Today I awoke to truly awful news. This is the type of news that can send a person into a daze for hours. It’s the type of news that makes one stop and contemplate about something that was once beautiful, but is now tainted forever. I’m talking about the announcement of Mario and Sonic: At the Olympic Games. When I first saw this, the first thing that came to mind was how can Shigeru Miyamoto of all people, let this happen? I can think of one reason, and that’s to cash in on some serious bank. However, I feel like this game could end up a disaster on any piece of land outside Japan.
There’s nothing wrong at all with exploring different ways to implement characters in games. For one, Super Smash Bros. is a great game. There’s nothing wrong with that game because its fun and the game play works. However, what I’m most distraught about are the many iterations of the Mario Party franchise. It’s true, while the game had a hay-day on the Nintendo 64, and that is where it should have ended. The party game genre has been beaten nearly to death, and while they are fun games for the moment, the novelty of it all quickly wears off.
Party games should never go past the first game produced. Great examples of this type of failure are: Mario Party, Super Monkey Ball and Fusion Frenzy. I’ve already touched on Mario Party, Super Monkey Ball loses its charm after a few weeks of playing it, and fusion frenzy was a game that maybe was deserving of being part of the X Box Live Arcade; it is nothing more than that. I fell in love with Super Monkey Ball on the GCN, however, as I played the most recent version, Banana Blitz on the Wii, I felt somewhat cheated out of the 30 minutes that I played that game. Most of the games did not control well at all and maybe 5 out of 50 mini-games are actually worth playing.
Enter, Rayman Raving Rabbids. Ubisoft hit a home run with this game for two reasons. One, the design of the rabbits is pure genius. They have a certain demented charm about them that makes them so stupid, they’re absolutely loveable. A person who does not find them funny in the least bit has a heart made of iron and pumps cyanide into their veins. Secondly, the mini games are fun and while there’s not a whole lot to say about variety, the rabbits and the challenge factor easily make up for that short coming. Ubisoft can do two things from here on out. Make another party game and destroy Rayman forever, or go back to the platforming roots and innovate from there.
Nintendo and SEGA are making grave mistakes with making At the Olympics. There is nothing loveable about Mario or Sonic, and that’s a fact. They’ve overstayed their welcome and the only thing that allows them to pump money into their respective companies is the fact that Nintendo and SEGA fan boys orgasm every time a new game comes out that features them.
Me, I am absolutely indifferent about “Brand Mascots” such as Mario, Sonic, Kratos, Sam Fisher, Solid Snake, and Master Chief. I do not buy any obscure game that comes out brandishing their names on the front. Could you imagine seeing them all together on a party game? Just imagine, Super Bloody Spec Ops Deluxe! (Spare me… Ughh) Halo 3 hasn’t proven itself yet, I’ve seen no game play past anything on the alpha-build, and the multiplayer will stay relatively the same sans the minor tweaks and features. Will I buy it? My answer is probably, but will I buy the Halo Wars spin off? My answer is no way on God’s green planet will I even consider plopping down sixty dollars for that. Metal Gear Solid 4 looks great, but once Solid Snake dies, I’m probably going to refrain from buying any more re-iterations of the Metal Gear franchise.
What I’m trying to get at is that I’m tired of seeing franchises get milked for cash in the most disdainful way possible. Mario is dead, Sonic is dead, Snake is going to die, and Sam Fisher is going to retire. Let’s just let them be.
R.I.P.
Creative Development
“We Hardly Knew Ye”
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