A Mario game without the other 5 main characters and Koopa Troop?

winstein

winstein

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I just have a thought: I would be interested in a Mario game that doesn't contain any of the staple Mario characters or the enemies of the Koopa Troop. On the other hand, the game also contains other Mario characters that aren't quite staples in Mario games. My point is that characters like Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are featured, while the 5 main characters the topic alludes to (Luigi, Peach, Toad, Bowser and Yoshi), plus the Koopa Troop are completely absent.

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(Left: Rayman 1's characters; Right: Rayman 2's characters. Only Rayman appears in both games)

So for context on my sentiment: the first Rayman game introduced a colourful cast of cartoon characters. However, the sequel introduced a new set of characters that are all completely different from the prequel except for the titular Rayman himself. It's pretty jarring at first to see that only Rayman gets carried over to a new whimsical (but darker) world, but I felt that I have warmed up to the new cast despite being different. The funny thing is, going forward, Rayman 2's dark whimsical setting became the standard of the series and in fact, the most recurring characters Globox and Murfy are from this game.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat is another example.

220px-Donkey_Kong_Jungle_Beat_Coverart.jpg


It's certainly not a Mario game, but what this game has is the fact that, besides the titular Donkey Kong, none of the established characters were used. That means no Diddy Kong, no Dixie Kong, no Funky Kong, and certainly no King K. Rool. Only Donkey Kong returns. The main criticism that this game had was the lack of other characters besides Donkey Kong, but it's still a Donkey Kong game because of the main star.

One could argue that the first Donkey Kong game is already like this, since it only features Mario, plus Pauline and the titular Donkey Kong. It's not quite what I meant because that game was released first, way before Super Mario Bros. set the standard of what a Mario world should be like. In fact, Super Mario Bros. is considered a drastic change in setting similar to the Rayman Game getting a change in setting.

I realise I am probably going to be alone with this because a lot of you are fans of the other main Mario characters, especially to Luigi, Yoshi and Bowser, so to realise their absence would be quite a jarring experience. Perhaps to them, it's not Mario game if there's no Luigi to do something in-game or no Yoshi to support him. However to me, I much prefer the other characters over the main characters outside of Mario himself. Moreover, a game that features Mario and the rarely-featured cast is a game that lets them shine and interact in ways that are rarely explored (for example, how often do Mario and Waluigi interact?), in the same way that the Mario RPGs have allowed Luigi, Peach and Bowser to shine in ways the main games don't allow them to. It might not please everyone, but if such a game were to exist it would certain pique my interest.

DrMario64FinalCast.png


Now yes, there is Dr. Mario, which is a Mario game where neither Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Bowser nor any of his Koopa Troop are found, and while I realise that what I wanted already exist, I am more so thinking of an adventure type of game since we got to see more locales with new characters, even featuring some rarer faces.

So, what say you?

Thank you for reading.

EDIT: Added another example (Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat)
EDIT: Added Dr. Mario, a series that has only Mario
 
just make a wario & waluigi game already
 
No thanks.
 
Baby Mario and Baby Luigi should count as not Mario and Luigi, and they should have a mystery dungeon game to themselves.
 
We need a game that stars the background hills with eyes.
 
I mean the actual background element.
 
It's called Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and Game Boy Donkey Kong.

I would've put Mario vs Donkey Kong (the first one), but there's Thwomps and Piranha Plant.

EDIT: I forgot about Piranha Plants and Bombshell Koopas in SML, and most of the Koopa Troop in SML 2.
 
Well, in Rayman, the mosquitoes do appear.

Anyhow, Rayman had more liberty to do such things because it's not established as a series yet. It's also probably how we got Super Mario Land and Super Mario Bros. 2 (arguably; that one lacked pretty much all enemies from the original Super Mario Bros.), as those were during the times when Mario was less established. You notice that even in later Rayman games, you don't see such drastic changes in the cast.

Funny fact, that raft is a spoof on that classic painting, The Raft of the Medusa, by Gericault. Mario needs to spoof some classic painting in the future, I know.
 
I think "b-list characters" is a great theme for a Waluigi game. Waluigi goes on an adventure where the NPCs, enemies and bosses are comprised of characters that don't have a notable presence or are straight up one offs. Underdog theme etc. Would be a great first step to expanding the scope of the regularly acknowledged Mario cast and fit Waluigi's own personality and history of being left out whenever it wasn't a party game, probably leading to his long awaited addition to Smash Bros.
 
So it would be a game primarily made of people from wrecking crew, Mario & Wario, Wario's woods and some other thing I'm not thinking of.
 
yes i would love to see a game star my favorite character snailicorn again
 
the problem with that is that it wouldn't be a Mario game then.

Plus if we have a game with:

a background element bootleg Peach, Daisy

a character that has never been in a main game because thats not his place, waluigi

a character that rarely appears outside of his own games, wario

and characters that are not actually Mario characters because they have their own games and solid history, DK and Diddy

then we may as well make Birdo the protagonist... and make the angry sun from the desert levels in Super Mario Bros. 3 unlockeable.

I'm sure that would be amazing.
 
A game that I have seen, and one that I wish I thought of earlier for the purpose of the example of this thread (so that more people can see it), is Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.

220px-Donkey_Kong_Jungle_Beat_Coverart.jpg


It's certainly not a Mario game, but what this game has is the fact that, besides the titular Donkey Kong, none of the established characters were used. That means no Diddy Kong, no Dixie Kong, no Funky Kong, and certainly no King K. Rool. Only Donkey Kong returns. Instead, we have new, never-before-seen characters like Dread Kong and Sumo Kong. And it's not like Rayman where the game that hosts a different setting is early in its game's lifespan, because this game is developed for GameCube, which is two platforms after SNES.

Now is this a Donkey Kong despite the lack of what made the Donkey Kong series (since Donkey Kong Country, based on this DK's design) what it is? It's still inarguably one on account of the main character being the star, even if the main criticism with this game is the lack of established characters.

Thank you for reading.
 
Yeah but then everyone just wanted the other kongs and kremlings back.
 
It's not exactly a Mario game without the titular character, just sayin'.


But going by your example of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, the idea you seem to be going for is using one familiar face as the main character and the rest of the cast being brand new. We already have games with Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Princess Peach, and even Toad (Diddy Kong too, even though his was a one-off racing game).


That leaves Daisy, Waluigi, and Professor E. Gadd. I'd say Rosalina, but she's not exactly low-tier on the popularity chart now is she? Wasn't too crazy about Peach's game, so honestly I'm not really wanting one with Daisy as the protagonist. I can't think of a standalone title for Waluigi, so just throw him in Wario Land/WarioWare, Inc. at least.


So how about an E. Gadd game that is basically an expanded and improved Super Duel Mode from Mario Party 5? .........I dunno, I just came up with that...
 
JBX9001 said:
It's not exactly a Mario game without the titular character, just sayin'.


But going by your example of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, the idea you seem to be going for is using one familiar face as the main character and the rest of the cast being brand new. We already have games with Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Princess Peach, and even Toad (Diddy Kong too, even though his was a one-off racing game).


That leaves Daisy, Waluigi, and Professor E. Gadd. I'd say Rosalina, but she's not exactly low-tier on the popularity chart now is she? Wasn't too crazy about Peach's game, so honestly I'm not really wanting one with Daisy as the protagonist. I can't think of a standalone title for Waluigi, so just throw him in Wario Land/WarioWare, Inc. at least.


So how about an E. Gadd game that is basically an expanded and improved Super Duel Mode from Mario Party 5? .........I dunno, I just came up with that...
Click to expand...
Well, this thread actually pertains to a game where Mario is still the star, but pretty much the entire cast besides him (that is to say, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Bowser, and all his underlings) is thrown out.
 
I think a game with only Mario would definitely force them to think outside their comfort zone, and hopefully at least some of these new characters would be subsequently integrated into the Mario character lineup alongside the ones that didn't appear for that one game (Mario games need to quit introducing new characters and forgetting about them after one game so often, especially when they're interesting and actually good material for roster filler at the very least). After Super Paper Mario, I think Paper Mario would be a great fit for this kind of thing, except instead of having Peach, Bowser and Luigi (and some familiar enemies) it would be just Mario (probably in a traditional RPG style of gameplay) finding himself in a new unfamiliar world.

I'd definitely miss those three, but having great characters not appearing is nothing new especially for a Fawful fan like me :P At least I can say good riddance to Toad for one game (even SPM couldn't escape having at least one)
 
JBX9001 said:
It's not exactly a Mario game without the titular character, just sayin'.


But going by your example of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, the idea you seem to be going for is using one familiar face as the main character and the rest of the cast being brand new. We already have games with Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Princess Peach, and even Toad (Diddy Kong too, even though his was a one-off racing game).
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As YFJ had mentioned, this topic is on a game that basically have Mario as the main character, while the other main 5 (Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad and Bowser) plus his Koopa Troop are absent. So you will still have a Mario game because Mario is still the star.

And regarding your examples, I am going to need to mention that Yoshi and Princess Peach doesn't completely fulfill the criteria, because for Yoshi, everyone of his games have one of the other main characters (or baby versions), especially Baby Bowser. In fact, before Yoshi's Story, Mario is starred in some form in every one of Yoshi's games. For Peach, her one and only game is basically a Mario platformer where you only control Peach, and in fact has the premise of rescuing Mario.

I will let the Luigi example technically slide only because of Dr. Luigi, which is the only Luigi game I can think of that doesn't have Mario.

Fawfulthegreat64 said:
I think a game with only Mario would definitely force them to think outside their comfort zone, and hopefully at least some of these new characters would be subsequently integrated into the Mario character lineup alongside the ones that didn't appear for that one game (Mario games need to quit introducing new characters and forgetting about them after one game so often, especially when they're interesting and actually good material for roster filler at the very least). After Super Paper Mario, I think Paper Mario would be a great fit for this kind of thing, except instead of having Peach, Bowser and Luigi (and some familiar enemies) it would be just Mario (probably in a traditional RPG style of gameplay) finding himself in a new unfamiliar world.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. Some of the Mario games provided design challenges to the developers, such as how in Mario + Rabbids, Mario is not able to jump. We got a strategy RPG game out of it, and while there are characters giving other characters a lift to reach higher places, it still doesn't feature Mario jumping in the traditional sense. So a game that forces the developers to not rely on familiar characters while using the less familiar characters (like Daisy and E. Gadd) would be a welcomed challenge,. As an example, I felt that all the Mario RPGs have already used Luigi, Peach and Bowser in extensive capacity that I would like to see more of other less-used Mario characters.

Super Mario Land 2 is a very good example, as despite using a few familiar enemies (so it's not a perfect example), the game features brand new enemies as the majority and even features a character that will eventually become a mainstay in Mario's cast (it's Wario if you don't know).

Thank you for reading.
 
While Nintendo seems to slightly changes and try to push abit more characters these days, I still think likely they would stay in their comfort zone that allows multi playable characters in Super Mario bros titles & Mario the sole player in featured 3D titles.

For story I don't think they would ever leave the Bowser troop VS Mushroom Kingdom structure in future Super Mario titles like they did in Super Mario Land. New titles like Luigi's Mansion or Captain Toad have a better chance to get rid of that structure and introduce more villains.

It's be nice to see a new Mario VS DK game with Pauline and characters from both series participate.



I think there's some possibility of featuring Daisy and re-telling the Super Mario Land story with a new landscape of Sarasaland, in comparison to how Galaxy and Odyssey worked. But of course with Peach, Luigi and Bowser present.

For Waluigi only if he can get a role similiar with Nabbit in Super Mario, or a RPG title.

Speaking of RPGs, this is rather the one that should open more possibilities for allstars participation in my opinion.
 
I prefer as many characters as possible, so this would be hard for me. However, I could see a Mario only game working, it has before.
 
Considering all the whacked out stuff Odyssey had. I don't think "going outside their comfort zone" is really an issue right now.

At least for the 3D games.
 
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