"Sequelitis" - 2D Mario Games

So I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother has seen Egoraptor's three fantastic Sequelitis series of videos, most notably the Mega Man vs. Mega Man X video.

It's about time I give my two cents on something I've been wanting to discuss for a while: 2D Mario Games. I'll be writing this more informally than I normally do to make it as Sequelitis-y as possible, albeit in written form.

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Why is it that Mario is the mascot of gaming?

I mean, actually think about it. He's the most lifeless character in all of media and yet somehow he manages to top well-thought-out characters like Travis Touchdown or Solid Snake. Why?

Well back in the early NES days, no character really had a personality. All of the characters were just an assorted bunch of pixels squished together to make something that kind of looked good. Seriously, no one can tell me that Atari 2600 characters had any depth, because they didn't. Developers couldn't rely on creative writing and deep meaning to make their games sell. You couldn't make Metal Gear Solid 4 for an 8-bit system. You just couldn't. Back in those days, the gameplay was the only thing that mattered. In a world like that, Mario would always be supreme.

And in reality, he still is supreme. Nintendo doesn't even have to put effort into their Mario games anymore to make them sell. Wario is even a more complex character than Mario, but his games don't sell like Mario. Not even close. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is one of the Wii's best-selling games but is also one of the weaker games on the system from an innovation standpoint.

So what changed from the original Super Mario Bros. to the newest 2D Mario on the Wii U? Or, at the very least, what changed that is significant?

NUMBER ONE - POWERUPS

Super Mario Bros. only had one real powerup and that was the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom and Starman were there, but those practically don't even count as powerups. But that's not important.

See, back in early 2D Mario, you didn't need thousands of powerups to make a good game. The first game to include a multitude of powerups was Super Mario Bros. 3 with a grand total of 6 (counting the P-Wing). In SMB3, however, only three powerups were truly important: the Fire Flower, the Super Leaf, and the Frog Suit. The other three were secret powerups. Sure, they could do different things, but they're just super versions of other powerups. The Tanooki Suit and P-Wing are just better Super Leafs, and the Hammer Suit is just an enhanced Fire Flower. So when you really think about it, there's only three different powerups in Super Mario Bros. 3.

The general consensus is that Super Mario World is the best of the bunch, and while I disagree, it's important to understand why. Super Mario World only had two powerups: The Flower and the Cape. So why was it so fun and different? There's only one word to answer that question - Yoshi. And Yoshi had his own powerups too by way of the Koopa Shells. So really there were more powerups in Mario World than every other early 2D Mario.

Nowadays, Nintendo is accomodating to include variations on all of the powerups they had in the old Mario games, from Yoshi's inclusion in New Super Mario Bros. Wii to the "P-Acorn" in New Super Mario Bros. U: a tribute to the P-Wing. New Super Mario Bros. U even had three different Baby Yoshis in addition to the adult Yoshis, each with its own special ability. And while New Super Mario Bros. U has gotten a lot of praise, it also has seen its fair share of criticism.

But why? They have all of these cool powerups that everyone used to love!

I think the question we need to ask here is as follows. Do the powerups make the game?

Looking at my favorite 2D Mario (excluding Yoshi's Island), Super Mario Land 2, it's evident that this isn't the case.

The difference between the old 2D Mario and the new 2D Mario is that the games were designed around its powerups. Super Mario Land 2 only has two powerups: the Fire Flower and the Carrot. Both of these powerups have their own advantages and disadvantages but they can both be used in any level of the game to accomplish certain things while neglecting others. You could beat the entirety of Super Mario Land 2 with just the Carrot and have a great time and vice versa. Simply put, you can't do that with a New Super Mario Bros. game.

"But MML!" you say. "You can't beat Super Mario World with just one powerup!"

Obviously this is true, but this is because Super Mario World did something crazy by including Yoshi. Powerups weren't the top priority anymore: Yoshi was. The entire game was designed around Yoshi as opposed to Mario's different powerups. The only exception to this is the Ghost Houses and Castles, which are designed for both the Fire Flower and Cape Feather. And while there are some levels that I feel didn't fit well with this design choice (namely, most of Donut Plains and Twin Bridges) I can say that this game did different very well.

That's also why including Yoshi in the New Super Mario Bros. games was a terrible idea because he doesn't feel more than just a typical powerup. Only a few levels were designed around him, which is why he couldn't exit any levels with you. And my biggest problem with New Super Mario Bros. U is that you can take the Baby Yoshis to any level, as a majority of levels aren't designed around them.

So, what else?

NUMBER TWO - MEMORABILITY

People give the New Super Mario Bros. series crap for being too much of the same, and I have to agree wholeheartedly.

I'm sorry, but look at these two screenshots and tell me what is different from a stylistic standpoint.



Nothing except for the minor UI font change and the slightly different floor texture right?

Why did they do this? Old Mario games always looked different. No two looked the same, and it made it easy to get in the mood for not just any Mario game, but that specific Mario game. That's what makes those games have more memorability to them than their modern equivalents.

This applies to level design, too. I could describe a level from an old Mario game and you would likely remember it, but if I described a level from New Super Mario Bros. games, you wouldn't know what I was talking about with a few exceptions.

How many of you remember that level in World 5 of Super Mario Bros. 3 when the screen autoscrolled upwards and you had to jump across moving platforms and dodge fire chomps?

You know exactly what level I'm talking about, right? More likely than not you could give me a stage number.

Now, how many of you remember that ghost house level of New Super Mario Bros. DS when the floor randomly fell and rose?

Do you remember it? What world was it in?

Point made.

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Now it's time to talk about what has stayed the same.

NUMBER THREE - SIMPLICITY

The biggest reason why Mario is so popular is because he's so accessible. Anyone can pick up and play a Mario game and have fun, whether it be 2D or 3D, and that's because the games are simple. All you do in Mario is run and jump. That's it, and that's the way it should be.

So, why then, I must ask, does Nintendo insist upon adding new things to Mario?

Seriously, why did we need Baby Yoshis in New Super Mario Bros. U? WHY? I don't understand it! It makes Mario more complicated than he needs to be! Mario just needs to be running and jumping. We don't need more crap to overcomplicate everything! Just make the the game feel different and it'll be fantastic.

Ironically, game feel is the one thing Nintendo isn't changing.

I already mentioned that all of Nintendo's modern Mario sidescrollers all look the same, but should I mention that they all sound the same too?

Take Zelda. Every Zelda game is distinctly different in its own way. Why can't Mario be that? Make a cell-shaded Mario game, and then make a darker one. Make a non-linear 2D Mario. Or at the very least, make the music different.

Simplicity isn't an excuse for lack of originality, and that's what Mario has turned into. Make something unique and different that will bring people in and stop playing it safe. You didn't play it safe when you changed the game design to revolve around Yoshi. You didn't play it safe when you added a world map. You didn't play it safe when you let people choose any world to start with. So why play it safe now?

Adding Baby Yoshis isn't the way to make a game feel new. Changing the design and style is. And because Nintendo doesn't follow that basic guideline, New Super Mario Bros. games are anything but "new".

NUMBER FOUR - LEVEL DESIGN

Now I know that not everyone likes Mario fan games, but I do. In fact, I've closely followed the development of big projects like Mushroom Kingdom Fusion and Super Mario Fusion Revival and am always excited to play games by HelloFangaming, an independent Mario fan game developer.

The reason why I love Mario fangames is because they tend to have unique level designs. For example, one level in Super Mario Fusion Revival is designed around the concept of jumping off of Yoshi, a concept that was integrated in the original Super Mario World but never was as necessary to completing stages as this level was.

I used to work on Mario levels with a program called Mario Builder and one of the levels I designed revolved around Mario's spin jump and utilizing it to jump atop saw blades. You could do this In Mario World, sure, but it wasn't an aspect of the level design.

These things are unique and memorable and completely absent from new 2D Mario games. Old Mario games have memorable levels because they do something unique with the same moves Mario has always used. A perfect example of this is in Super Mario World when the block train was first introduced or Super Mario Bros 3's World 8 Fortress which was quite the maze. These levels are memorable because they did new things with familiar mechanics. When New Super Mario Bros. reuses these mechanics, it makes the levels feel less unique and more nostalgic.

A sequel shouldn't live on its predecessor's glory. It should shine on its own. Take Kirby, a familiar series that have changed something minor with every game to make it feel different. Whether it be Return to Dreamland's Superabilities or Squeak Squad's treasure chests, it was different with every entry.

Mario's levels are all the same with the New Super Mario series and that needs to change. It doesn't have to be drastic, but small things can be done to set each game apart.

THE EPILOGUE - GFGHBCDSARFVJJcFFbJi

Mario games used to be great because they paired perfect platforming with unique level design. Now that one of those concepts has been abandoned the series is starting to grow stale... Fast.

Nintendo, please, stop adding stupid powerups and baby Yoshis and do something new and fresh with the most beloved IP in all of gaming.

So, yea that's it.

HEY IM GRUMP IM NOT SO GRUMP!!!