Does Mario need to be so kiddy?

[Alby_da_Wolf]

happydolphin said:

Alby_da_Wolf said:

theRepublic said:

Yes, on the Atari 2600 all the time.  Mario was not masculine then either.  Here is the arcade flyer from the time:

It is as cartoony as Mario is now.

Box art was undeniably as cartoony as now, but in-game graphics? Well, we could even define "cartoony" DK1 graphics too, but in-bame graphics of Mario himself were more masculine, despite already cartoony, in the first games. Just think about this: the earliest in-game Mario looked quite like Ron Jeremy, the newest Marios don't.   

There's definitely a different emotion depicted in this marketing art than what we have now. Not that this is what I'd want, but I wouldn't say this is like what we have today. The colors are less vibrant, and the characters seem upset (an emotion we never see in today's Mario).

Yep, it was cartoony, but more adult. We could compare old and new Mario to Popeye made by Segar and Felix the Cat by Sullivan and those very childish after their respective authors' deaths.