This is a topic that has always bothered me. I know that New Super Mario Bros. is an excellent game, and Mario Galaxy is a jewel of a game. But do the themes need to be so childish? Mario Kart, same diff.
As an older man, there are movies for kids that I can watch because they don't alienate me. Examples of these are disney's movies especially.
There are companies out there that create content that appeals to children, of all ages, and on a wide variety of themes. My favorite example of these is Disney. Time and time again, this company was able to release one classic after another of top content that appealed to children, and to adults alike. The Little Mermaid, The Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Tarzan, and so on and so forth.
When we look at Nintendo, we found something similar in the origins of the Super Mario series:
Donkey kong, the story of a Gorilla breaking down scaffolds that a construction worker (Mario) is attempting to climb in order to save the kidnapped princess. Sounds like King Kong... hmm not a movie for kids if I recall. What about Mario Bros, the story of a plummer that needs to attack crabs and turtles and butterflies, with fireballs coming out of the wall to attack him. The colors in both game are not aggressively childish, and hold neutral shades of blue, green, red and brown, with Peach's pink as the exception.
The trend continues all the way to Mario 3 and even on to Super Mario 64. But something happened at some point in the Gamecube era where Nintendo decided to inject colors and lame storylines.
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Say goodbye to the Mario of old, and say hello to the new Mario, one that is based on cliches, flashy colors, and uninteresting storylines.
Why? Why can't they make something that evokes an emotion, a real emotion?
Compare that to this children's movie called Tarzan, where children learn about a young boy who just wants to be the best ape the jungle has ever seen. A real desire, a true emotion:
With the staggering sales of some of Nintendo's most frugal franchises, I am callously hoping for a new era in Nintendo's creative history. Let the times unravel.
