Topic: What makes a sequel?

[Chozo Ghost]

Maybe it's just perception, Chozo Ghost, but I can't imagine Samus or Zelda in a kart or sports game. They just feel out of place. Though it may just be decades of seeing Mario & Co be in them that allows that to make sense over the other.

But I'm sure that is EXACTLY how everyone felt back in 1992 (or whatever year it was) when the first Mario Kart game was released. Kart racing was never featured in any of the original Mario games, and it just didn't make any sense at all at that time.

But even in those days, Nintendo was pimping Mario out into franchises that he kinda had no business being in. Like Mario Paint, for example, or Dr. Mario, or Mario's Time Machine. All of those were games that seemed out of place compared to the platforming stuff Mario was known for.

But that was then, and nowadays we take all of this for granted. If Nintendo announces a Mario Football game, who here is going to be shocked? But if you take Link and try to have him do anything like that then it is a shock, because it is completely new for him.

But the Zelda franchise has KINDA taken a small step in that direction with Link's Crossbow training. AFAIK this was the first time Link got pimped out instead of Mario and the gang, and it was a refreshing change. Hopefully there will be some more Zelda genre crossovers in the future.

[Mop it up]

I never once questioned Mario's existence in any of those first Mario spin-off games. Mario is a multi-talented fellow who seems to be skilled at anything he tries. Games like Dr. Mario and Super Mario Kart didn't sound foreign or blasphemous when I first heard about them, but rather fun and exciting with characters I already know and love.

Technically, Super Mario Brothers is a spin-off of Mario Brothers, which is in turn an off shoot of Donkey Kong. So a "traditional" Mario game would actually be something akin to the Donkey Kong arcade game.

But, you have a point here. Mario has been in spin-offs ever since the beginning; that was all a part of the development and establishment of Mario, so we're all used to that now. Zelda and Metroid have always been focused on just the main series, and after all this time, it might be too late for many to accept them in any other type of game.

[UltimatePartyBear]

But I'm sure that is EXACTLY how everyone felt back in 1992 (or whatever year it was) when the first Mario Kart game was released. Kart racing was never featured in any of the original Mario games, and it just didn't make any sense at all at that time.

I don't remember ever talking to anyone who had that reaction.  It was just cool.  Maybe that's because Mario's never felt all that genre- or story-locked, or maybe it's because none of Nintendo's franchises had had enough releases yet to feel constrained.  Maybe a Zelda spin-off would have been easier to sell back when there had only been three Zelda games and only two of them even played similarly.

[Ian Sane]

But even in those days, Nintendo was pimping Mario out into franchises that he kinda had no business being in. Like Mario Paint, for example, or Dr. Mario, or Mario's Time Machine. All of those were games that seemed out of place compared to the platforming stuff Mario was known for.

As a kid I remember being interested in Dr. Mario when I first heard of it and then being INCREDIBLY disappointed when I found out it was a puzzle game.  It seemed very wrong and inappropriate at the time.  I only knew Mario as being in action games (I was unaware that Wrecking Crew existed).  Of course I think Dr. Mario is an awesome game now.  Yoshi was even more disappointing as I wanted something like what Yoshi's Island would eventually be.
 
By the time Super Mario Kart came out I didn't find it irregular as Nintendo had already made some spin-offs.  I recall not being interested in it though since I wanted more and more "real" Mario games.  I didn't get into Mario Kart until the N64 so I don't share much appreciation for the original like most do.  I still have never bothered to add it to my SNES collection despite it being a obvious inclusion.

[NWR_insanolord]

Back in the SNES days, I longed for an RPG in the style of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars that brought all the Nintendo universes together.  I still want that game.

Awesome idea.  Needs a better story than anything from SSB though.  Some sort of a tran-dimensional portal storyline would probably be the best way to combine the worlds.  Or you use different planets and use space travel characters like Samus and Fox to combine the worlds.  The Zelda world would just be a planet that has yet to discover space travel.

How about they take advantage of the fact that Samus is a bounty hunter and have someone hire her to catch Fox, who has been framed for some kind of crime. She chases him all over the galaxy to the worlds of all the Nintendo characters, with the two of them recruiting the rest of the Nintendo lineup, with them all eventually figuring it out and working together to take down whoever framed Fox.

[Chozo Ghost]

Now that I think about it, Mario also appeared as the Referee in the original Punch-out game.

[Stratos]

Mario appeared as a ref in every Nintendo made sports game on the the NES and GB as I recall. He even freaking appeared in Alleyway, Nintendo's Breakout clone as the beginning of every game shows him jumping into the paddle as if he was controlling it from the inside to bounce the balls.

[Chozo Ghost]

Lol, yeah I forgot about that but you're right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleyway

If you look at the boxart you can see that it in fact is some spaceship type thing with Mario inside at the controls. in gameplay terms its really just a simple paddle like in any other game of that type, but pretending it is a vehicle with Mario inside sorta makes it more interesting. But it doesn't really effect anything gameplay wise.

The lesson seems to be that there is no genre of game Nintendo isn't willing to give Mario a cameo in to boost sales, and the sad thing is, it works.

Edit: BTW, wasn't he also in Tetris? I could be wrong...

[King of Twitch]

Yes, the multiplayer.

All these cameos and we're not even in the 90s yet.. talk about franchise burnout.

[Chozo Ghost]

I think that's a huge advantage Nintendo has over its other competitors. The only one who even came close was Sega with their Sonic mascot, but Sonic was nowhere near as totally pimped out as Mario is, and also Sega is now a 3rd party and not really a competitor anymore per se.

Back in the early days of the Playstation I remember Sony KINDA had its own mascot in the form of that Bandicoot thing, but for some reason they lost it and it became a multiplatform character. AFAIK Microsoft never had its own Mascot, and doesn't even seem interested in creating one.

I think certain people might look at Mascots as childish, and so if you're aiming for the hardcore crowd you probably don't want to be linked up to something cartoonish. But Nintendo has always had Mario from the beginning, and I think its worked out very well for them. There are people out there who sadly will never even try games like Mario Kart or the Mario Sports games or anything like that just because they see the characters as "childish", but for every player like that there are many more who either don't care or actually love the characters. And a lot of the adult gamers these days grew up with Mario and friends, so that just makes it more appealing for them.

[Mop it up]

Don't forget the NES game Pinball, that had Mario in it too.