Is it just me....

[danipepino]

Is it just me, or has Nintendo been abusing their game franchises? Ever since SSBM, the GBA and GC have consisted of mostly games starring characters from our beloved fighting game. Take a look at the number of games each Nintendo star has appeared in, in the past 4 years (plus the games we know are to arrive in the near future):

Mario- 30 games

-Super Mario Sunshine
-Mario Party 4
-Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
-Mario Party 5
-Mario Kart Double Dash
-Paper Mario Thousand Year Door
-Mario Power Tennis
-Mario Party 6
-Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
-Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
-Game & Watch Gallery 4
-Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
-Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong
-Mario Golf: Advance Tour
-Mario Pinball Land
-Mario Party Advance
-Super Mario 64 DS
-Mario Kart DS
-Mario Kart Arcade GP
-Yoshi Touch & Go
-Yoshi Topsy-Turvy
-Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
-Mario Baseball
-Super Mario Strikers
-Mario Party 7
-New Super Mario Bros.
-Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga 2
-Super Princess Peach
-Mario Tennis Advance

Wario- 5 games

-Wario World
-Warioware, inc.: Mega Microgame$
-Wario Ware, inc.: Mega Party Games
-WarioWare: Touched!
-Warioware: Twisted!

Pokemon- 13 games

-Pokemon Ruby Version
-Pokemon Sapphire Version
-Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
-Pokémon: FireRed Version
-Pokémon: LeafGreen Version
-Pokémon: Emerald Version
-Pokemon Channel
-Pokemon Box
-Pokemon Colosseum
-Pokemon Dash
-Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
-Pokémon: Diamond Version
-Pokémon: Pearl Version

Starfox- 2 games

-Starfox adventures
-Starfox Assault

Legend of Zelda- 6 games

-The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker
-The Legend of Zelda Link to the Past/Four Swords
-The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventure
-The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap
-The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
-The Legend of Zelda Four Swords DS

Metroid- 8 games (And only three were made before Fusion and Prime, and that was a period of 7 years)

-Metroid Fusion
-Metroid Prime
-Metroid Zero Mission
-Metroid Prime Echoes
-Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
-Metroid Prime Pinball
-Metroid Dread
-Metroid Prime 3

F-Zero- 3 games

-F-Zero GX
-F-Zero AX
-F-Zero GP Legend

Donkey Kong- 8 games

- Donkey Kong Country
- Donkey Kong Country 2
- Donkey Kong Country 3
- Mario V.S. Donkey Kong
-Donkey Konga
-Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
-Donkey Kong King of Swing
-Donkey Konga 2

Kirby- 5 games

-Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland
-Kirby Air Ride
-Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
-Kirby: Cursed Canvas
-Kirby GC

Fire Emblem- 3 games

-Fire Emblem
-Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stone
-Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

These characters ARE Nintendo's favorite sons. But I fear that at this pace, especially the pace Metroid and Mario (spinoffs) games are going at, they will be killing each and every one of their franchises. What do you guys think? I do indeed think that Nintendo ought to work more with other games, such as Golden Sun, Punchout, Startropics, and especially Kid Icarus.

[Fryguy64]

I agree to some level. Mario has been way overdone lately, and Metroid sequels have been coming thicker and faster than Zelda and Pokemon (like they're making up for lost time, or something).

Nintendo should work with a number of its underused franchises because they are still fondly remembered. Punch-Out!!, Golden Sun, Kid Icarus and Earthbound would all sell well.

Star Tropics and others like it would be good, but they would require a masterful touch to bring them into the modern generation. Not only recreating the feel of the original games, but actually making them desirable on their own count - remember the consternation about bringing Metroid into 3D?

One thing Nintendo really lacks is a growing portfolio of franchises it can draw upon. If anything their portfolio is shrinking as more and more are left behind while new ones are sucked into becoming Mario games. And Mario's name is no longer a much-desired thing: he appears in many more "niche" titles than actual platform and adventure games.

Nintendo hasn't filled the gap left by Rare, which is why the X-Box has taken control this time around. The X-Box has the exclusive adventure and FPS games, which are always big sellers.

Nintendo's software lineup needs variation... not just in new ways to play, but new ways to play existing genres. Reviving a classic franchise is one way to do it - the big development studios try things that, while not new, are new to them, while also drawing on their past franchises for inspiration. Sega, Konami, Capcom, Namco... they all do this. Nintendo is not - it is drawing from an ever-decreasing list of current franchises... decreasing because there's only so much a franchise can be played in five years before it becomes tiresome.

I wish Nintendo would revive the Mario series. It has grown stagnant with sub-par spinoffs, and an almost total lack of new platformers. Zelda is stable. Metroid is overkill (making up for lost time, I suppose). StarFox needs to return to his roots. Donkey Kong is doing fine - but a new DKC game would go down a treat. Pokemon is just about getting it right. Everything else is underused or forgotten.

So, in conclusion, yes, I do think they should stop whoring Mario and get him back to work. I do think Nintendo should call upon their classic franchises to add a bit of variation to the Nintendo boxart lining the shelves. I also think they should make more effort in producing more new franchises in-house. Pikmin is not enough for a whole console generation. I want to see some lovely adventure titles without "Zelda" on the box. I want to see some sporting titles without a fat plumber trying to sell it to me. And I want to see established genres being exploited a lot more than they have been.

[missingno.is back?]

30 Mario games...

...wow... just wow...

Kinda overdoing it, don't you think?

[nocturnal YL]

I only agree with Metroid and FE being abused.

Mario games are always produced like this way;
Wario isn't in SSBM and WarioWare has little linkage to Wario Land games;
Pokemon, StarFox and Zelda are not to be abused;
DK has no new platformer games;
F-Zero is a bit abused, but it's not a serious case;
only a few Kirby games are made and I want even more!



For Fire Emblem, thanks to SSBM now the West knows about this game. Hope Intellegent Systems can do better!

Why doesn't Nintendo continue producing some really good things like Ice Climbers, Kid Icarus, Sutte Hakkun (Come on! Do love it! Its music along is good enough for you to buy it!), Wrecking Crew, Yoshi's Cookie (just NPC is not enough), Panepon (same as Yoshi's Cookie), Mario & Yoshi (Hey! It IS a good game!) and more like that!?

That's why I want to see more characters for the new SSB. More old game characters. Well~ Maybe adding Hakkun in?



Okay, let's get back to the topic. I've been talking too much.

I would like to say that Mother series did not have any new games at all. SSBM isn't THAT powerful to change the whole direction of NTD!

(My PC has been turned on for disk maintainance (one of my hard drives got its MFT corrupted) for 30 hours already and I must shut it down. goodbye.)

[Smashchu]

The only neglected one I say is Golden Sun. One of the best RPGs of all time.

And dose it really matter, all those games are good thse are also the game fans want. If the new SSB introduces those franchices then gamers will want them