It doesn't need to be elaborate, Rol, it just needst to be different. It seems like the japanese like holding to their tradition, and that's not a really good thing honestly, it makes the experience quite stale. Also, you get the sense that due to its commercial success, NSMB has become some kind of sacred cow. But that goes against the very nature of the artform, to limit creativity for the love of money.

Another thing is that, if it were all about prizes that were given in some kind of snobbist isolated community that just snuffs at Nintendo, I'd understand your point. But the problem in this case is that the games that are getting the prizes actually deserve it, and Nintendo is doing little to compete, bar very rare exceptions.

I guess you are an adult now or you just had enough of Mario, tons of people say the same about Pokemon the anime and games. But you see i'm glad they're still there, they are giving the youngsters of this generation a good time like with me when i was a kid up late at night playing games watching cartoons so yea, when these youngsters grow up they gonna complain just like us now.

SMH...

@ HD, as people have already said, you've just  grown up. You can't expect the game to make you feel the same way you did when you were young. Kids/people nowadays who play Mario for the  first time feel the same way, nothing has really changed.

As for the whole story thing, what were you expecting exactly? For 2D Mario to have some ever-evolving story as the years go on? That was never gonna happen and I think it's for the better. I like that they keep it simple and subtle.

Finally, the whole industry not praising Nintendo and giving them awards thing...who gives a shit? Last thing I want is Nintendo conforming to the ideals of the shitty  industry media just so they can get their praise. If that stuff is so important to you, then just play whatever games the gaming media are raving about.

This has got to be a contender for laughable topic of the year any person with half a brain can see the 2d platformers were mainly gameplay based. Comparing 20 years ago to today is bloody hilarious and Veknoid Outcast pretty much put the topic to rest, seriously we get that you don't like 2d Mario but this topic alone warrants you take a Breathalyzer test.

Okay, I get the whole "we've grown up" thing, and I know I'm more cynical, that's for sure. But the players of the industry have brought things that are of value, and some that aren't. Those that are of value need to be considered.

Another things is that Mario was a hit to both teens and kids back then, and something I argued a while back is that games don't need to be violent to appeal to teens, they can just be a bit more relevant, just a bit. The themes don't need to be ultra cheesy and there's a way to pick your sounds and colors to stay relevant to both segments and touch the hearts of people of all ages. I believe Mario in its original form had that ability, I don't think so today. The gameplay is great, undeniable, but the ability to connect with the player just isn't there anymore, the way the game was made doesn't make that happen. I mean it does happen of course to an extent, but the effort wasn't put in that regards. But the money is there.

Look at Fire Emblem, that's a game that has more compelling colors and music, as well as cutscenes. Nevermind the story, if they could afford that on a game that will make much lesser sales, why not do it on NSMB, Nintendo's current flagship, and stay true to the roots of Mario while doing so? 

I think what you wanted to say is that every game needs a good setting to be engaging. I can agree with that.

It would need to be different to keep the experience refreshing from a content point of view (not gameplay point of view). It is fun for the experience to explore places and see things you haven't seen or thought of before.

For example, Mario would start off in a level in an island, with one single level. After he finishes the level he can go back to the level and it turns into something else, a whole new level. It's interesting because we've never really done that before. After revisiting the level a few times, he ends up in a warp-pipe that leads him to a new world. From there, he can either visit regular mario levels, or he could run into a level where he finds a flying carpet which would lead him to a world above the previous world. That kind of imagination was in SMB3, where level 5 was actually 2 worlds in 1. Where is that in NSMB? As he goes through the levels, he runs into one of the koopas, but the koopa is much older. It's now the story of how that koopa survived and what happened to all the others, they show some kind of flashback to what happened, maybe you even get to play one of the flashbacks?

I mean, I don't even work for them and I have these ideas. If they have the money they should make this kind of thing happen. I understand that the deadlines were short and that they need to priorities their resources, ok. But this isn't something Nintendo fans should just say "Oh, that's what we wanted anyways", but rather "Ah, they didn't have time to do a proper job, so ok next one will do the series justice". I read none of that here, except occasionally from you, when you want to.

Speaking of prizes and nominations; I'm pretty sure NSMBU took the top spot when it came to nominated Nintendo games 2012, which is a feat when you consider the amount of "Best Platformer" awards...

Thought the same thing. The new Marios dont capture the magic that the NES-N64 games had.

Same world design, no progression at all in trying to expand the lore, if you can even call it that. And personally....they have become too easy to the point that a 4 year old can amount 99+ lives in no time.

That's why I said it doesn't have to be detailed or verbose, it just has to be evocative. For example, when Mario listens to the old Koopa, they could explain why he isn't mean anymore, and why Mario doesn't remember anything of the past. Maybe he had some kind of amnesia, and there was a battle that left him with part of him memory gone. With just a hint of an idea you can tap into the imagination of the player/reader/viewer. It doesn't have to be complex, just evocative.