Would Sonic and Mario be anywhere NEAR as popular as they are right now if....

[TinyToaster]

If the wallets backing them both were deeper than the ocean, it's possible someone somewhere would care enough. But overall, I'd say they'd be just like every other flop now-a-days.

Not a huge fan base, the few fanboys who swear by it and that their next installment will "fix the things they got wrong the first time" and the mass majority who wouldn't waste more than a blockbuster visit/gamefly rental for it.

 

[Argentavis]

I'm sure the kids of today like the Sonic and Mario games of today like the kids of yesterday liked the Sonic and Mario games of yesterday.

 

[JediMB]

If it hadn't been for these two, Doom would have blown up the PC gaming market so wide that consoles would have bit the dust

Funny thing, though?

id Software's early success came largely from the Commander Keen series, which was basically their take on Super Mario Bros. They even put together a little demo of Super Mario Bros 3 in their "smooth scrolling engine" and pranked John Romero (I believe) into thinking that they had the rights to develop the PC-version of the game.

Anyway, from there they went on to Wolfenstein 3D, and then Doom.

 

[irishdelinquent]

If it were not for Mario appearing in Donkey Kong (he was in the arcade before he was on consoles, and the Mario Bros. game was an enormous success by the way), there would be no

Portal, Bioshock, Halo, Half Life, Metal Gear Solid, Gears of War, Mass Effect and various others.

So yeah, I think Mario deserves some credit where credit is due. Oh, and also Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Half-Life (PC game, not sure why it's included in a topic about console games, but whatever), and other games were from previous console generations. So, to turn your own question around, would Halo, for example, be as successful in this current generation if it had not been released in the previous one? Mario is popular because his games are fun; Super Mario games have garnered high ratings in the current generation (actual Mario games, not party games and cross-overs).

 

[Andre Bonner]

They would still be just as popular. Think about it. If you released Mario 64 on the Wii today, right now (obviously, with a name besides '64'), it would be a landmark. From all the other mediocre crap that's out, the simply, intuitive level designs and the fun game mechanics would ensure that it would STILL be just as popular.

Imagine Mario 64 with achievements. Yeah, I got chills too.

 

[AmericanScientist]

There's a lot of love for Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog these days. People just adore these mascots, they claim they are the best characters ever and have the best games. It's amazing how much people will tolerate from these two as well, Mario has become a real media sellout and Sonic has... well made a consistent list of terrible games. Yet people still buy into it unquestioning. Both Mario and Sonic got their start in the early years of gaming with the NES and Sega Genesis, and it strikes me that that's a possible reason as to their success. People remember how good they were back in the past and how they entertained them as kids (thank you Yahtzee) and as such they've become very popular so much so that they get a very undeserved free ride and get to make bad games and do stupid things and no one will question them.

However I'm playing the magical 'what if' game and suggesting that if back in the eighties Mario and Sonic had never been released, instead the very first Mario brothers was released on the Nintendo Wii and the very first Sonic game was too. Both of these games would have to offer little more than jumping from thing to thing and running fast. Next to games like Portal, Bioshock, Halo, Half Life, Metal Gear Solid, Gears of War, Mass Effect and various others I don't think these games would even be noticed. They wouldn't be popular.

Seriously imagine it, would Sonic and Mario even MATTER if they got their debut in this console generation?

No.

 

[Pseudonym2]

If Sonic and Mario were not published the entire nature of video games would so radically different, it wouldn't be recognizable.

 

[WillSimplyBe]

I dont think you can really even compare those kinds of games to something like Mario or Sonic. @_@

Its like comparing your favorite cartoons to your favorite dramas. Totally different.

Also, agreed with Irishdelinquent- Mario Games are fun, 90% of the stuff that has mario slapped on it is actually really fun. Even weird ones, I Remember when Mario Tennis first came out, and I was like .."um... really?" I then proceeded to play it till my tiny thumbs bled. Oh, lets not forget mariokart... Even when he's not jumping, he puts out fun stuff, and his jumping stuff is fun as well.

 

[DM.]

I dont think you can really even compare those kinds of games to something like Mario or Sonic. @_@

Its like comparing your favorite cartoons to your favorite dramas. Totally different.

Also, agreed with Irishdelinquent- Mario Games are fun, 90% of the stuff that has mario slapped on it is actually really fun. Even weird ones, I Remember when Mario Tennis first came out, and I was like .."um... really?" I then proceeded to play it till my tiny thumbs bled. Oh, lets not forget mariokart... Even when he's not jumping, he puts out fun stuff, and his jumping stuff is fun as well.

Next stop. Mario FPS.


I'd buy it.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Man, you are right. The character design that is Mario is totally forgettable and bland when compared to generic space marine #5 (the one with the short brown hair and permanent frown).

Dude. You have no taste! g.s.m. #4 was SOOOOO awesome with his blonde crew cut (duke nukem style!) and sarcastic smirk. Or was that g.s.m. #2? Wait, maybe that WAS #5, but with the unlockable costume... Well, it doesn't matter, you can't see any of them against the tan-and-gray backdrop anyway - they're all wearing camo!

 

[hannahdonno]

Sega is nothing without Sonic and Nintendo is nothing without Mario, so I think the question here is where would these companies be with these games?

 

[300lb. Samoan]

If it hadn't been for these two, Doom would have blown up the PC gaming market so wide that consoles would have bit the dust

Funny thing, though?

id Software's early success came largely from the Commander Keen series, which was basically their take on Super Mario Bros. They even put together a little demo of Super Mario Bros 3 in their "smooth scrolling engine" and pranked John Romero (I believe) into thinking that they had the rights to develop the PC-version of the game.

Anyway, from there they went on to Wolfenstein 3D, and then Doom.

Haha, yea! I remember Commander Keen! So without mario there wouldn't even have been id Software, or Doom! MARIO IS A GOT-DANG PIME TARADOXIN' MACHINE!!!

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Sega is nothing without Sonic and Nintendo is nothing without Mario, so I think the question here is where would these companies be with these games?

japan :x

 

[hannahdonno]

Sega is nothing without Sonic and Nintendo is nothing without Mario, so I think the question here is where would these companies be with these games?

japan :x

Tbh, what other famous titles has Sega done? NONE. They would not exist any more. And without Mario, maybe Nintendo would put a bit more effort into the Pokemon games, maybe, I dunno... creating a good generation for once?

 

[Snoopster]

in short, no

in long, fuck no

 

[Snoopster]

I dont think you can really even compare those kinds of games to something like Mario or Sonic. @_@

Its like comparing your favorite cartoons to your favorite dramas. Totally different.

Also, agreed with Irishdelinquent- Mario Games are fun, 90% of the stuff that has mario slapped on it is actually really fun. Even weird ones, I Remember when Mario Tennis first came out, and I was like .."um... really?" I then proceeded to play it till my tiny thumbs bled. Oh, lets not forget mariokart... Even when he's not jumping, he puts out fun stuff, and his jumping stuff is fun as well.

Next stop. Mario FPS.


I'd buy it.

letsa gooooo, duggaduggaduggadugga

BOOM

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Tbh, what other famous titles has Sega done? NONE. They would not exist any more. And without Mario, maybe Nintendo would put a bit more effort into the Pokemon games, maybe, I dunno... creating a good generation for once?

OK, with sega you've got a point. They probably wouldn't last on either side of the pond (the BIG one). But if you take Mario out of the picture, Nintendo still has Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, EarthBound (while we're talking about Japan), and even F-Zero as strong series which might have occurred regardless.

 

[300lb. Samoan]

Next stop. Mario FPS.

I'd buy it.

letsa gooooo, duggaduggaduggadugga

BOOM

It'sa meeee, Marioooo! I'mma kick-a youse asses! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQs6JVnlQU]

 

[hannahdonno]

Tbh, what other famous titles has Sega done? NONE. They would not exist any more. And without Mario, maybe Nintendo would put a bit more effort into the Pokemon games, maybe, I dunno... creating a good generation for once?

OK, with sega you've got a point. They probably wouldn't last on either side of the pond (the BIG one). But if you take Mario out of the picture, Nintendo still has Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, EarthBound (while we're talking about Japan), and even F-Zero as strong series which might have occurred regardless.

Tbh, thinking about it, your making it seem very tempting to go and break one of my pipes at home, just to get Mario to come round so I can make him pop in the pipe and immediately block it, forcing him to slowly suffocate to death and allow Nintendo to finally realise he is DEAD and FORGOTTEN and start paying more attention to their other games. They have good ideas, so they need to stop regurgtating old ones just for the sake of a few extra pennies.

 

[Dorian]

Absolutely not. There are only 2 reasons why each of them are a success today. Mario because he has, well, become a gimmick with a red hat that looks fun to little kids. Sonic because the 40 year old dads think "Well, he was pretty good 20 years ago, so how on Earth could he suck now?" Then the little kids watch the dads play the Sonic games and think that's what a game should be, so they pretty much only like the 2D game in a 3D world thing.

In short, they are only alive nowadays because of fond memories of the youth.... and being sellouts.