The impact of Mario

[Sparkster]

I was browsing another message board where the question was asked where we would be today with the Mario and Zelda franchises. Of course, many of us believe that SMB saved home console gaming.

So I'm wondering what you guys think would have happened if it weren't for this one game - keeping in mind the crash of 1983. And also where we would be today - different games? Behind X number of years? Any home consoles at all?

[chicnstu]

Another company would have tried the same thing Nintendo did I believe. But would that company be as successful (I mean as highly paid and still making quality games) now?

Other things:

- Sony may not have made a console
- We may not have gotten as many quality RPGs as we have since Final Fantasy popularized the genre
- Sonic probably wouldn't have been created.

There are so many other things you could say.

[CosmicMonkey]

Shigeru Miyamoto. Right man in the right place at the right time. When he was in his game making prime, his absolute genius is unquestionable. It took a very special man who could still think like a child and appreciate his childhood memories to create Mario and Zelda. I'm sure others would have tried, but I'm not sure they would have succeeded to the same level. One good character maybe, but to come up with two of the most recognisable, genre defining characters in the history of gaming is a bit special.

[Tommy]

Shigeru Miyamoto. Right man in the right place at the right time. When he was in his game making prime, his absolute genius is unquestionable. It took a very special man who could still think like a child and appreciate his childhood memories to create Mario and Zelda. I'm sure others would have tried, but I'm not sure they would have succeeded to the same level. One good character maybe, but to come up with two of the most recognisable, genre defining characters in the history of gaming is a bit special.

WoW, You thought up all by yourself did you? I read this somewhere :duh:

[CosmicMonkey]

WoW, You thought up all by yourself did you? I read this somewhere :duh:

Yes, thank you. If you're accusing me of plagiarism you want to be very sure of yourself. Which obviously you're not so stfu.

[skaar]

I still remember when I was given the choice of a Playstation or a Saturn - I picked the Saturn because "Sony doesn't make video games! WTF!"

Someone's comment above made me think of that ;)

[titanzguard]

I still remember when I was given the choice of a Playstation or a Saturn - I picked the Saturn because "Sony doesn't make video games! WTF!"

Someone's comment above made me think of that ;)

Lol, I remember doing the same exact thing. I thought Sega made a mistake with the CD but the Saturn is gonna be awesome and Sony doesnt even make games. I remember asking my mom for a playstation a year later while my saturn collected dust.

[j_factor]

Super Mario Bros. didn't even have an impact at all in some places. I don't think the home console market would have stayed dead. It's hard to say how popular the NES would have been without it, but I don't think it necessarily would have flopped. Wasn't the Famicom already a success in Japan by then?

Games would definitely be very different. Sonic would never have been created, for sure. And how many games wouldn't have existed if Sonic didn't exist? Platformers in general would never have been as popular or as numerous. Mario was never the only platformer in town, but he really struck a chord with many people, and many developers. Obviously The Great Giana Sisters would never have been made. :p It's hard to say with certainty that with Mario out of the picture, some other game wouldn't have filled its role. But even if, say, Alex Kidd had become a phenomenon, we still wouldn't have had Sonic, and therefore probably no platformer boom in the early 90s.

But Mario's influence goes further than Super Mario Bros. Look at the 3D platformer genre. Super Mario 64 set the template that most followed. Without Mario 64, what would 3D platformers have been like? Only two major 3D platformers predate Mario 64 -- Bug! and Jumping Flash! -- and they both play very differently and weren't that popular. Crash Bandicoot came out around the same time, but Crash wouldn't have existed without Sonic, who wouldn't have existed without Mario. It could also be argued that Bug! couldn't have existed without the platformer market that preceded it, as his character is very much a product of the times (with the "attitude", jokes etc.). I guess we could still have Jumping Flash.

Mario also created the kart racing subgenre, although frankly, I don't think we'd be missing much if those games didn't exist. He also began the party game genre, another set of games I wouldn't miss.

[TonyTheTiger]

I'm fairly certain that the #1 and #2 most recognizable characters on the planet are Mickey Mouse and Superman respectively. I'm also fairly sure that Mario is #3 or #4. Ahead or behind Bugs Bunny. That alone says a lot.

Where would we be today without Mario? That's a hard question to answer. It's kind of like saying where would we be today without Thomas Edison or Nikola Tesla. Sure, somewhere down the line somebody else would have invented all those nifty gadgets but who's to say what things would look like today. Maybe we'd be a little further behind.

[Haoie]

If there was never Mario, I'd sure look at plumbers differently.

[James8BitStar]

If Mario hadn't been made, video game collecting would probably have been a lot easier. Heck, people might've given them up in favor of playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Then the question would be "the impact of Drizzt Do'urden"