Topic: How Nintendo Should Use Their Unused Characters

One of the under-estimated affects of Super Smash Bros. is that it brings awareness to millions of people of Nintendo characters that haven't been relevant in decades.

We're always arguing that Nintendo doesn't use it's own IP to the right effect, with huge gaps between games in beloved franchises like Metroid and F-Zero and Star Fox.

So I'm just wondering, if you were in charge of your own development team, which Nintendo IP would you choose and what game would you make?

Mine would be a Wii U Ice Climbers game. Rock climbing has seen a pretty steady rise in popularity and I think you could make a really cool game about scaling huge mountains with unusual obstacles and creatures that are trying to knock you off. Of course, part of the hook with Ice Climbers is that there are two of these guys, so you'd have to coordinate their actions, either with co-op or via a traditional one player control scheme. I don't know that it would have to be a full $60 game but I think it could be a really cool eShop title.

Interesting question.

I've had quite a few ideas about this, actually. They could bring back Nazo no Murasamejo as an action-adventure game similar to Ninja Gaiden, Pro Wrestling could be an over the top wrestling game like WWE All Stars, Ice Climber could be a fun platformer, StarTropics could be similar to The Binding of Isaac, and so on. However, the two games that really stand out to me will probably be overlooked by most; Mach Rider and Sheriff.

Mach Rider's story writes itself; aliens have invaded Earth and are attempting to take over the planet. After destroying his hometown, the Mach Rider creates a custom built motorbike, and roams the country searching for survivors and trying to put an end to the invasion. Aliens wouldn't have to be limited to the Quadrunners of the original, but bike riding sections would still be a big part of the game. When you're not riding a bike, you'll be on foot, weapons in hand, killing aliens and searching for survivors to take to a safe zone. From there, survivors can help build new items, upgrade your bike, give intel on the aliens, and so on. An alien invasion game has the potential for huge boss battles and an interesting story, so that's one game I'd be interested in.

Sheriff also has the potential to be made into a retail game. In the original arcade game, bandits are threatening the town, and it's up to the Sheriff to stop them. Why not take that further? The '79 arcade game has a woman screaming "Help!" before the game starts, so what if she got kidnapped, and the Sheriff of the town and a few of his townsmen went on a journey across the country to save her, taking out groups of bandits as they went? As it's based on Western media, it could easily take inspiration from old films and be turned into a first/third person shooter, and if you're travelling as a group, it could take aspects from Ghost Recon and EarthBound and make battling as a team a huge part of the game, with intelligent tactics needed to defeat bandits. There could be horse-riding sections, firefights in trains, pretty much anything interesting from popular Western TV shows, films or games could work in a Sheriff reboot. And as it would be a shooter, team-based online multiplayer modes would be a must have. This would be my most wanted game from an old IP, as I love old Western films.

LeVideoGamer, these are all awesome ideas. The most exciting to me would be the WWE All Stars esque wrestling game.

Well, I would always have a Metroid and Starfox game in development, just like they always have a Mario and Zelda game in development. It just brings more variety into Nintendo's library.

As for the more obscure Nintendo franchises, I think some sort of "HD Classics" collection would be cool. Something along the lines of Nintendo Land, where you have different games to be able to choose from and you play as Miis. The gameplay, however, I would prefer to be very similar to the original games'.

• Balloon Fight - Up to four players can play with their Miis in a classic game of Balloon Fight with modern graphics. Also, a 1 player mode of Balloon Trip with different stages.
• Trick Shooting - Up to four players use Wii remotes to shoot balloon, plates and whatever else they throw up in the air for you. I guess it could be sort of an expanded version of the shooting game from Wii Play.
• Duck Hunt - Another shooting game with up to four players. Up to four players use the Wii remotes to shoot the ducks on screen and the player with the gamepad can control the ducks.
• Gyromite - One player with the wii remote held sideways controls the professor and another player uses the gamepad. The player with the gamepad can touch the gates to move them.
• Hogan's Alley - Another shooting game. This time you shoot criminals and avoid shooting innocent civilians.
• Ice Climber - Up to four players play as their Miis working their way up to the top of each mountain.
• Mach Rider - Up to four players racing and shooting each other.
• Urban Champion - I dare to bring this game up. Two Miis fight it out in the streets while people throw potted plants out of their windows and cops drive by.
• Wild Gunman - A game to see who has the quickest draw. You can't have the wii remote pointing at the screen before "FIRE!!" shows up or else you're disqualified.
• Wrecking Crew - Up to four Miis just try to demolish everything in each stage while avoiding the enemies.

What about a fps/endless runner where you chase the smarmy dog from duckhunt and attempt to blow it's smug ears off it's head while it continues to mock you.

That or Gumshoe. The idea of shooting bullets for the character to climb like a staircase is such an underused mechanic these days.

Star Fox and F-Zero are not difficult to update at all, you just need new enemies/tracks/cars/vehicles/stages and keep the same core gameplay.
It really irritates me that Nintendo choose not to do this. They say they only make new games in a series when they get new ideas, yet games like New Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing and Donkey Kong Country continue to be made with no real changes to the gameplay.
I think really it comes down to what they can sell in big numbers.

There is so much untapped potential I don't know where to start...
Dude Sean's idea about HD remakes is sound. Just make a 4 player Balloon fight and I'm sold.

I swear, the Wii was just begging for a Starfox game. Nintendo wants something new? How about using the Wii remote and Nunchuk to control the arwing? Is that not new enough? I mean, yeah, they'd have to come up with a new story, new levels, etc. But that's their job, man!
_{(Side note: I'm not yelling at anyone here, I'm just excited.)}

I'm sure they could come up with a way to make a new F-Zero, too, but I'm not that much of an F-Zero fan. It's not the the games aren't fun, I'm just terrible at them. The fun really starts to wear off when the game repeatedly tells me I'm a loser.

I don't understand why they don't make Star Fox and F-Zero for the Wii U. I actually thought that one of them would have been a launch game, to show that this is Nintendo but with the shinier graphics that people desire. The games would look great in HD and would be awesome with online multiplayer.

Games like Smash Bros are great for keeping franchises 'alive', so that people don't completely forget about characters even if Nintendo are not producing games in that franchise for a while. I wouldn't mind if they added other characters as DLC to something like Smash Bros or Mario Kart 8 either, as it'd be a good way for Nintendo to gauge which characters were worth bringing a game out for at that time.

I think what might have temporally killed Star Fox was the crazy ammont of endings Star Fox Command had and no way to tell which one's the "True" ending. I'm starting to doubt even Nintendo knows which one is the real one.....

If Star Fox comes back, it won't be the rail shooter that 64 and the original were. More likely it'll either continue on as smaller, 2D shooters or go full on 3rd person adventure.

I actually had no idea Sheriff and Wild Gunman were Nintendo properties. I've seen them before, I just never remembered where. I'd love a western themed game from Nintendo, and I think this is a good answer to their lack of shooters.

Put them all into Nin2ndo Land.