This poll is focused on Nintendo's 'Big 3' franchises.

As each of these three series continues to evolve, people's expectations about where each one is heading continues to change as well. Some aspects of these games continues to play it safe and stay true to what 'most fans' want, while other aspects have changed quite significantly, leading to division among gamers.

Which of these three games listed has most satisfied you in relation to the series as a whole, ie you are happy with where the series goes from here? This is not necessarily a question about which game is your favorite, though your choice could be that as well.

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carlosrox said:

I was wondering why SMG wasn't up there but SM3DL was...

Because SM3DL is the latest iteration of the Mario series (regardless of platform).

I suppose a separate poll could look only at the console side of things (no handhelds), and of course that poll would have Galaxy 2 representing the latest Mario iteration.

It's funny how Zelda and Metroid always struggle a bit, be it because of their repetitiveness, their art style, the gameplay choices, the additions, the omissions, whatever, but Mario always wins. Mario at its core is not undeniably a better franchise than Zelda or Metroid. Maybe there's some super smart developers working on Mario titles, or the joy of simply platforming across brilliant levels just doesn't get old to people. It's like Nintendo doesn't always know what to do to improve their more "complicated" franchises, but with Mario it's no problem.

@GelatinousEncore

That's because Mario doesn't really set the bar all that high IMO. It's a platformer. The genre isn't especially complex.

Metroid and Zelda are different beasts, and consequently more ambitious in scope. Thus we have more elements to pick at.

Hell let's just take story for example. How many discussions have we had about how Samus was portrayed in Other M? The strength of the narrative in Zelda games? Whether or not we give a damn about the NPC's?

Mario doesn't have to deal with any of that stuff. Jump on Goombas. Beat Bowser. Save Peach. It's all very straightforward. And we're cool with that because we don't expect anything else from Mario.

-JKR- said:

Seems to be only Other M really pushed anything forward. Some people may claim "backward" but it's the only one that at least TRIED to move forward.

From someone who hasn't even played SS or SM3DL. Remember, when reading any of his comments, this is the guy who loves Elebits...Elebits, what a joke!

POST FAILED!

Skyward Sword by a HUGE margin. While some things stay the same, they have to or it wouldn't be a Zelda game. With that said, SS is different in many ways, storywise, difficulty just to name a couple. No other Zelda game other than the NES Zeldas are this tough. SS has moved Zelda forward like no other Nintendo franchise before it.

@Simbabbad

And they make it an unlockable? Brilliant.

@Jargon
You could say the same thing about DKCR's time trials and SS' unlockable.

@Simbabbad
Is it fair to say this never happens in games with difficulty levels selectable from the start? I like that I could play Lost in Shadow on hard mode from the start, and Sin & Punishment was better off with difficulty toggle as well. But, it's something Nintendo has never implemented with their in-house efforts, and they're still trying to find ways to circumvent it like the "super guide".

@carlosrox
Time trials were more of a side thing, while mirror mode is the real "hard mode" in DKCR; and they did well to make it an unlockable...how unfun would it be to play that mode first time through? DKCR had pretty good difficulty curve I thought.

I love the Zelda change...but I have yet to play Mario 3D land so I'm not voting yet....

@Smerd

I'm really loving 3D Land but I don't think that it does anything to change the Mario paradigm at all. I know it hasn't gotten many votes but I'm surprised that it's gotten any.

@anon_mastermind
Difficulty levels are the best. Why the hell can't Nintendo just adopt them?

Simbabbad said:

They raise other issues. Sometimes you start a game, and it asks you the difficulty level, and then this raises a lot of questions: "is Hard more really very hard or not? Because I'm not sure I want to be punished on my first run. But is Normal really 'Easy' and Hard, 'Normal'? And is there a new game+ where I can play Hard with stuff from Normal? And (if achievements are available) are there achievements for Normal and Hard?"

You basically said what I think every time I start a new game. One solution is to just let the player change the difficulty level mid-game whenever they feel like it. That way if it turns out that it was easier / tougher than they expected, they can always move it up / down. I mean, why not? Other than maybe some achievements being connected to beating the whole game in one mode or whatever, but the game could warn you that changing now will not net you the achievements or something or other. Fuck I dunno, I care way more about having a good experience with my game than achievements.

I don't know that I agree the Wario Land approach is best for platformers. I want platformers to make me work my ass off just to get to the end, and then all the bonus stuff is that... a bonus. Mind you, I've never played Wario Land, so I might be misinterpreting how it works.

Yeah, the Wario Land design shouldn't be standard for platformers, but it's definitely fun when a game comes along and does it well.

I have a feeling Simba will feel the same way about Super Mario 3D Land as he did with Kirby.

anon_mastermind said:

I have a feeling Simba will feel the same way about Super Mario 3D Land as he did with Kirby.

Wouldn't surprise me, because that's how I felt about both games. Making people play through 8 worlds to get to the challenging stuff... it's acceptable only because it's Mario, it's Nintendo, and I know I'll be rewarded. Also, the game was fun in itself, even though it was too easy.

But yeah, on the Club Nintendo survey, I said "too easy".

@Simbabbad
That is some cool advertising.

About Mini Land Mayhem, it's the same way, half the game is unlocked after you beat the easy part. You can do the Extra and Special stages at your leisure too, via coins, and those are tough.

Well, I'm not surprised. It's a retail release on DS with Mario on the cover, in a red box. A lot of casual gamers picked this one up.

@anon_mastermind

A lot of casual gamers picked up Mario Kart 3DS too, which lets you do the 150cc mode right away. Nintendo should do that more often. Being forced to go through the same hoops as beginner, when you're an expert, is no fun at all.

I forget if all Mario Karts are like that...but in this case they may have done it because most of the unlockables are relegated to 150cc gold cups for some reason.

@anon_mastermind

I'm pretty sure not a single Mario Kart before it did that. I'd have to go back and check though.

@anon_mastermind

Even so, not forcing the players to go through the easiest settings to unlock the best stuff is ALSO progress.

Regardless we should be able to have games that don't cater to the most inexperienced player possible. Whether that be through difficulty settings or skippable tutorial sections.