| Sal.Paradise said: I'm not surprised at all that Happy is getting a bit of flak for this thread, it's a very bold move to open up a debate about such a beloved franchise, but good on him for having the confidence to do so. It would be the same for anybody opening the same thread on the new Halo game, or the new Uncharted game, etc. I have no doubts that the game will be good. Not bad, but a good game. This issue that arises, or that many people see, is from the perception of Nintendo as a company. People like to think that their Nintendo games (especially flagship Mario titles) are a product of creativity and inspiration; a product that is created out of a desire to create amazing new experiences and treated as such. What the perception surrounding NSMB 3DS is, purely off of screenshots and in context of all the other NSMB titles we've seen, is that the series is no longer driven by strong ideas or creativity, but rather used primarily as a platform to sell hardware, from the evidence of the minimal changes and fresh approaches on every iteration. If you can accept that the game is just going to be a decent Mario platformer, and that releasing a quick title for (almost) solely business reasons is Nintendo's strategy, then you'll be absolutely fine with this game, and that is also a completely fine opinion to hold. What people that are not dedicated to Nintendo titles see, however, is a game that they have played before, with presentation that they have seen before, and music that they have heard before (we haven't heard that yet, sure, but take a wild guess at what it will be like. wha wha). And really, that is what a 2d mario game is made of; platforming, graphics and music are its components. If a game is more story driven, or if the game's physics are a more principal component, or if the community and online multiplayer are it's main draw, then small upgrades in presentation are not such an indicator of a lack of creativity. Here however, the presentation is the only aspect of a Mario game aside from the platforming. And the platforming hasn't changed. In fact, what I am seeing many people cite as the thing differentiating this NSMB from others is the P bar and flying Mario. I.e., something I could have played decades ago. Gamers that have no preset predisposition to Mario games see a game they've played before. They have a wealth of original and creative platformers available to them on other devices, driven by individual ideas and passion, something they believed was Nintendo's specialty. Why should they bother with this new title? I think that is the reason for the initial backlash. |
Good question, but it's hard to answer until we have more information besides a few screenshots.
