Topic: The Mario Renaissance (2000-2011)

Video games are, of course, subjective. And perhaps it is childhood nostalgia clouding me (I was born in '96), but the massive Mario IP (main games, Mario Kart, and the rest) seemed to peak from 2000-2011. I won't list every release, because it's a waste of space here. But just look at some of the lineup.

2000
Mario Party 2 (International Release)
Mario Tennis
Mario Party 3
Paper Mario
2001
Paper Mario (International Release)
Mario Party 3 (International Release)
Luigi's Mansion
2002
Super Mario Sunshine
Mario Party 4
2003
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Mario Party 5
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
2004
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year-Door
Mario Party 6
Mario Power Tennis
2005
Mario Kart DS
Mario Party 7
Super Mario Strikers
2006
New Super Mario Bros.
2007
Super Paper Mario
Mario Strikers Charged
Mario Party DS
Super Mario Galaxy
2008
Mario Kart Wii
2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2010
Super Mario Galaxy 2
2011
Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7

You also have the First 3 Mario & Luigi games, and you can throw in Wario games and such if you really want.
Odyssey is my favorite Mario game, and it didn't come out until 2017. But that's not enough to make the Switch part of a Mario Renaissance.
For those that disagree with me, I'd imagine they consider the mid-80s to the mid-90s as Mario's peak. I'd be interested to hear that, and I'd also be interested to hear those that think Mario's peak didn't occur until at least 2012 or later.

I love how you included all the Mario party games listed in that timeframe except for 8 and 9 lol

Now, there are a lot of Mario titles released in that timeframe, are you saying that this is the Mario renaissance because of the amount of titles, or do you like the majority of them?

I excluded 9 because it didn't release anywhere until 2012. I didn't include 8 because I didn't care for it personally, and I know it doesn't have the best reputation. I didn't mention Advance either, which I've heard is garbage.
For me, it's quantity and quality. To me, you have 3 must-play Paper Mario games, some phenomenal 3D Mario, and a lot of fun multiplayer games. I could've brought up Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix as well for how unique it is. But I only played a few rounds of it at a friend's house, so I'm not the best judge of it.
Mario platformers declined from 2012 until Odyssey compared to the period, I consider the Renaissance. Paper Mario has declined, the Sports games have declined, and Mario Party declined for a while but has improved. Mario Kart has thankfully maintained its quality, at least in the case of 8.
I only played a few hours each of Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story, but I hear the thought is that the series declined with Dream Team and Paper Jam.

I mean, if you mean it abruptly ended with Mario Kart 7 (the most mid of Mario Karts whose own brand new gimmicks were done way better in the next game), I'd agree.

@LuigiTheGreenFire
I will call 3D Mario games have a progress when Nintendo make new 3D Mario games like the movie 2023 version.
I call it bold decision.
No more damsel in distress.
Princess Peach is a fighter.
Mario can get hurt and bruised.
Mario & Luigi really have their bonding brotherhood and teamwork.
The environments that can get destroyed.
Voice acting like movie version.
That's I will call New 3D Mario games.

Oh, btw.
DDR Mario Mix is waaaay.... Too easy for me.
You should play the songs from DDR A3 Arcade to see some brutal DDR Boss songs that have some level 17, 18 & 19 songs.

this is an interesting perspective!

however, youve used the word "renaissance." it seems like what you really mean is another word that you used, which is "peak."

the best period of mario games is obviously 85-96. nothing but bangers for a solid decade, including the unbelievable, untouchable run of SMB3, world, yoshis island, and 64.

thats the peak.

i would place the "renaissance," (meaning revival, or period of renewed interest,) starting with galaxy, and leading up to the present moment, with the movie making a zillion dollars, and mario pretty much reaching mass saturation.

here's hoping for a soft landing! 😬👍

If you're thinking of it analogously to something like the Disney Renaissance, the problem is that there hasn't ever been much of a run of bad Mario games and most of the worst ones were in the far-flung spinoffs rather than the mainstay franchises.

yeah, even my analysis is basically pre-sunshine = golden era, post sunshine = renaissance, as sunshine is the only "weak" mainline mario game, to me.

I have the unpopular opinion that Mario Kart 7 is better than Mario Kart 8 (Wii U). It might even be better than Mario Kart 8 on Wii U with the DLC.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is clearly better than 7 because it fixed 8's wonky battle mode and added tons of content with the Booster Course Pass.
And while it's more apple to oranges than comparing it to Odyssey or the Galaxy games, I prefer Sunshine to 3D World.
To me, the peak (or renaissance as I've said) ended in 2011 because of the troublesome directions Mario was taking in 2012. We got 2 Mario platformers released 3 months apart that were too samey in the Mario lineup. Mario Tennis Open is clearly weaker than Power Tennis or Mario Tennis on N64. Mario Party 9 may have been an improvement over 8, but led to the garbage Mario Party 10 released in 2015. Yeah, I get it that you can't blame 9 entirely for how much 10 sucked. But the car mechanic (which was fine in one game) felt really bad 2 console Mario Party games in a row.
And Sticker Star? Do not even get me started here.

The NSMB games are better than the classic games, and I will die on this hill.

@LuigiTheGreenFire
I still prefer Sticker Star + Color Splash over Origami King.
Mario Sunshine was suck in my opinion to compare with Ratchet & Clank games in term of weapon aiming.

@LuigiTheGreenFire
Also, I still prefer Ratchet & Clank games over than most of 3D Mario games.

@Munchlax
New SMB was great and really was new when it released. The problem is they went on to make more or less the same style of game another 4 times in the spam of 6 years. And then twice again in the Mario Maker games

I saw someone say back then, that one of the reasons NSMB became derided after a while is that when the original came out in 2006, not a ton of people were making 2d platformers and there'd not been a new 2D Mario in over a decade (barring Mario vs. Donkey Kong, which is wildly different tbh), so it really stood out at the time. But by the time the latter 3 games came out (in one year, need I remind you), there was DKCR and Rayman Origins and two entirely different type of 2D Kirbys back to back after a decade with only one spinoff game on consoles. Not to mention the various types of indie games and other retro revivals. Even Sonic's 3D games, at their most acclaimed, were half 2D by that point.

@kkslider5552000
Definitely. This was also in 2006 so it was kinda before the indie explosion. Of course XBLA existed and so did Steam but they were far from the open markets we know today. Also early on with the DS, it kinda felt like 2D platformers had died. The GBA had 2D platformers obviously but most of them were ports of SNES era titles or movie tie-ins

So yeah, when it released? A 2.5D brand new Mario platformer? Was a pretty big deal. Super novel. It was also one of the main reasons I brought a DS. But a lot of that novelty wore off pretty quick as the entire gaming industry changed the landscape underneath it. Made worse by them just releasing largely samey sequels

But yeah, if I was honest? I'd still probably place the original New SMB fairly high on the list of great Mario games when I first played it. Probably third to Galaxy and World but above Mario Maker and Odyssey

When Mario & Luigi become secret agent couples and using spionage skills like Sly Cooper, I will call it Mario Renaissance.

It looks like another peak or even renaissance could be starting this year, but we'll have to see how the games are and how the future releases go for a while.
2023
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario RPG Remake
2024
Untitled Peach Game
Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon HD
2024-2025 (most likely)
3D Mario
Mario Kart 9

In the space of one Direct, this really did become a peak Mario year, lol. All we're missing is a new 3D game, but I'm expecting that to launch with the successor in 2024.