The Potential for Lesser-Known Playable Friendly Species

[winstein]

In the Mario series, namely the spinoffs, there are many playable characters to choose from. On the friendly side, the playable characters tend to be the unique ones like Mario or Peach, or they are famous species like Toad and Yoshi. On the villain side, they also have unique characters like Bowser. However, one big difference is that a lot of enemies got to be playable. Whether it's the famous ones like Koopa Troopa or Lakitu, or the ones that aren't as much in the spotlight like Ninji, or surprise picks like Chargin' Chuck, a great variety of them got to be playable.

The screenshot above is but a number of friendly species. Some got the occasional playable appearance, but some didn't. For example, there's Dolphin, which got one playable appearance in Dr. Mario World, or perhaps the Piantas and Nokis got to play ball in the Mario Baseball games. And then some haven't got to be playable yet, most noticeably the Penguins. Pretty much only Toad, Yoshi, and to a lesser extent Birdo got enough playable appearances to be a regular, whereas the enemy species have a much bigger variety.

I suspect that there is not as much of an appeal in playing as the friendly guys, whereas there is more to like from the enemies. After all, they have varied designs and can be cute, like the simple Boo and the jolly Koopa Troopa. But perhaps there is a downside to it: some fans criticise adding enemies as playable to pad out the roster, so what's to say that the criticism doesn't apply to the the "friendlies"?

If you could pick a friendly species to be more frequently playable, regardless of if they've had been playable before, who would you pick? We are going for the lesser-known ones here. Of course, the selection need not be limited to what I posted in the screenshot.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Hooded Pitohui]

I've long been of the opinion that it'd be fun to get some more playable appearances for Piantas and Nokis. I just want to see them more in spin-off rosters! Let me play as a Noki! (But... Sunshine designs and not the Mario Kart 8 designs, please).

Not that I'd ever expect them to be playable in a more fleshed-out game than a sports spin-off, but, as a flight of fancy, if they were in a game with more fleshed-out gameplay and mechanics... I mean, Piantas aren't hard to design something for, are they? They can take that same "slow but powerful" niche Wario did in Super Mario 64DS. You can make it so they can't jump and they're slow to move, but they easily defeat enemies, can pick up and move large objects, and maybe even have a special throwing ability based on Chucksters.

Nokis would be a little bit harder to design something for. While they could be speedsters without a lot of power, to go that route misses out on their water connection... On the other hand, their body shape doesn't really seem like it would work well for swimming-based gameplay. It feels like it'd be kind of awkward to swim around as them. So perhaps the best route to go would be to restrict them to certain special purpose undwater sections where they ride those bioluminescent jellyfish from Noki Bay's eighth episode. They could control more like a vehicle than traditional swimming controls, setting them apart while allowing for a more natural control scheme. They'd be able to stay underwater indefinitely and go deeper than other playable characters. Maybe as a reference to all the ancient wall murals of Noki Bay and the general wisdom of Nokis, they could have some kind of toggleable vision allowing them to see certain secret pathways. Maybe for an "attack" of some kind, they could use those conch shell flutes you see them with sometimes to do some kind of sonic attack under the water!

Ah, but that's enough of a flight of fancy, eh? I don't have any ideas for what they could do in a more fleshed-out game, but I would be thrilled to see Jibberjays get a playable spin-off appearance! Whittles have come back, so let the birds come back, too! Bring Fluzzard with them, even! He has such a nice design.

 

[Daniel Dyce]

You guys gonna sit here and try to tell me that Snailicorn wouldn't absolutely dominate the tennis courts?

 

[Fawfulthegreat64]

I'd like a Beanish playable, of course I'd personally go with a notable member of the species but having them at all would be dope.

 

[SparksMarioWiki]

I'd like to see the Sprixies appear in more games. Yes I know the Green Princess appeared in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash but they deserve a much better game to star in playable roles.

 

[Ray Trace]

I need to rant how they got rid of the friendly NPC species in Paper Mario Sticker Star because for some reason, it now bugs the fuck out of me.

Like, I'm not even asking for them to make up their own species, they don't need to. They got rid of friendly Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and Boos. Why? Because they're the "bad" guys. Every single one of them is bad and aligned with Bowser, they only think about Bowser or roles affiliated with Bowser and they all unceremoniously align with Bowser with anything.

This game calls itself an RPG (yes I know it's an "action adventure" but it uses tropes and elements from the first Mario RPGs and has the "Paper Mario" name so this still matters, to my next point). Yet clearly the devs couldn't be arsed to actually build a believable Mario world here. Every single one of the characters Mario can safely interact with have to be a single species, who literally all look the same save for the colors on their head. This is the equivalent of something like Tales of Symphonia or Pokemon having every single fucking NPC use the exact same fucking human model with the same outfits except their hair colors are different. I don't think that just because "it's Mario it doesn't need a diverse NPC population it should focus only on its battle system" (and that focus on Sticker Star's merits of its battle system are shaky even) gives it an excuse for shoddy worldbuilding in a genre where you're expected to interact and mingle with townies because that's part of the fun of playing RPGs! It's to talk to townies, learn about their cities' lore, listen to anything funny they have to say, etc. It's very limiting when these comments all come from the same species who would think alike because they're the same species!

I can safely ignore grand stakes stories with developed characters. The Mario games are never known for that, even in their peak era. But for god's sake, at least actually improve the fucking worldbuilding improving the town's aesthetics by having friendly species that aren't just Toads. This thread demonstrates that you can have those on top of Mario enemies being friendly characters. The Mushroom Kingdom should be known as a large, bustling and blossoming hub of cultural assimilation amongst people, and I want to see that reflected in its cities, towns, etc.

Anyway, on the subject of playable characters of that caliber. IMO, to me, those species aren't hugely important to be playable for me in Mario sports and kart games with rosters unless your Mario spin-off is specifically reliant on teambuilding such as the Mario Baseball games, because the strengths of such no-name generic friendly characters aren't because they make as interesting playable characters (at least in my opinion anyway). I think the named individuals (Pauline, Poochy, etc) should be prioritized as playable over the likes of these species.

 

[Mcmadness]

I don't mind some visual variety for NPCs but I'd be lying if I said I cared all that much since I barely interact with them.

 

[Dorayaki]

Well Mario Party pretty much clarified that Nintendo wanted the direction to be Mario vs Bowser minions, which isn't a proper dedication to the actual Mario world settings. Yes we get that Bowser's minions have bigger presence in general SMB world. Still since the friendly species also play important roles in major 3D platfromers / adventure games, I do think they should still have some playable appearances for both diversity and advertising.

I need to rant how they got rid of the friendly NPC species in Paper Mario Sticker Star because for some reason, it now bugs the fuck out of me.

Like, I'm not even asking for them to make up their own species, they don't need to. They got rid of friendly Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and Boos. Why? Because they're the "bad" guys. Every single one of them is bad and aligned with Bowser, they only think about Bowser or roles affiliated with Bowser and they all unceremoniously align with Bowser with anything.

Yeah I pointed that out in a past post. I understand why they avoid to have goombas and koopas appear in normal towns (altho, the TTYD remake kinda makes their policy confusing). but as TC said they really should also add other friendly species to make the diversity better.