"New" Super Mario Bros.

It's been a busy time for our man Mario.  While gearing up for a Wii-U release he has also had 2 releases on the 3DS with Mario 3D Land and the recent New Super Mario Bros. 2.  Also hitting up a Mario Tennis and Mario Kart for the 3DS as well as attending the Olympics.  Dude's busy!

But here's the question.
Does Mario need to retire?

It's the question that many people have been thinking about lately and my response would still be -  no - your silly.

Here's the thing though.  Nintendo is making Mario sort of "go through the motions" it would seem.  But my main complaint is the lack of innovation. 

I'm speaking mainly on the idea that when we had Super Mario 1-World growing up, each title really felt like a good leap in a different direction with all sorts of new stuff.  With the "New" series, its basically like playing the same game with different stages.  The same themes are repeated and even the Enemies are hurting a bit. 

Now, it could be that they are using the "New" series as a stepping stone for their new level guys - they have this school or whatever for level design where indie guys can make Mario levels.  I guess that's where some of the stuff is coming from for NSMB2.  That is really neat, and honestly, the level design is just fine in the new game, as well as the gameplay.  When you think about what the other guys are doing with Mario though, you wonder why they take these steps back.  Mario 3D Land, and the Galaxy games before it, are very inventive with their levels and the games look and play fantastic.  3D Land specifically feels very familiar to old school Mario games, yet embraces it's Galaxy roots.  Even Mario kart had a good idea in making the new courses that don't have laps, but rather have one long stretch with 3 segments. (Mario Kart games need to be way longer by the way)

I like that they are making a new Mario line for the new generation, but it just doesn't have the growth throughout the titles like the older generation has.  Each title before really set itself apart from the other in terms of how Mario felt jumping around, to each game having very different worlds. 

Maybe Mario just needs a new place to visit

In closing, Mario games are still fun, and the platforming is really solid, but I really want the Galaxy team to take over because they are trying new things with Mario, and that is what we need.

-Eddie