jm816

As a Mario super fan, I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. I loved the gorgeous visuals and the score, as well as all the little nods to Mario's history... but at the end of the day, that's not enough to make a movie great.

"Mario games aren't about plot" and "it's a movie for kids" feel like lazy ways to excuse mediocre writing. Adult fans and kids both deserve better.

Obviously non-canon (whatever that means for Zelda), but Link had a fairy companion named Spryte in the animated series and Valiant comics, dating all the way back to 1989.

The Japanese box art is the exact same TMNT artwork that was already printed on t-shirts, lunchboxes, and other merch. This one strikes me as lazy.

@Don To answer your question about the official guides from Nintendo, they were all original publications.

@CharlieGirl I hear you, and I don't disagree with the sentiment. I don't necessarily think this is a PR move so much, though. It calls stark attention to an issue a lot of people aren't even aware of, and the community reaction is predictably angry (for both the right and wrong reasons). I can't say what the end result of that is, but it seems too risky to simply be a form of PR damage control. This actually feels like a principled stance by one development team to remove a tribute to an abuser, but I'd also like to think that it's understood among all parties that that alone is not justice, nor enough to fix the company culture.

@Zuljaras The idea that we have to continue to enshrine racists and predators or else repeat history is just silly and untrue.

I know a lot of people see this as a meaningless PR stunt. Obviously it doesn't amount to much on its own, but it's still a good step. I don't think anyone believes that it solves the whole problem. There are thousands of people working at Blizzard who had nothing to do with the harassment or are victims themselves. This is for them too.

@NintendoByNature TMNT2 (and 3) don't even seem to be in the database! I'm calling shenanigans on this whole thing.

I have no idea what the consensus is on Kickle Cubicle (I enjoyed it a lot as a kid), but it's not even in the database!

@shoeses They were eventually in movies because they were already popular in the comics. Most of these characters have been popular for decades, and they’re what people generally want to see. And we’ve also got some newer headliners to keep up with the times. Bottom line—you can’t please everybody all the time, but there is something for ALMOST everyone with a large roster of popular characters. If that doesn’t appeal to you, maybe you’re not the target audience.

@shoeses That’s an awfully cynical way to look at it. MUA1 had only two characters (Moon Knight and Spider-Woman) that weren’t eventually featured in movies, and the rosters are pretty similar. They’re just picking the popular characters because that’s what most people want to see.