In the spirit of the new approach we’re taking here at Kombo (to say nothing of a moderately slow day), I figured I’d take a little me-time to air a grievance I’ve got going here.
Now, maybe the title is a tad misleading. I mean, given that this is the same company whose American branch has practically proven that they hate Earthbound with every fiber of their being, it’s kind of tough to say that they’re ignoring Super Mario Galaxy, one of their biggest and more recent releases. But at the same time… well, let’s dig a little further as I explain.
I haven’t exactly kept close tabs on Mario Kart Wii– at least, not the tracks, as I like to see them for myself the first time I drive through them. I have a rough idea of what’s there, that’s about it. So reading through this article which details four tracks the writer would like to see in Mario Kart Wii, it dawned on me further that Nintendo does seem to be losing a little bit of touch with what made Mario Kart so great.
Not that I’m not looking forward to it, quite the opposite: The buzz surrounding this one has me looking forward to it more than any other since Mario Kart 64, truth be told. But I agree that while stages like Coconut Mall and Wario’s Goldmine look like fun trips I’ll play over and over, I do wish there were more distinct courses that you could easily look at and, without a doubt in your mind, say “that’s Mario.”
Super Smash Bros. Brawl has the problem less so, but with the amount of time it spent in development, alongside and after Super Mario Galaxy, I found myself quite disappointed with the lack of anything related to the game within. In either title, the observatory (seen above) would have been a most welcome addition. In the case of Brawl, it could even have acted like Sunshine’s stage, taking you from the observatory to other galaxy settings from the game.
I don’t really hate Sunshine, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I had wanted to, and enjoyed Galaxy that much more (I admit to preferring night skies to bright and sunny). Yet, despite being considered a bit of a stumble by Nintendo (it’s not really bad or anything, it’s simply more “you like it or you don’t” than most Mario titles), it seems to get attention lavished upon it time and again in these types of situations.
Given the original release date for Brawl, and its still-close proximity to Galaxy’s release, I guess I can understand not including stages for it. Maybe Nintendo’s teams don’t talk to each other much while working, I don’t know. Mario Kart Wii, a bit further down the road, is still a tad bewildering as well. But, ok, at least it’s made some concessions (such as in the Rainbow Road), just not as extravagantly as others we’ve seen.
I think what bugs me most of all, though, is what happened to Mario himself in Brawl. Mario is my main character, always has been. But unfortunately, for Brawl they chose to remove the Mario Tornado and replace it with FLUDD from Sunshine, a hard move to properly set up and utilize with any degree of consistency. The change has effectively nerfed the character for me.
What I would much rather have seen is for Mario to keep the Mario Tornado, but for them to kind of refashion it to match the move he performs in Galaxy, stars and all. If FLUDD absolutely had to be in there, I would much rather it had been an item one could pick up.
And yet, Luigi remains unchanged. This is ironic, as he not only got to keep his tornado, but it seems even more potent than before. But moreso, it would seem Luigi is the one who needs to be diversified from Mario, and the easy way would seem to be to implement the device associated with him in Mario Karts and other games ever since Luigi’s Mansion, the Poltergust 3000. Yet there’s no sign of it in the game but for a trophy, while even the titular mansion has presence as a stage.
Somehow, it just seems like it would have been a better move had Nintendo managed to form a closer association between Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, perhaps letting them feed off of one-another a little more. Hopefully, Nintendo will at least remember the game a little more the next time they release one of these other offshoots, as well as some others.
