Favorite Mario game?
Favorite platforming title: Super Mario Sunshine (almost tied with Galaxy)
Favorite spin-off title: Mario Kart Wii (tied with Double Dash, but I have fondest memories of MKWii)
Other favorites of mine: New Super Mario Bros., Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and pretty much all Mario RPGs I've played.
I do agree that Nintendo is milking Mario a lot recently... Sad, as I don't want to see the series go down the same path as other franchises that commit the same mistake of releasing too many titles per time period. New Super Mario Bros. 2 was an utter disappointment.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was good and introduced something never seen before in 2D Mario platformers. Also had good challenges, but one sticks out more than the others: World 9-7.
I think that, after NSMBU, they should end the New Super Mario Bros. series and take the series in a new direction.
But what I really wouldn't mind was that Nintendo would stop making Mario games for a while and resurrect some of their dormant series like F-Zero, Star Fox or even Mystery of Murasame Castle. A new, well-thought Metroid wouldn't hurt either, especially after the Other M fiasco.
I'm not saying Mario is bad, but everything in excess is bad. It spoils the series and that's not good. Steady release dates between major titles keeps the games fresh and that's why Smash is still hyped whenever a new title is released.
If some of the resources spent in Mario games had been spent in developing new IPs or titles from other, but especially long dormant, franchises, we would have a lot more variety to the consoles (both 3DS and Wii U). Guess we'll have to wait and see...
That's it for my mini-critique of the moment.
(I wouldn't call it a rant.)
As for why I haven't been as active as a few days ago, that can be explained in three words: Fire Emblem: Awakening. (It's not just that, but still...
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