Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was in a pickle during development back in 1995 because Nintendo wanted the game to have Donkey Kong Country-like graphics, the glossy 3-D look as opposed to the colorful, hand-drawn look that Miyamoto was aiming for. Furious, Miyamoto purposely made it look even more vibrant, even sketchier, and more like what you’ll find in the wallpaper of a newborn’s room as opposed to what’s considered cutting-edge. While Donkey Kong Country was a fantastic-looking game, Yoshi’s Island stood out like a sore thumb in the gaming industry because it had hands-down some of the best art design in the history of the medium. As opposed to pushing the envelope on how a game should look, Miyamoto when another direction and turned his game into a playable work of art. The game still stands well today and remains one of the nicest-looking games you’ll ever play.
Fast-forward to today, with the recent Super Mario 3D Land. While the game has its moments, it lacks a total art style as it focuses on 3-D graphics, 3-D effects, and gameplay. It did not toy with how games should look, did not attempt to add personality to the visuals, and the result was another Mario game that doesn’t separate from the norm. While Yoshi Island went for childish drawings, Mario Sunshine went for the island look, and Mario Galaxy aimed for an epic feel, Mario 3D Land didn’t really aim for anything. If you go back a little, neither did New Mario Bros. Wii, and neither did New Super Mario Bros. Are they great games? For the most part, but they are not going to age in the same way as the masterpieces like Yoshi’s Island, like Mario World, like Mario Bros. 3, and not even like the underrated Super Mario Land 2 (which went for a simple kids cartoon look).
The 2-D Mario games have been slacking in presentation lately and while the gameplay still holds up mildly, other platform games are beginning to mold themselves into good competitors as becoming 2-D gaming at the visual peak. And unlike certain genres of games, platform games do rely on visual presentation to progress the game and maintain your interest. The Mario games in the 2-D level have been on the same color palette since New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. Even a non-Mario game officially borrowed the same graphical technique, when we had Mario vs. DK 2 for the DS and its latter inclusions in the DS Download Channel.
Want to see the completion? We shall start with Rayman Origins, which went for a very fun art style that mixes SNES graphics with 90s cartoon flair. The end result was arguably the best Rayman game of all-time, as they went crazy with the artsy look and created clever levels to build around the images. While it was met with awful sales in late 2011, the critics were praising it to holy heaven, and if you call tell from the video above, with good reason too. Compare that look to the look of Mario Bros. for the Wii.
Not that good.
The other main competitor is Little Big Planet, which has become Sony’s official response to Nintendo’s famed plumber. This game oozes so much personality, and almost every level looks different from the last, adding more stylish points to one of the best-looking games of this previous generation. Now, Mario is definitely in the weakest of the Big 3 systems, but it has minimal excuse for pulling off the visual lack-of-flair it pulled off. Even Nintendo’s own Donkey Kong Country Returns upstaged it with a jungle fever look that draws references to the original as well as provide new ways to view the Kong Jungle.
I guess what happened is that Nintendo now knows that these games sell, so why screw with the visual formula? And besides, Nintendo goes the whole nine yards visually when they make the Mario Galaxy games. So 3-D Mario is getting the attention and love, while 2-D/2.5D Mario—a visual plane that offers much more flexibility to become creative, gets next to nothing. It is a shame considering that 2-D Mario used to be the cutting edge on graphics, animation, and style. Even Rayman Origins borrows graphical elements from the SNES Mario World games—although it seems like Earthworm Jim is the best comparison.
Bottom Line: While platform games are making a major comeback visually and quality-wise, 2-D Mario is choosing not to push envelopes and instead focusing on delivering the same type of gameplay using the same types of colors. And while the sales represent Nintendo not having to do shift with its technique in making money, it does prevent the 2-D Mario franchise from going above and beyond its creative limits like in the 90s with Yoshi’s Island leading the way. But who knows, maybe they will have to step up its game if the competitors continue outperforming Mario in the effort division. Remember, Donkey Kong, Earthworm Jim, Spyro, Crash, and even Wario crashed down to earth after years of success. I’d hate to see 2-D Mario suffer this fate and go through a drought-----again.
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