No worries my good sir, it made for a good laugh. Plus, it was an enjoyable read... so keep up the good posting. ^_^

On your three points: maybe. But I think the decision if something seems kiddy to you or not is more subjective.

And you miss my point on the petite prince: it has no soundtrack, but graphics. But the point I made was about surface and content and about personal opinion. On the surface the prince has cute images and simple writing style seemingly targeted at children. Actually the author makes some fuss about targeting at children in his dedication. But under that surface the prince contains deep themes. So I think it is very strongly a personal opinion, if you think the prince is for children or adults (or everyone). That can be point of long discussions, as people may disagree from their personal point of view.

All you describe as childish about Mario are such surface things. For the little prince that were writing style and the lovely images the author painted. For Mario it's music, graphics and the lack of proper story. Yeah, I understand why this thread is so long, because Mario contains indications in either direction, so everyone can maintain an own personal opinionion about the childishness of the game.

And I wouldn't want him to have a stuffy voice either.

What I've gathered (between your music and voice-acting acting issues with Mario) is that you want it to be darker. Is that correct? Because that's what I'm seeing from the examples.

Interesting. Not quite what I'm looking for, much more in the right direction:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=146636

Focus on the colors, and the emotions. Yet this is suitable for children, as most of Studio Ghibli's work.

That's also a totally different type of game. (Though, I do like it and would buy it if it came to the Wii U or something.)

I agree, and I honestly wasn't squabbling. I just wanted to give an example of something that showed the direction I disagreed with, whether that painted a good picture of the overall direction wasn't really my intent or interest, it could be just an aspect of the new direction and not the direction as a whole.

Yes, as a matter of fact you're right, my struggle is less with the 3D implementation of Mario than with the 2D one. In fact, I think SMG really did a phenomenal job in the artistic direction for many areas and aspects of the game. To me, it really is those few yet present experiences that alienate me. For instance, the hub in galaxy has a beautiful tune, but it is much too lullaby-esque. And yes, @JWein, I understand why, but it doesn't excuse the fact that it's alienating for many of us. Complement that with lumina sounds and it is really overbearing for some of us adults. Yes Phil Collins used some endearing words in his Tarzan song "You'll be in my heart", but who can't relate to the feeling of the consolation of a mother, no matter the age?

To follow your thoughts, I think the 2D version did a good job at keeping a balance, the colors were overall in line with most Mario games that far, and the music though of lesser quality was fun. However I didn't expect all 2D Marios to continue in the lesser music quality, this is one of the highest selling games Nintendo's ever made.

I remember the underwater music in Super Mario Sunshine, and I remember thinking "I'm glad Nintendo did it again", and just feeling happy that they were able to make that very close to as good as Dire Dire Docs. I was pleased. Even if it wasn't as good, at least they tried and it was darn good.

Ah, yes, I can see how there might be some aspects of the presentation that don't quite click. I had a similar problem with Pokemon Black in which, while having the best story in the series, the writing felt too simple and lacking in sublety for me (maybe I'm looking for the word "kiddy"). It rubbed me the wrong way, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the game and appreciating its direction. On the contrary, I like Pokemon Conquest's writing very much, despite having a much shallower plot, thanks to an abundance of humorous characters and dialogue that seemed more natural to me. I'm sure someone else who is my age and played both games sees it differently, but that won't stop me from mentioning that it bothered me.

In my experience, the Mario RPGs usually hit the nail on the head in terms of balanced appeal, combining great humor, memorable characters, and unique world design to create something truly memorable. I think the platformers could learn a thing or two about storytelling from their cousins... but Miyamoto seems to hate narratives that can't be summed up in five words or less.