Imagine, if you will….

L

Luciano Barone

Spiny
Banned User
Imagine, if you will, an alternate reality where only the mainline Super Mario games ever existed. These include the following:
*Donkey Kong
*Donkey Kong Jr
*Mario Bros
*Super Mario Bros 1
*Super Mario Bros; The Lost Levels
*Super Mario Bros 2
*Super Mario Bros 3
*Super Mario Land 1
*Super Mario World 1
*Super Mario Land 2; 6 Golden Coins
*Super Mario All Stars
*Super Mario World 2; Yoshi's Island
*Super Mario 64
*Super Mario RPG; The Legend of the 7 Stars
*Super Mario Advance 1
*Super Mario Advance 2
*Super Mario Sunshine
*Super Mario Advance 3
*Super Mario Advance 4
*New Super Mario Bros 1
*Super Mario Galaxy 1
*New Super Mario Bros Wii
*Super Mario Galaxy 2
*Super Mario 3D Land
*New Super Mario Bros 2
*New Super Mario Bros U
*New Super Luigi U
*Super Mario 3D World
*Super Mario Maker 1
*Super Mario Run
*Super Mario Odyssey
*New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
*Super Mario Maker 2
*Super Mario 3D All Stars
*Super Mario 3D World; Bowser's Fury
*Any/all of these game's remakes released throughout time

So, what do any of you think of that?
 
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Nope I wouldn't be in to Mario games to begin with since it was strictly spinoffs that got me playing and it was spinoffs that held my interest.
 
It's the most boring and vapid timeline considering that we lose out on the Mario's Early Years series of games.
 
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a game I've loved since I was a kid so I guess I'd still like Mario but without growing up on Bowser's Inside Story and Super Paper Mario I would be into the franchise a lot less
 
I mean, it would make a more streamlined line-up, I guess, but what makes Mario special as a franchise is its proclivity to experiment. It does this in the main games, obviously, but the side games are all about that experimentation, too. As much as people attribute experimentation to Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario tries out new gimmicks all the time, sometimes building entire games around them. The dive into the RPG genre is one such example.

I know that I wouldn't be as into Mario if it weren't for Partners in Time, nor would I have a very vivid memory of having helped my cousin play it. Super Paper Mario wouldn't have been a game I played hours on end. I wouldn't have joined that one Mario Party netplay server and realized there are people who are willing to respect your boundaries if you don't like to be teased too much in competitive play. I certainly don't think I would have gotten close to one of my best friends I talk to off and on, because we bonded over Mario roleplay, which I was specifically inspired to do because of the RPG line-up.

It's hard to imagine a timeline like that, when that experimentation was so formative to the way I view games today.
 
Also, what do you think would have happened if both Super Mario World 2; Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG; The Legend of the 7 Stars were considered mainline Mario games?
 
Isn't there arguments that Yoshi's Island is a mainline Mario game sometimes floating around?

As for Super Mario RPG, what kind of scenario would entail in that game even remotely being mainline? It's an entirely different genre from the rest of the Mario series. It's like trying to ask people, "What if Wrecking Crew was considered mainline?"
 
Luciano Barone said:
Actually, I'm not too sure too many people would really miss those games had they never came into existence.
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I'm certain a lot of people would miss having the CD Rom Collection of the Mario's Early Years titles. I know I personally would.
 
Mario Galaxy is peak and all but I'm missing out on tok so nah
 
He would no longer be the face of Nintendo if this happened.
I'd imagine most of the spinoffs would still "exist" just with a completely different setting and characters, which has potential to be innovating.
I see Nintendo as a company that likes to flaunt their experience and expertise in making non-janky, smooth running high quality kid friendly games, with or without Mario.

Now imagine an opposite reality where Nintendo's other IP's didn't exist, but instead were just more Mario games. As in the games still exist with all their mechanics, but just have Mario as their characters & setting.
So no Metroid, instead perhaps it would be Pauline. No Splatoon, instead it would be multiplayer Mario Sunshine. No Animal Crossing, instead it would be individual species of the Marioverse.
 
itsAffyCat said:
He would no longer be the face of Nintendo if this happened.
I'd imagine most of the spinoffs would still "exist" just with a completely different setting and characters, which has potential to be innovating.
I see Nintendo as a company that likes to flaunt their experience and expertise in making non-janky, smooth running high quality kid friendly games, with or without Mario.

Now imagine an opposite reality where Nintendo's other IP's didn't exist, but instead were just more Mario games. As in the games still exist with all their mechanics, but just have Mario as their characters & setting.
So no Metroid, instead perhaps it would be Pauline. No Splatoon, instead it would be multiplayer Mario Sunshine. No Animal Crossing, instead it would be individual species of the Marioverse.
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Oh, okay.
 
Kimberly Hart said:
Actually you're wrong because those are the peak of the Mario franchise.

All been downhill since then.
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Well, have you seen many of the reviews of those games? They aren't very positive. The Mario Early Games series is often considered to be among the weaker points in the Mario franchise.
 
i mean the critics didn't like the mario movie either so we can say that they're not very cultured people
 
Ray Trace said:
i mean the critics didn't like the mario movie either so we can say that they're not very cultured people
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To be fair the Mario Movie could have done more with certain plots
 
i also think that's a criticism for mario's early years fun with numbers.
 
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