Although Super Mario Bros. is considered Mario's definitive platformer game, Mario first started his platforming business in the first Donkey Kong game. Between the two games, Mario's platforming properties are very different. For one, Mario cannot jump very high, nor can he fall at a great distance without dying. Players coming from Super Mario Bros. would find the differences to be disorienting due to Mario's limitations in said games.
As of now, there are only two proper follow ups to this formula: Donkey Kong GB (1994) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA). Based on the two games, we can see that they provide new directions for Mario's unique platforming style. The former game gave Mario several new moves to work around his limitations like doing handstands and performing triple jumps, along with providing various level themes with unique enemies and different puzzle pieces. The latter game adds to the puzzle element by introducing buttons of three colours that will active any object of the corresponding colour.
Here, we can see that the Donkey Kong games featuring Mario as a playable character has been mostly puzzle-focused, as opposed to the more action-focused Super Mario Bros. This is likely because Mario's movement based on the original Donkey Kong is a lot more limited, so to spice things up, a puzzle-oriented direction is chosen, which is fitting because puzzle games work best when you have limitations in play. Perhaps this is one reason the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series is very much puzzle-focused (the other reason likely being the developers finding two Mario platforming series redundant, and so recast Mario vs. Donkey Kong as something entirely different).
This brings us to the topic in question, is it possible for the Mario platformers featuring Donkey Kong as a villain to move forward? It does not have to evolve into something with more features, nor does it need to feature the Minis. It can be something with just Mario, Pauline and Donkey Kong, but in different planets or perhaps in Donkey Kong Island.
Personally, I would like to see Mario visit the locations of Donkey Kong Country, except rather than Donkey Kong being the playable one, it is Mario doing what he does in Donkey Kong and rescue Pauline, only for the Kongs and the animals to interfere him at every turn. Maybe it could be called "Mario in Donkey Kong Country". Perhaps it might be a smaller game that's sold digital-only, but they could always surprise me by making it also physical.
Thanks for reading.
As of now, there are only two proper follow ups to this formula: Donkey Kong GB (1994) and Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA). Based on the two games, we can see that they provide new directions for Mario's unique platforming style. The former game gave Mario several new moves to work around his limitations like doing handstands and performing triple jumps, along with providing various level themes with unique enemies and different puzzle pieces. The latter game adds to the puzzle element by introducing buttons of three colours that will active any object of the corresponding colour.
Here, we can see that the Donkey Kong games featuring Mario as a playable character has been mostly puzzle-focused, as opposed to the more action-focused Super Mario Bros. This is likely because Mario's movement based on the original Donkey Kong is a lot more limited, so to spice things up, a puzzle-oriented direction is chosen, which is fitting because puzzle games work best when you have limitations in play. Perhaps this is one reason the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series is very much puzzle-focused (the other reason likely being the developers finding two Mario platforming series redundant, and so recast Mario vs. Donkey Kong as something entirely different).
This brings us to the topic in question, is it possible for the Mario platformers featuring Donkey Kong as a villain to move forward? It does not have to evolve into something with more features, nor does it need to feature the Minis. It can be something with just Mario, Pauline and Donkey Kong, but in different planets or perhaps in Donkey Kong Island.
Personally, I would like to see Mario visit the locations of Donkey Kong Country, except rather than Donkey Kong being the playable one, it is Mario doing what he does in Donkey Kong and rescue Pauline, only for the Kongs and the animals to interfere him at every turn. Maybe it could be called "Mario in Donkey Kong Country". Perhaps it might be a smaller game that's sold digital-only, but they could always surprise me by making it also physical.
Thanks for reading.
