Starfox and Mario Baseball were developed by Namco in exchange for the exclusive release of a handfull of games.
F-Zero was developed by Sega in exchanged for the exclusive release of a handfull of games.
Geist was a game developed by a small third party developer which Nintendo published; it was rumored that Nintendo was looking for another western developer (like Retro) to boost its fortunes in North America and Europe but that their relationship with nSpace was not so great ...
Donkey Kong finds itself it a redundant space where Mario is King. Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is a poorly thought out game in general though:
"Originally Donkey Kong Barrel Blast was to be controlled using the the DK Bongos; the left and right drums would steer in their respective directions, and rolling both drums accelerated. When the game was moved to the Wii, the DK Bongos were replaced with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, having the player to shake the controller in place of hitting the drums. The player can also raise the remote and Nunchuk to jump, and use the motion sensing to punch opponents and obstacles, and to use items."
Super Mario Sunshine gets way too much bashing for how good of a game it was; being that it was only one of the best games of the generation it was released in, and that it didn't revolutionize the industry, it is seen as a faliure in the Mario Series.
