The sales of the 3DS increased a lot after 3d land was released. IDK what he is talking about.

I believe that what has spun off of NSMB mostly this gen was wishful thinking.

I have no problem with 3D Mario as long as the next iteration goes back to what made SM64 so great... open worlds to freely explore at your leisure, rather than the linear planet hopping and timed objectives that comprised the two Galaxy games.

2D Marios obviously sell more because they are easier to pick up and play than a game like Galaxy, but the latest iterations of 2D Mario are basically just rehashes and mishmashes of the classics while offering hardly anything new and innovative. Oh, and they're ridiculously easy too.

To me, all 3d Mario games would have to be like an RPG with a gigantic Mushroom kingdom to be explered. Kind of like what Zelda used to be.

Don't get me wrong I do believe that NSMBW spawned a lot of the 2d games we've seen this gen. I like having 2D Mario and I think Nintendo should continue to make them. I just don't like the notion that 3D Mario hasn't spawned anything and should be gotten rid of. Things could have easily gone the other way around.

For example imagine if after Mario 64, Nintendo immediately released another 2D Mario and never made another 3D mario and continued to make 2D  Mario. Then the market would have followed suit an mostly made 2d platformers. Then years down the road Nintendo decides to make another 3D Mario. This in turn would of caused a lot more 3D platformers to be created.

My point is there 2d and 3d Mario games can co-exist.

Bah, what poison!

Implementing multiplayer was a great evolution to the series. Being able to play  with my wife is priceless.

For a proper answer, if sales are what matter:

1.27M

Super Metroid: 1.42M

Zelda II: 4.38M

1.67M

9.30M

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: 6.03M

Huh?

Waaa?

EEEE?

Ninja Gaiden something: (We don't have the sales figures)

Contra wha? Anyways no sales figures.

Rayman... meh

Earthworm jim: No real sales figures

Don't think we have the sales for Jazz Jackrabbit.

When on this subject, it's really important for us to set the goalposts right. Is it awesomeness or sales that count? Because in many and most cases these are not super compatible (see above).

This is a good point.

Hyperbole and you know it. Either that, or pure opinion. I loved Mario 64, loved Conker, looved donkey kong 64, absolutely loved Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time. Alot of games based on Mario 64. And there are many more.

To say that Super Mario Bros.' evolution is spot on always is a misstatement. Yoshi's Island did not sell well despite pretending to be the evolution of Super Mario World (it was subtitled Super Mario World 2). And Super Mario World, despite being a proper evolution of Super Mario Bros 3, did not sell all that well relatively speaking.

NSMB is just a very well timed release, and a damn good game in certain respects, but in others it isn't that good. Compare it to games like Megaman and you have a clear winner (being Megaman). Compare it to Ninja Gaiden and you know which wins in awesomeness (it's Ninja Gaiden). So how is NSMB such an evolution? I mean it has appeal, but is it really all that awesome? Yes multiplayer is great (NSMBW), but what of that did DKCR integrate?

I agree with you that Super Mario Bros. must get AAA treatment and release on every console. I also agree that 2D Mario is more important then 3D Mario.

The sales figures and fan reception of NSMBW proves this. I just hope if/when Nintendo releases a new 2D Mario for consoles that they truly give it AAA treatment. I personally always felt that Nintendo created NSMBW as a test, to see if people were still willing to buy a 2d console platformer. I say this because while NSMBW is a great game, it's obviously was not a AAA title. I mean let's be honest Nintendo could just release NSMBMii for the Wii-U put minimal effort into it and sell millions. I just hope Nintendo doesn't go the easy and cheap route, I really do wanna play a new AAA Super Mario Bros game.