Topic: The importance of creativity in Mario games.

As you all know, recent Mario games have hit a creative slump. Games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario 3D Land weren't as inventive as Mario's past titles. It's safe to say that Super Mario Galaxy 2 was Mario's last creative game, and quite honestly, that game also borrowed many ideas from its predecessor. The highest-rated Mario titles are often noted as his most creative titles. Then original Super Mario Bros., to the imaginative Super Mario Bros. 2, to the inventive Super Mario Bros. 3, to the ground-breaking Super Mario World, to the revolutionary Super Mario 64, to the innovative Super Mario Galaxy, the Mario franchise has always been known for its massive creativity. Those six titles are often credited as Mario's biggest masterpieces. Recent Mario games aren't usually referred to as "masterpieces". Don't get me wrong, the New Super Mario Bros. franchise and Super Mario 3D Land is A grade material, but I know what Nintendo is capable of creativity-wise.

New Super Mario Bros. for the DS worked because it re-imagined the Mushroom Kingdom in a 2.5D plane and paid homage to the classics. However, I was hoping in future 2D Mario games that Nintendo would try and be more inventive like the classic Mario games were. However, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2 felt all to familiar. Sure, there were some creative aspects in those games, but those aspects were very minimal and most of the things we experienced in those games were those that we experienced in past Mario games. Even Super Mario 3D Land, the most recent entry to the 3D Mario series, borrowed many ideas from past Mario games, especially Super Mario Bros. 3. Again, some parts of Super Mario 3D Land were creative, but not nearly as inventive as Mario's past 3D games. Nostalgia worked with Super Mario 3D Land, re-imagining aspects of a 3D Mario game in 3D, but however, I think it would have been better if we got a more creative 3D Mario game for Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo has even been less creative with some of their recent spin-off titles. Mario Party 9, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Mario & Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem, Mario Tennis Open, and other recent Mario spin-offs were less creative than past Mario spin-offs. Sure, the Stickers aspect of Paper Mario: Sticker Star was creative, but all the environments and characters, except Kertsi, were those from past games. Mario games are much better when Nintendo has a more creative focus in my opinion.

I'm not asking for Nintendo to strip everything we love about the Mario series and reboot the franchise, but I'm simply asking for Nintendo to take a more creative focus with their next Mario game, while keeping certain characteristics of the franchise than we Mario fans enjoy. Basically, don't rely on nostalgia for the next Mario game, Nintendo. Try to make a game as creative and innovative as Super Mario Galaxy, Nintendo. It sounds tough, but I know you can do it. I know there is a new 3D Mario in development for Wii U, and I hope Nintendo uses their creative noodles for that game.

I can see Nintendo has been having a more creative focus with their very recent Mario games, and that's good to see. New Super Mario Bros. U, while still heavy on nostalgia, did add a noticeable amount of new creative concepts, though it did not add as many new creative concepts as past Mario games. It was a start, though. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was an example of Nintendo using their inventive minds. Sure, there were some concepts and ideas borrowed from its predecessor, but for the most part, the game added tons of new creative concepts that made it the most original Mario game in a while. Upcoming games like Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, and Yarn Yoshi looks like Nintendo at their creative best. I dearly hope Nintendo takes a creative direction with the upcoming 3D Mario game for Wii U, because I think creativity is important to the Mario series.

What do you guys think? Do you guys think creativity plays a big role in the Mario franchise, or do you not mind the many homages to the past Nintendo has made over the years? What are you guys' opinions, and what are your thoughts on my opinions? Please discuss in the comment field below!

As long as a Mario Game has Weegee in it,I'm fine with the game. :3

Sorry it's so long... but if you viewers have enough patience to read through it all, then what are your thoughts on how creativity's role in the Mario franchise? If you skimmed and scanned the important parts of the post, I can't blame you.

New Super Luigi U and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sound perfect for you then.

Hah. Good one guys. #Super Mario Bros. 2

EDIT: Listen, I'm glad you want more from the Mario franchise right now but could you AT LEAST wait for the next 3D Mario game? I promise, if it's any kind of sequel then I'll shut up.

What, you don't like Super Mario Bros. 2? That game was a classic!

It was also a re-skin. Oh and the JP SMB2 had the same visuals as the original, and it had (more or less) the same game mechanics. Which, for you guys, means it's uncreative.

The problem is that you seem to pair the words "new and "creative" together and make it seem that they mean the same thing, when they're really not.

Doki Doki Panic was originally meant to be a Mario game. The idea was scrapped and Nintendo made it a non-Mario game instead. Later, because Nintendo disliked Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels's difficulty, they released Doki Doki Panic in the form of Super Mario Bros. 2, the way they originally intended it to be. Plus, the game itself was creative, and in a way, Doki Doki Panic was basically a Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype that was released to the Japanese public. Also, nowhere on my list did I mention Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels being a creative game. That game was basically an expansion pack, and the title of the game pretty much gives that away.

I meant new ideas.

New ideas? Like what? And why now? I mean we face Bowser everytime, and everytime its just as exciting, so...

That still doesn't change the fact that they took a game and put Mario in it. Imaginative. It's still a remarkable game, I'm not taking that away from that. All I'm saying is that they were probably going to let Doki Doki Panic stay the same if SMB2 wasn't as difficult. And how many new ideas do you need in order to feel like it's original? NSMB is just "unoriginal" because it has the same art-style throughout the series. Do you know why that is? It's because there aren't much graphical limitations anymore. Mario looks the same because that's just how he looks.

Listen, I don't mean to shoot down the whole discussion. I'd LOVE a new Mario game with new ideas. It would be fun. Y'know what else would be fun? If I popped in the disc for NSMBU and played through some levels. They're both fun, and they can both coexist.

How about I put it this way. When you buy Skittles, do you expect it to taste unlike Skittles? Think of the New Super Mario Bros. series as comfort food. You can buy it once in awhile* and you'll always get what you payed for. A new Super Mario Bros. game.

*They've only released one per console so far. So until they release NSMBU2, I don't want to hear "E3 2013, NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 3/U2"

TBH, the older Mario games were quite innovative.

Super Mario Bros introduced sidescrolling platforming (prior to it's release, all platforming games had single screen levels), which was really one of the "WOW" moments, when gamers first played it.

Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the world map to the series, and pushed the NES' graphical power past it's limit (even having extra memory built into the cartridge).

Super Mario World marked the first time in the series you could revisit past levels.

Super Mario 64 set the standard on how 3D platformers were to be made (controlling the camera with the shoulder buttons was a revelation at the time).

Super Mario Galaxy featured various "planetoid" platforms that each had their own unique gravitational pull (which allowed for the creation of platforming challenges & puzzles never seen before).

Of course, I'm not saying every Mario title is a pool of unique ideas, but there have been more than one Mario platformers which have literally revolutionized how the genre is approached (many innovations which we simply take for granted, now).

Yoshi's Island and Super Mario Sunshine are the most unique out of all of those games RR529 listed. Sure, their innovations didn't catch on, but still, they tried, unlike most of the recent Mario games.

Super Mario Bros. 2 was basically a re-skin of a re-skin. Doki Doki Panic was originally supposed to be a Mario game, but later Nintendo made non-Mario characters the game protagonists. Then Nintendo brought Doki Doki Panic to America by releasing the game in the format it was originally intended to be: as a Mario game. I know that Super Mario Bros. 2 was a re-skin, but it was a creative game and Super Mario Bros. 2 and Doki Doki Panic weren't meant to co-exist. Doki Doki Panic was originally meant to be Super Mario Bros. 2, and since they're supposed to be the same games, they are creative games, even if they co-exist as different games with different character and object skins. I usually think of Doki Doki Panic as a publically released Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype. You can go ahead and keep defending your point on why you think Super Mario Bros. 2 is uncreative, but I believe what I believe, okay?

Also, I never said the NSMB franchise is uncreative because of its art style. The NSMB franchise is uncreative because of re-using ideas and concepts from past Mario games in each NSMB game, like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, then adding a few new details here and there and calling it a new Mario game. And honestly, are you really comparing the NSMB franchise to Skittles? Skittles and video games are from two completely different worlds, and one is to satisfy your taste buds, and one is to entertain you. I want Skittles to be the same because that's food, and Skittles are a $1 package. I want Mario games to be different because those are video games, and I don't want to go buying the same $40-60 dollar package with a minimal amount of new details per game.

So, what? You want every Mario game to be the same? I'm not saying for Nintendo to get rid of elements of the Mario franchise we like to see, such as Peach getting kidnapped, Bowser, Yoshi, Toads, power-ups, platforming, and so on, but it's still nice to see Nintendo add lots of creative elements, don't you think so? Would you rather have another typical New Super Mario Bros. title, or a new Mario game as innovative and genre-defining as Super Mario Galaxy? I would rather play Mario games that feel fresh and unique, while still keeping the charm of a Mario game, instead of a Mario game that plays if safe and is near identical to past games with minimal new creative aspects, and wouldn't you too?

I just want them to be fun.

They're fun.

I'm not worried.

While I can get behind that...lots of games are fun. More games than I could possibly ever play are fun. I kinda need more than that to convince me "X" game is more worth my time than any other game.

And somehow I don't see that as an issue.

A fun, working gameplay formula is important for a game too, which is why I like the NSMB games, but creativity and freshness is an important factor of a game too. Otherwise, if Nintendo relies on nostalgia in each of their games, fans will be under the impression that those games are very similar to the ones they already own, so they won't buy the new games Nintendo makes and just stick to the games they already have. That's why adding a lot of new imaginative twists to a game matters too. Every follow-up game has to have recycled ideas, like the Mario franchise has to recycle many ideas to maintain the charm of a Mario game, but follow-up games also have to add more creative aspects as well to keep the game franchise fresh, and the same goes for Mario games, or else fans won't buy that game franchise's game products anymore. That's why creativity is important for the Mario games.