Overlooked platformer games thanks to Mario's existence

[Cheebee]

On the N64, imo both Banjo games and Dk64 were superior to SM64. Of course, that was only after SM64 had shown them how to do a 3D platformer right.

I think the Mario franchise owes much of its success to the fact that they were the first games to do it right. Everything that came after built upon the foundations that Mario games had laid, thus seeming like copycats to many. Most of the time, people simply prefer the original, even if superior copycats come out (that's not to say all platformers copied Mario). Plus, Mario games just went on improving themselves with every iteration, becoming better and better.