Unpopular opinions about the Mario series

Playable Thwomp when?
 
Now imagine a Mario Kart game with a roster like this one.

It’s ok to cry... I would cry tears of joy myself.
 
I have a few unpopular opinions.

- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is overrated. Sure it's a great extension of Mario Kart 8, but still.

- Mario > Luigi.

- To be honest, I didn't enjoy Super Mario Odyssey. Collecting Power Moons gets frustrating and repetitive, what Peach did at the end was uncalled for, the balloons in Luigi's Balloon World get frustrating to try and pop, and Pauline's song gets annoying after a while.
 
ArthurEngine said:
the balloons in Luigi's Balloon World get frustrating to try and pop
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I wouldn't consider that a fault of the game, but rather the community's fault for putting the balloons where they are.
 
ArthurEngine said:
I have a few unpopular opinions.

- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is overrated. Sure it's a great extension of Mario Kart 8, but still.
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I do agree with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being overrated. It's lacking item spy, and a superior Battle Mode doesn't change the fact that all the GP cups are already present in the original Wii U game. And of course, the original Mario Kart 8 doesn't have the Boo item, so you don't have to worry about your items getting stolen.

Of course, the biggest offense that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has is its awful stat balancing for the characters and vehicle parts, as a lot of parts become practically unusable now. Compare that to Mario Kart 8, where the Metal and Gold Tires actually have some viability.
 
I feel like I may have said some of these before but whatever:
- 3D Land is better than 3D World. In fact, 3D World is my least favorite 3D Mario platformer.
- Super Circuit is better than Super Mario Kart. I'm not sure why people think this is not the case when SC is basically like SMK except better in virtually every way. I bet SMK is often considered better in rankings solely because it's the first Mario Kart.
- Mario Party 8 is not so bad.
- Gusty Garden Galaxy is not the best track in Super Mario Galaxy. (It's Buoy Base Galaxy)
- The Luncheon Kingdom is a one of the better kingdoms in Super Mario Odyssey. I'm not sure how unpopular this is, but I've seen a good number of people who were disappointed in the Luncheon Kingdom.
- Super Paper Mario isn't terrible or a masterpiece. It's somewhere in between. It did some things that were really great, but at the same time it had a lot of very annoying or disappointing things. It seems like people either love or hate this game, but I have a moderate opinion of it, which is in fact an unpopular opinion.
 
Plague Knight said:
- Super Circuit is better than Super Mario Kart. I'm not sure why people think this is not the case when SC is basically like SMK except better in virtually every way. I bet SMK is often considered better in rankings solely because it's the first Mario Kart.
- Mario Party 8 is not so bad.
- Gusty Garden Galaxy is not the best track in Super Mario Galaxy. (It's Buoy Base Galaxy)
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I agree with these ones.
 
MnSG said:
I do agree with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe being overrated. It's lacking item spy [...]

Of course, the biggest offense that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has is its awful stat balancing for the characters and vehicle parts, as a lot of parts become practically unusable now. Compare that to Mario Kart 8, where the Metal and Gold Tires actually have some viability.
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Oh no! Not item spy! What can a nonGamepad player like me can do without item spy from the Gamepad player?

And what can we do with stat balancing that has practically nonexistent impact with all the items flying around

At least the Wiggler ATV now matters, but if we can get the godawful ugly roller tires to have them control as if someone wore ALL the rubber off the tires, would be perfect

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still overpriced though.

ArthurEngine said:
Collecting Power Moons gets frustrating and repetitive, what Peach did at the end was uncalled for, the balloons in Luigi's Balloon World get frustrating to try and pop, and Pauline's song gets annoying after a while.
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The parts of the post I disagree with. Never got bored and frustrated with Power Moons (lost a little interest in the post-story though, but that's well after I collected nearly every single Power Moon before seeing the credits.)

Mario and Bowser were idiots (it's literally marriage; the last thing you want to do after a you go through all sorts of explosions is also now accept a marriage proposal RIGHT AFTER it), and I don't think the cutscene was intended to be taken seriously.

Luigi's Balloon World, it's fine that it's free, and Luigi's there and that's great. It's just the mode itself is pretty throwaway.

Oh, my unpopular opinion: the anime song at the end of the game, it's catchy, but I can't say it's anything more than a bland tune. I wish the singer and instrumentation had more personality into it. It needs to be more over-the-top.
 
Plague Knight said:
- Mario Party 8 is not so bad.
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I know that this is the third most critisized Mario Party (after Advance and Top 100), but in my opinion, Mario Party 8 is by far the best Mario Party ever.

In saying that, another unpopular opinion: Mario Party 9 is by far the worst Mario Party ever.

Those are in complete and utter conflict with every critic out there. But one more thing: MP10 is better than MP9, even though both are inferior to MP8.

And people seem to hate Island Tour. I don’t know why; Island Tour was glorious and is my second favorite Mario Party.

And another unrelated opinion that will shock everyone: The 3DS is the best console ever made, and the Switch stinks. I have many reasons for saying that, you know...
 
LeftyGreenMario said:
Oh no! Not item spy! What can a nonGamepad player like me can do without item spy from the Gamepad player?
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Just because you don't use a feature, it doesn't mean that the feature has to be removed for everyone. You get a GamePad with every Wii U, after all, so item spy is not deliberately making a good fraction of people technically unable to use the feature. You can put still use other controllers while looking at the GamePad and TV.

LeftyGreenMario said:
And what can we do with stat balancing that has practically nonexistent impact with all the items flying around
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Are you saying that since the driving is already irrelevant in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with respect to Mario Kart 8 due to unbalanced double items, making the stats balance even less satisfying is better?

LeftyGreenMario said:
At least the Wiggler ATV now matters, but if we can get the godawful ugly roller tires to have them control as if someone wore ALL the rubber off the tires, would be perfect
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Actually, the Wild Wiggler in Mario Kart 8 has the same stats as the Pipe Frame and the W 25 Silver Arrow, both used for Time Trials world records.
 
In couch multiplayer, item spy is an unfair advantage for Gamepad players. I don't miss it.

I don't think stat balancing is a super serious problem. While I think it's dumb that combos can outclass other combos, the stats don't matter all that much. I didn't argue that making it more unbalanced is better (strawman). I said that it doesn't subtract from the game despite being an annoyance. At the same time, IF the stats were balanced, it also doesn't add to the game either. The whole deal about stats makes the game sound deep when in practice, not really.

And as far as I know, the Wild Wiggler in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is apparently better, as I've seen people talk about its use online.
 
LeftyGreenMario said:
In couch multiplayer, item spy is an unfair advantage for Gamepad players. I don't miss it.
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This is a clearer point I can relate to, I still think item spy could be implemented in the HUD since Mario Kart: Double Dash!! showed how much space can be used cleverly without cluttering the screen.

LeftyGreenMario said:
I don't think stat balancing is a super serious problem. While I think it's dumb that combos can outclass other combos, the stats don't matter all that much. I didn't argue that making it more unbalanced is better (strawman). I said that it doesn't subtract from the game despite being an annoyance. At the same time, IF the stats were balanced, it also doesn't add to the game either. The whole deal about stats makes the game sound deep when in practice, not really.
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Sorry for the better part, that was wholly wrong and uncalled for.

Mario Kart Wii showed how this point is in theory true, but practically stats unbalancing can lead to bad side effects. We might say that this is just following the tastes of a few good players, but still, little advantages skew the tastes of a lot of players. And after all, in the longer term, it's not unreasonable to expect that even small advantages due to skills and stats should manifest themselves in slightly better results, unless the RNG or the item system have severe faults on their own.
Of course, stats balancing is a very complex and unresolved problem that ultimately shouldn't really matter to Nintendo - what matters to them is that stats can lead to noticeable differences, as the game is made for a crowd which is as big as possible to have some fun with friends, with the concept of "best build" not coming into question. Still, the reddit of Mario Kart has frequently questions about stats and builds, so I wonder if a bigger than expected fraction of that crowd is actually interested in this aspect.

The case of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as seen in the demos not yet having the stats until near release and the stats having some coding issues (21 possible values but only 20 corresponding stats groups), is not too worrying in the grand scheme of the series, as it's very likely a case of rushed development, still I hope that whatever was starting to happen in Mario Kart 8 200cc becomes the starting point rather than the pleasant exception.

LeftyGreenMario said:
And as far as I know, the Wild Wiggler in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is apparently better, as I've seen people talk about its use online.
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It's indeed considered among the best choices in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, probably even the best choice, my point was just that it was actually serviceable for competitive play in Mario Kart 8 too, it wasn't that far behind the more mainsteream Streetle/Blue Falcon.
 
Or at least they can show us a warning of dangerous items for all players. That way, Gamepad player won't be withholding Spiny Shell and Thunderbolt strikes that they will know about and prepare for compared to the other players.

Stat unbalancing leads to people to use those combos and in turn, they also *think* they'll do better. With that positive expectation, they end up doing better! Or maybe they don't think about the times they lost with those combos. Either way, I believe there's some bias going on and in turn, it's what leads to more people using one character or combo more. There may be actual slightly better results, but I don't think they really make a huge difference. Time Trials makes more sense, but GP/online races? Skill and item management go a long way, but I think luck determines results more often than you think in higher-level play. GameFAQs and reddit have lengthy discussions on "optimal" build but I'm not really interested in those things.

If Nintendo really wants people to take Mario Kart seriously with stats and all, why do they hide a fair deal of them? Why can't they also explain stuff?

I didn't know Wild Wiggler was serviceable, but anyhow, I'm a fan of that vehicle. So cute.
 
Yeah, my point is that currently at Nintendo they don't want Mario Kart to be a series purely associated with competitive play. Hidden stats, time-based item restrictions not explained anywhere, no speedometer, no detailed patch notes like with Splatoon, commercials showing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe played in various noncompetitive settings. It's a series meant for everyone, and quite honestly, the success it has tell us we can't really blame them for having this approach - though the lack of speedometer since MK: DD hurts me...
 
when will nintendo get rid of hidden stats, aka make them visible

there's nothing mysterious or special about hiding these sorts of things to people.
 
Mister Wu said:
LeftyGreenMario said:
And as far as I know, the Wild Wiggler in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is apparently better, as I've seen people talk about its use online.
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It's indeed considered among the best choices in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, probably even the best choice, my point was just that it was actually serviceable for competitive play in Mario Kart 8 too, it wasn't that far behind the more mainsteream Streetle/Blue Falcon.
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I once heard from a former Miiverse user that the Biddybuggy and Mr. Scooty have become major beasts, thanks to the way that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe modified the mini-turbo statistic. However, the Landship and Streetle both have the water speed advantage, which is something that the Biddybuggy and Mr. Scooty do not have in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
 
Oh man, I forgot about the lack of a speedometer in Mario Kart 8. There is really no way to tell how fast a fast combo really is relative to the other karts, as well as an easy way to tell HOW coins increase your speed, if at all. It's humongously irritating to have that "am I really going faster or is this all an illusion" feeling.
 
I only liked to use the Wild Wiggler with Waluigi, based on a humorous typo that happened years ago. Do you need me to explain it, or it's obvious?

Thank you for reading.
 
I wanted the Wigglers to be in Odyssey. I mean, you got Tropical Wigglers and Mechanical Wiggler! But no normal Wigglers. Capturing them could have been cool! I mean capturing a Tropical Wiggler is kinda fun!
 
Paper Mario is not deserving of the ridiculous praise it's fanbase gives it.
 
A few more unpopular opinions from me:
  • R.O.B. is one of my favourite Mario Kart characters.
  • I don’t like non-Mario characters in Mario Kart.
  • Both the Sand Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom are some of the worst kingdoms in SMO.
  • Mario Kart 8 is the worst Mario Kart game.
 
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