And last but not least: Turn the perspective to pseudo-3D as you fire giant eggs into the background to fight the very first and unquestionably most awesome incarnation of the Bowser-Grows-Really-Huge Final Boss; Giant Baby Bowser. Most games fail when they introduce a brand new gameplay style for the final boss fight, but Yoshi's Island nailed it.

 

The only bad thing I can say about the game is that it got the formula so perfectly right that every attempt to repeat it falls flat. Yoshi's Island DS was a really good game, but every change they made only detracted from the experience. Taking away the inventory and delegating Yoshi's abilities to specific babies just added chores. Introducing even harder levels just showed how much the gameplay suffered from the changes, as the hardest levels of Yoshi's Island DS would've been much less frustrating if you were only playing with the character and mechanics of the original game.

 

Anyway, Yoshi's Island. Yay!

[Tails spin]

^ You must have played a different version of Super Mario World 2 then cuz I clearly remember playing as Mario in diapers .

[-blank-]

Yoshi's Island is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

But you know one thing I absolutely HATE about it?

 

 

The fact that, even after six years, it has not been released on the Virtual Console.

 

 

 

Why Nintendo?

 

 

Why do you do this to me?

[Old dead account]

Yoshi's Island is one of my favorite games of all time.

 

But you know one thing I absolutely HATE about it?

 

 

The fact that, even after six years, it has not been released on the Virtual Console.

 

 

 

Why Nintendo?

 

 

Why do you do this to me?

 Funny thing about that is that 3DS ambassadors got it as one of the 10 free GBA games (Super Mario Advance 3). I actually haven't played much of it yet for some reason but it seems a lot like Yoshi's Story.

[LATER BUDDY]

I've complained about it in the past, but once more wouldn't hurt lawl.

 

I'm basically fed up with the series at this point. Galaxy was sort of my last outing with any sort of feeling toward the series, and even then I felt short changed. Since then, the art style has seemed to stick and it's frankly starting to make me pissed off by just looking at it. Something about the Super Mario series now feels so "cardboard cut-outty" that it's just become annoying to me. Everything looks extremely uninspired, and some how manages the feat of making a vibrant game look flat for me. It's just been slave to a visual formula that in my opinion has stay way past it's welcome.

 

Visuals aside, I can't really take the whole "trip down nostalgia lane" anymore. It's hardly nostalgic when you push that as a sale point for every new game. I get it, you can recreate things from Super Mario 3, World, and 64. It was neat the first time, but just go away now, I want something fresh. I want something new and exciting that turns the series on it's head a bit without it being basically a recycled game with an extra added power up or two with some new levels.

 

Basically all I'm asking the Mario franchise is to grow a ball sack. I honestly group Mario with Miis anymore when thinking about the same level of blandness and sellout attributes.

 

/rant

[NGw00d]

Pretty much agree with Wolfy here on all fronts. The serious has definitely taken a turn for the worse ever since Galaxy released. The thing that sticks out the most is definitely the "New" Super Mario Bros series. The first one I could get behind, bringing back the classic Mario experience, awesome. The Wii version, eh, starting to get a little rehash-y here, Nintendo, but I'll live. The multiplayer was a good time, but why two Toads instead of, I don't know, actual characters? Don't spout that BS of how Peach's dress is "too hard to animate" because I'm sure everyone would be cool with her sports outfit, or hell, give us Wario and Waluigi, just anyone but the Toads. The second one is just the first with a coin gimmick, which if you get a million, you recieve the most lackluster prize I've ever heard seen (I'm sure there's worse but you gotta admit, it's pretty bad). The Wii U version apparently stepped it up, but it still seems too samey. So yeah, blah blah blah, Mario needs to make a change.

 

On the other hand, I got 3D Land for Christmas and its fun. Beat it in a day, but still fun nonetheless. Its solid and would definitely recommend a pickup if you've got a 3DS and some spare change, but it still feels way too familiar. You're probably thinking, "Well that's good because it feels like a Mario game." No, its not good. It feels like I've been playing this game for years and I only just got it. The gameplay feels the same, which I admit is a good thing, but the aesthetics and level design feel like they could be put into any Mario game released anywhere from now til like 5 years ago. Doesn't mean it isn't a good game, cause it is, just too unoriginal and uninspired.

[The Kid]

I don't know how 3D land feels similar to NSMB in any way. It was a fresh new entry into the Mario series and honestly it restored my interest in Mario as a whole. The music, environments, and gameplay were all a step up from past titles.

 

I don't get all the hate. Sure, NSMB is kind of stale with the repeated close releases ( NSMBU is a different story, and we probably wont get another NSMB until the next console or handheld comes out) but every once in awhile when we get a cool title like Paper Mario or Mario 3D land, my ears perk up a little. Those are the titles that keep my interest, and make me have faith that we'll keep getting some cool new Mario titles every other year or so (in between some 2D cash-grab games).

[Old dead account]

3D Land is personally really great, despite being the most underwhelming 3D title. I wish there was more consistency in it such as world (#) being a traditional Desert level because all of the stages being so random didn't give a sense of consistency or identity to the worlds. I still enjoyed it enough to get 5 stars on my file along with 999+ lives. I could tell that it was made with several assets from SMG though.

 

NSMB2 though, just feels really lazy and bland to me. The levels don't really interest me that much and the coins gimmick doesn't feel like it adds much at all. Also, the graphic are really dull in comparison to other games I mean just compare them to DKCR, it looks even better than NSMBU, an HD game!

 

I think we should wait until the next big 3D Mario game to decide whether or not Mario has gone really lazy and stale. If the game happens to be Super Mario Galaxy 3/Universe... :/

[NGw00d]

Wouldn't really say hate, at least for myself as I still love all the games and have some great times with them, its more like disinterest. I guess I haven't played enough 3D Land because it feels like they just took NSMB and made it 3D. There isn't enough new elements to it to make me say, "Oh sweet! Look at this new Mario game!" Like I said before, its still a good, great even, game, its just too unoriginal and uninspired.

 

I really can't comment on the RPGs because they never really interested me as I'm not a fan of the genre, but I'm hearing a lot of mixed reviews on Sticker Star. One person will say its the best Paper Mario yet and the other will say its awful. I guess you could say its refreshing as from what I heard they changed it up, but apparently many don't like the change. Its pretty much a double edged sword because if they don't change, people will complain, but if they do, people are still gonna complain. Its a lose-lose for Nintendo, but people are gonna buy it anyway, so I guess its a win-win money wise.

[Emmett L. Brown]

^ You must have played a different version of Super Mario World 2 then cuz I clearly remember playing as Mario in diapers .

I did mention Powerful Mario.

 

Why they didn't go the obvious route and name that form "Super" Mario is beyond me. He even has a cape fer goodness sake.

[Nix]

I personally don't see how 3D Land is unoriginal.

 

It feels more like a direct transition from 2D to 3D; if this was released along with 64 and if I was asked to point out which game felt more like Mario to me, I'd pick 3D Land in a heartbeat.  3D Land did what 64 didn't and successfully brought all of the elements that made up the 2D games into the 3D realm, and it feels like a completely different beast from the rest because of it.  I also want to point out how freaking cool a lot of the levels are, like that one level that was pretty much a top-down Zelda dungeon complete with the "solved the puzzle" Zelda jingle.  It's kind of funny, Super Mario 3D Land is one of the most unique and original Mario titles out there to me because it actually tried being more like the 2D games.

 

3D Land also has the best final boss in practically any Mario game ever, so there.

 

Note:  I like 64, so don't hurt me.

[Conando]

Despite my love of the Mario series, I don't feel like I can actually write out long posts like a lot of people do, I'm just a lazy git! I will say this, though. A lot of people seem to think Super Mario 64 was the pinnacle of 3D Mario games, when I find it to be the odd one of the entire series. I like the game, don't get me wrong but, it basically flies in the face of the Mario series. The only stages that come close to capturing the platforming action of the series are the Bowser stages and Rainbow Ride, otherwise it feels very little like a Mario game. I believe that's why with each game Nintendo is trying harder at converting the 2D gameplay into a 3D world. It's why we get Mario Galaxy 2 and 3D Land, and I'll say those very well could be my favorite 3D Mario games because they fully capture the spirit of the series so to speak; regardless of whatever people have to say about the worlds not being entirely original.

Edited December 27, 2012 by Kringle Of Awesome

[sjmaster92]

I honestly have to say that other than the 3d games I rarely ever find myself getting excited over a new Mario game. Mostly because of how predictable and samey the series has become. Why not change up the story a bit? Im tired of this conservative story bullcrap. Why cant something else happen in the main Mario universe?

Why is it the goal always to rescue Peach? It seems like every time this is brought up there's the IMO piss poor "people don't play mario for story" excuse. The inclusion of a non-barebones story hasnt hindered the sucess of many other companies mascots. I'm not asking for some epic rpg scale story, just give Mario ANY other reason to go on an adventure, and flesh it out just a little more similar to how galaxy did it. Along with the story, why not put forth the effort to make every game look like it's own unique game instead of a rehash of the previous game. I know most of these points were covered but I just wanted to post my own opinions o. The series.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I honestly have to say that other than the 3d games I rarely ever find myself getting excited over a new Mario game. Mostly because of how predictable and samey the series has become. Why not change up the story a bit? Im tired of this conservative story bullcrap. Why cant something else happen in the main Mario universe?

Why is it the goal always to rescue Peach? It seems like every time this is brought up there's the IMO piss poor "people don't play mario for story" excuse. The inclusion of a non-barebones story hasnt hindered the sucess of many other companies mascots. I'm not asking for some epic rpg scale story, just give Mario ANY other reason to go on an adventure, and flesh it out just a little more similar to how galaxy did it. Along with the story, why not put forth the effort to make every game look like it's own unique game instead of a rehash of the previous game. I know most of these points were covered but I just wanted to post my own opinions o. The series.

 

Miyamoto is anti-story. True Story.

 

EDIT: OH NO! I WASTED MY SPECIAL 1300TH POST THAT I WAS SAVING FOR MY REVIEW!

Edited December 27, 2012 by Malpercio

[Wraith]

You know, Mario 64 may not be like the 2D titles, but thats why I LIKE it and the other 3D marios. I mean, if I wanted to play 2D Mario, I'd just fucking play 2D Mario. 3D Mario was something unique, and now it's being stripped away.

 

it's why 3D land pisses me off so much.

[NGw00d]

Let me say this first, I don't hate any of the Mario games I have played, 3D Land included, I just feel its the weakest of the 3D games. And before you go thinking I'm defending 64 cause its my favorite, its not. Sunshine is, and one of the main reasons is because they did something different. 3D Land definitely feels like the most direct translation of 2D to 3D, but I feel as if they're taking it from the NSMB games. There were very few moments where I was saying to myself, "That was pretty cool!" The Boo mansions and the final boss, along with a few other levels scattered in between, were those times. Most of the other levels just sort of blended together, with nothing special to set them apart. 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy all brought something new to the series, while 3D Land relied too much on its predecessors with very little new things. 3D Land had the gameplay nailed to a tee, they just have to add more original elements to get me more excited for the next game and Mario in general.

 

Also, completely unrelated, I find the games are getting too easy. There's some points where it starts to get challenging, but the second after its a breeze. This is a whole different beast entirely, though.

[Conando]

You know, Mario 64 may not be like the 2D titles, but thats why I LIKE it and the other 3D marios. I mean, if I wanted to play 2D Mario, I'd just fucking play 2D Mario. 3D Mario was something unique, and now it's being stripped away.

 

it's why 3D land pisses me off so much.

 

The problem with Super Mario 64 is that it's barely even a platformer. It was an experiment, clearly, and I'm going to be honest, I would not care for the series if they continued down that route.

[a mystery]

Seriously, just get some better ideas, designs and story and I won't have a single problem with the games. I don't care if Peach is still getting kidnapped, add some more stuff to the mix like the RPGs do.

...Except NSMB2's music. SOMEBODY PLEASE HACK SOME ORIGINAL MUSIC INTO IT.

[Thigolf]

My biggest problem with the series isn't actually the  quality of the games, but the amount of them. It's really a shame, but I'm starting to hate the franchise because of that. I just hate how many Mario games are coming out every year while other great franchises aren't even getting one single installment in years. Starfox? F-Zero? And stop pushing back Pikmin 3? Please?

 

"Heey, we know the Animal Crossing we've announced in 2010 still isn't out yet, but it's okay, cause you'll get 6 MARIO GAMES IN 2012! That does make up for it, right?!"  

 

Nope Nintendo. It doesn't. Not at all.

[JezMM]

My biggest problem with the series isn't actually the  quality of the games, but the amount of them. It's really a shame, but I'm starting to hate the franchise because of that. I just hate how many Mario games are coming out every year while other great franchises aren't even getting one single installment in years. Starfox? F-Zero? And stop pushing back Pikmin 3? Please?

 

"Heey, we know the Animal Crossing we've announced in 2010 still isn't out yet, but it's okay, cause you'll get 6 MARIO GAMES IN 2012! That does make up for it, right?!"  

 

Nope Nintendo. It doesn't. Not at all.

Mario has it's own completely dedicated teams these days.  Mario not being made would not suddenly make half-dead franchises less of a marketing risk for the company.

 

Don't get me wrong, I want new Starfox (and uhh... sure F-Zero I guess I know people love it), but the fact is these are quite cult franchises.  You have to be realistic.  If they're pushing back Pikmin 3 it's because it's not finished yet, not because they decided to make a Mario game instead.

Edited December 27, 2012 by JezMM

[Thigolf]

Oh, I know that it wouldn't change anything. My complaints are rather personal. I'm a huge Nintendofan, and Mario is just a small part of  the reason why I am one. There are lots of franchises I prefer over the plumber and I'm just getting kind of sick of seeing him over and over again.

 

I know Mario is one of Nintendos best selling franchises.

I know other franchises might not sell well at all if Nintendo would bring them back.

 

But it still annoys me how they keep releasing tons of Mario games every single year while other franchises don't get a single game.

I mean, would it really hurt Nintendo to release one game of not so popular franchises on each console? Just one? I know it still costs a lot of money to develop a game, but still...  I'm aware that they can't make those franchises as big as Mario, there simply isn't enough interest, but is one game every few years really asking for too much?

 

It just doesn't seem fair to the Nintendo fans that aren't fans of Nintendo because of Mario, but because of other franchises.

Edited December 27, 2012 by Thigolf

[-Mark-]

As others have said, I think the Mario series has very much fallen on a 'same old, same old' in the last couple of years. If you've played one 'New' Super Mario Bros. game you've pretty much played them all. Mario games (the 2D ones at least) have definitely fallen into rehash territory.

 

But you know what? That doesn't really matter (to me at least), because they're still fucking awesome.

 

I will admit one thing that irks me with more recent ones (NSMB2 and U in particular) is how ridiculous some of the secret exits and secrets in general are hidden. NSMB2 was by far the biggest offender, often having exits hidden by way of invisible blocks that you had to hit to make a vine sprout, except the game gave you no indication there might be a hidden block there and it pretty much came down to chance. 

 

3D Land was great fun, although due to it being the first 3D Mario where they actually followed the classic Mario template, it ironically felt somewhat like 'Another generic 2D Mario', despite being a 3D game. That said, it was still awesome. 

 

The funny thing is, having gone back to Mario 64 recently (admittedly the DS version, but the issues I'm having with it aren't ones that weren't present in the original as well), and I'm finding it's actually aged pretty damn terribly. I know it was pretty much the first ever full 3D platformer, so it's perfectly excusable, but I do find it weird that people can still hold it as the holy grail of platforming perfection (and I say this as someone who held this opinion until maybe a couple of years ago myself). 

 

Mario 64 basically rips up the previous Mario template in favour of mission-based sandbox stages (which it's basically held on to until 3D Land, although the Galaxy games did become a bit more linear and platformer-centric). I will say though that some of the missions are just ridiculous; Wet-Dry World's 'Five Secrets in the Shallows and Sky' is flat out the most 'what the hell' thing in the game. With little clue beyond the mission title, you're expected to find five random, invisible checkpoints in the stage to complete the mission. Just... what. D:

 

It's a shame, Mario 64 is still the Mario game I have the fondest memories of. I can't help but secretly kind of wish I was ten years old again when Mario Galaxy 2 came out. It's a sad (almmost-)fact of life that things are just more fun when you're a kid. You're younger, more easily impressed and more easily immersed. Galaxy 2 blows 64 out of the water in pretty much every way, but I still have fonder memories of 64 simply because I was younger.

 

I will say that I've recently discovered that the Slide theme from 64 is my favourite Mario tune, though. I've noticed that every time the tune cameos in a newer game, part of me squees with delight. Throwback Galaxy? Please. The nostalgic highlight (and dare I say highlight period) of Galaxy 2 for me was jumping on that wooden slide in the tree level and hearing the Slide Theme kick in. Totally caught me by surprise and made me grin something stupid.