A tidal wave of releases comes at a light time in my wallet with no reviews on my immediate slate, so I'm actually forced to slaver in longing while waiting for my paycheck. How unfair -- am I not a TASTEMAKER ON THE INTERNET? Feh, anyway, one of the titles on the must-have list is Super Mario Galaxy, and not just because everyone says it's real, real good. I mean, it's the first true next-gen Mario -- isn't that reason enough?And here I've been, huffing and eye-rolling about the Wii. I've really found it a chore lately, inexplicably; sitting down to play it feels like I've got to strap in for plenty of squinting, pointing and flailing, and I just tend not to look forward to it. Moreover, just a few weeks ago I could be heard to verbalize, "I'm sick of Mario. There hasn't been a good Mario since the SNES."
And yet, as some of my colleagues have been telling me about their advance peek at our seminal plumber, I find myself becoming oddly thrilled. I found myself listening to the Minibosses' Super Mario 2 medley, and really, really looking forward to Galaxy. It's a cultural entity, it's a phenomenon, and as I'm a gamer I just can't help it.
Nostalgia might be the most effective explanation for why I've suddenly begun to want something I just got done complaining I'm sick of hearing about, and cultural conditioning might be another. A buddy of mine recently wrote a piece at The Escapist about how Mario might not make it as a marketable character today. I'm not too sure I agree, given the recent success of odder mascots, and with the dearth of actually decent Wii titles, wouldn't just about everybody buy something that was rated solidly enjoyable, mushrooms, stars and toilet pipes aside?
I theorize that my Mario distaste is born from legions and legions of Mario games that are simply the character tossed into any ol' context. What if Mario Strikers: Charged had been entirely original characters-- same vague personality, same branded thematics, except with stuff we'd never seen before? No one would have bought that piece of junk, I'll tell you now. I won't go so far as to say Mario has been exploited, because I think all the titles in which he makes an appearance are done after the classic Nintendo vibe, even as that vibe has evolved with the changing ages (evolving their identity seamlessly over time is one of Nintendo's most remarkable achievements). But after a point, Mario-everything gets real annoying to me, especially when we're talking about a console with which I'm personally becoming just a touch frustrated.
Nonetheless, the classic Mario action game is still legendary -- maybe I'm more excited for Galaxy because I've had to wade through so much forgettable crap, it seems, to get to this, the next "true" Mario game.
How do you feel about the Mario franchise? Are you excited for Galaxy, or are you sick of all things Mushroom Kingdom? Will gaming ever get a new mascot, or is his status as a Princess-saving icon completely undisruptable at this point?
[Super Mario Cookie nicked from Technabob.]
