| curl-6 said: There is more to ambition than just hardware, I agree, and I have very much enjoyed some unambitious Wii U games, like Captain Toad. Not every game needs to be ambitious. But when it comes to a console that came out in 2012, I'd prefer that most of its games show me new and cool things that push the envelope and couldn't have been done on its predecessors. I don't buy an 8th gen console to play the same kind of games I played in the 6th gen, just with prettier graphics. Nintendo is at their best when their games are ambitious; Ocarina of Time, the Metroid Prime trilogy, Super Mario Galaxy, games like these not only felt like they were pushing the limits of what their platforms could do, but also pushing gaming itself forward with bold ideas. Every aspect of them felt like their creators went all out and held nothing back, nothing was skimped on. |
I 100% agree with the bolded. I often struggle why I immediately put 3D World under Super Mario 64 and Galaxy 1/2 in my top 3D Mario game list. But the bolded is exactly why. While 3D World has Mario's perfect 2D controls mixed in excellent 3D level design, it fails to push the 3D Mario series and the industry forward at its time like Super Mario 64 and Galaxy 1/2 did.
3D World simply perfects previous Mario game mechanic but doesn't dare to be something different and new. 64 was one of the world's first 3D action/adventure game and created the 3D Adventure-Platformer genre seen in 5th - 7th generation. Its level design based on 3D platforming and 3D camera control was one of, if not, the first in the industry as well. Even the video game music of Mario was new in this game as it went from short catchy themes in SMB1 and SMW to music like Peach's Castle, Jolly Roger Bay, Bowser in the Dark World, and more.
When Galaxy came out, the changes were immediately clear. 3D platforming was expanded by mixing in low gravity and orbital physics to allow Mario to move around planets with a radius only five times larger than him or less! You can easily move Mario from one side of a tiny planet to the opposite with complete ease. You can also long jump and orbit around the entire planet and land on an adjacent planet as well. The music style also changed again with Nintendo EAD using a live orchestra producing amazing music like Good Egg galaxy, Gusty Garden Galaxy, Space Junk Galaxy, Buoy Buoy base galaxy, and more.
What did 3D World bring into 2013? It introduced a power up that lets you climb up walls and the addition of 4 local multiplayer thanks to its isometric game camera and sand box level design. Other than that, everything else was the seen before in Super Mario 64 or Galaxy 1/2. The game plays excellently, butoverall the gameplay and level design weren't ground breaking. The levels basically breakdown as a 2D Mario course where Mario can move in the Z axis so additional platforms are added to accomodate it. That could have been a major breakthrough in mid 90's but Super Mario 64 already introduced 3D platforming back then! To its credit, the musical style of the game changed once again with the game's soundtrack performed by a live Jazz band. But even that style isn't completely new since SMB1 - SMW's OST already has heavy elements of Jazz. The music was just created in MIDI with a simpler compositon.
When the Nintendo's next gen conose, the NX, releases and the next big 3D Mario game follows, I hope to see the return of a series that dares to push itself and the industry forward again. I want EAD Tokyo to remind me what this series can do for the future in video game design again. I want them to remind the industry their reputation in game design. I don't need to see them prove they can perfect their fundamentals for a next gen console. I don't even want it. On second thought, I don't even want another Mario like Super Mario 3D World for NX and refuse to accept it. I want - I need something ground breaking like 64 and Galaxy again.
And I think EAD Tokyo needs it too.
