Prediction: NSMB's successor will launch this year

[Erik Aston]

Anyone remember the old game Sonic 3D Blast?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTssGRcyWio

In the mid-90s, when the PlayStation was starting to have some hit 3D games, and the N64 was gearing up to launch and really push 3D at the expense of 2D, all the old 2D platform mascot games were trying to make the transition to the new, 3D world. When Super Mario 64 was shown off, it is said that many of those companies cancelled those games, and gave up. They were so far off base. And most of the 3D mascot platformers that did come out were exposed as being pretty terrible in the face of Super Mario 64. One of the most prominent was Sonic 3D Blast.

Looking at Sonic 3D Blast, what do we see:

-Dorky visuals.
-Stationary camera looking down on the action.
-Power-ups and extra life system straight out of 2D Sonic.
-Elements of 2D Sonic that are bizarrely out of place and meaningless in 3D, like loop-de-loops.
-Levels broken into displaced segments. Complete objectives to move from one to the next.
-Levels are linear, with beginnings and ends. No exploration.
-"3D" right in the title of the game as a selling point.

Looking at Super Mario 64, what do we see:

-Cutting edge graphics (it was 1996, trust me on this one).
-Rotating, user-controlled camera.
-All-new power-up and extra life system made for the new gameplay.
-Elements of 2D Mario that would be meaningless in 3D, like Hammer Bros., or stairs leading up to a flagpole, are just gone.
-Levels are open little arenas.
-Stars are not located at the "ends" of worlds. Exploration is a focus of the gameplay.
-Called Super Mario 64. It's just Super Mario for the N64

And looking at the progression from Super Mario 64 to Super Mario 3D Land, what do we see Miyamoto opting for with the newest game:

-Dorky visuals.
-Stationary camera looking down on the action.
-Power-ups and extra life system straight out of 2D Mario.
-Elements of 2D Mario that are bizarrely out of place and meaningless in 3D, like Hammer Bros. or stairs leading up to a flagpole.
-Levels broken into displaced segments. Complete objectives to move from one to the next.
-Levels are linear, with beginnings and ends. No exploration.
-"3D" right in the title of the game as a selling point.

Basically, in 1996, Miyamoto was smart enough not to simply imitate 2D Mario when making a 3D Mario. He made a totally new type of game. And it turned out this new type of game was beloved by some, but was not remotely as popular as the old 2D game. In his obsession to make this new game as popular as the old one, he has devolved 3D Mario into the same type of bizarro crappy 3D game that was exposed as terrible when Super Mario 64 was revealed.