What If Nintendo Had Followed Sega's Direction During The 2000s?

[Barby Koala]

As we all know, Mario was pretty much at the top of his game (no pun intended) during the mid-to-late 2000s with smash hit games such as the first two New Super Mario Bros. Games, the first Super Mario Galaxy game, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story et cetera, while Sonic was having his hits and misses with gimmicky story-oriented games like Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight and so on. But what if Nintendo decided to follow what Sega was doing with Sonic during the back half of the 2000s by having Mario starring in the same gimmicky story-oriented games that Sonic also starred in?

Would we then perhaps have seen an Arabian Nights-styled Mario game where he, Luigi, Peach and Toad team up with their Arabian family counterparts from Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic? And if so, would it have been called Super Mario Sandcombers to go along with the Arabian theme? Subsequently, what improvements would it make in both story and gameplay where Sonic and the Secret Rings went wrong?

Or would we then perhaps have seen a Luigi's Mansion game inspired by Sonic Unleashed where Luigi was cursed by King Boo where he would turn into a werewolf when exposed to moonlight if he happened to pass through moonlit areas in the mansion (or mansions, plural, if there were multiple mansions in the game) where the game takes place? If so, how would the werewolf element play into the usual ghostbusting element of the Luigi's Mansion series? And would the game be called Luigi's Mansion: The Lycan Curse if it had actually been conceived?

Finally, would we then perhaps have seen a Wario game inspired by Sonic and the Black Knight where Wario would be transported to a medieval setting during a routine treasure hunt gone awry, take up a sword and other medieval weaponry whilst fighting against knights, dragons, and other medieval uglies while he tries to a find a way home? Would it have been called Wario Warrior as a clever nod to Dragon Quest's original English name, Dragon Warrior? Subsequently, what improvements would the game make in the story and gameplay where Sonic and the Black Knight went wrong?

 

[Knuckles The Echidna]

Sega is a good video game company too and Sonic is overall a good and classic franchise but I think if Nintendo had followed Sega's direction toward the 2000s it would have been all over the place, with some things being good and others being complete disasters, like what happened with Sonic during those years. Personally though, despite all the mistakes Sega has made with the Sonic franchise at times, I think it's still a good franchise, and even the stuff that wasn't so good with Sonic I enjoy. But yeah. If Nintendo followed Sega's direction during the 2000s, it would have been somewhat chaotic.

 

[Tepig]

If Nintendo had gone the SEGA route, they would also step down from being First-Party developers. What would've happened if Sonic became more popular than Mario and Nintendo didn't make any new consoles?

 

[Knuckles The Echidna]

@Tepig I personally don't think such a thing is possible because Sonic has always been less popular than Mario partly (or maybe largely) because Mario was on the scene way earlier, with Mario coming out in the early 80s and Sonic not coming out until 1991.

 

[Mcmadness]

I mean the problem wasn't that Sonic was doing gimmicky things. The problem was that the games just weren't very good or fun to play.

 

[Knuckles The Echidna]

I mean the problem wasn't that Sonic was doing gimmicky things. The problem was that the games just weren't very good or fun to play.

I think Sonic '06 is probably the most infamous one from that time period. Objectively it's probably the worst Sonic game ever made. But at least it's fun to watch complete playthroughs of it and laugh at all the glitchy gameplay.