You can hate Mario games, right?

[Onyx Oblivion]

A lot of gamers seem to think that the Mario platformers are some of the best the genre has to offer. Every Mario platformer gets glowing reviews. Even the Escapist's own love-him-or-hate-him Yahtzee said that he had fun in Super Mario Galaxy. I find myself at an impasse. Is it wrong of me to think that all of the following games are just not fun at all? (this list includes every Mario game I've played, including spin-offs)

Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Advance
New Super Mario Bros.
Mariokart DS
Mariokart: Super Circuit
Mariokart: Double Dash
Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time

I absolutely could not bring myself to have fun with any of these games, yet I love platformers and racing games. Some have told me that maybe you just don't like 2D platformers, but that can't be true as I love nearly any Kirby game I've played, especially Kirby's Dream Land 2 for the Game Boy. As for the 3D games, I was a big fan of Spyro, Crash, Jak, and Ratchet & Clank. I know some of those games above are considered masterpieces but, in my opinion, they just aren't any fun. And don't accuse me of being a Nintendo hater, because I love the Zelda games, dearly. With Phantom Hourglass as the only exception. But there's something about Mario games that just irks me...There's nothing fundamentally bad, but there's nothing fun, either.

Your opinions on the Mario games are welcome.

*casts Resist Fire 100% on Self*

 

[sms_117b]

I didn't like them either, but I was always a SEGA and Sonic boy

 

[Spyalt]

Are we supposed to care?

 

[DivineSin]

I loved Paper Mario and Super MArio RPg. But! Super Mario Tennis sucked.

 

[curlycrouton]

You can hate them, sure, but you'd better have a damn good reason.

 

[Aura Guardian]

No I do not. Nor will I.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You can hate them, sure, but you'd better have a damn good reason.

That's the problem...I don't know why...They just aren't any fun to me...Some giant hole is missing from the game...Its just a feeling...

 

[Sewblon]

You enjoy platformers but you don't enjoy Mario games... Does not compute, self-destruct initiated. I love them, I always have.

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

Do you admit that Mario 64 defined 3D gaming as we know it today?

 

[EchetusXe]

I only played one Mario game. It was an ancient console, before I had my PlayStation.

It was good fun but I just never bought one again for some reason. I guess with games like Dino Crisis, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy I thought 'why would I want to play a game with two Italian plumbers with moustaches collecting gold coins or whatever?'.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Do you admit that Mario 64 defined 3D gaming as we know it today?

How did it do so? Was it the first fully 3D game in development?

 

[Erana]

You can honestly not like them, but hate is too far. They're some of the best games of their time, even on a purely technical level. I don't much care for 'em, either, but I still appreciate them.

 

[Minimike3636]

That's the problem...I don't know why...They just aren't any fun to me...Some giant hole is missing from the game...Its just a feeling...

You said you love Zelda games? I think I know what it is. You probably enjoy games that you can tie a familiar/epic face to, like Link. Maybe you just don't appreciate the character of Mario, which isn't surprising considering how he's supposed to be a hefty Italian plumber. Take a Mario game. Replace the main character with Link. Is it better now?

 

[Grayjack]

The only Mario games I liked where Super Mario and Mario 64.

 

[ryai458]

yes it is ok not to like them thats why its called oponion not communism

 

[Clirck]

Nintendo just used mario for everything.
Exept real plumming game (or they did that already ?).

 

[EeveeElectro]

>:[

How dare you have a different opinion to others.
How do you sleep at night?

 

[Mr. Fister]

Do you admit that Mario 64 defined 3D gaming as we know it today?

How did it do so? Was it the first fully 3D game in development?

Super Mario 64 revolutionized 3D platforming for loads of reasons. The major reason is obviously the controls, as it was the first platformer to utilize an analog stick, but mainly because they just felt right. You were also given decent control of the camera, which was unheard of in games up until then. Another big reason was the freedom and semi-nonlinearity you had in SM64. Most platformers had you going through levels in a pretty linear fashion. In SM64, you were allowed to pick what levels you could go to (as long as you had enough stars), and how you would get to the stars in each level. The game also had a sense of wonder and amazement to it as it was in total 3D, and not some kind of pseudo-3D graphics in a 2D world. The worlds were large, wacky, and stylish.

If you can't acknowledge that SM64 revolutionized gaming, then you can't really say you hate the Mario games. Well, you can, but it won't hold much weight.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

That's the problem...I don't know why...They just aren't any fun to me...Some giant hole is missing from the game...Its just a feeling...

You said you love Zelda games? I think I know what it is. You probably enjoy games that you can tie a familiar/epic face to, like Link. Maybe you just don't appreciate the character of Mario, which isn't surprising considering how he's supposed to be a hefty Italian plumber. Take a Mario game. Replace the main character with Link. Is it better now?

Nope. Link could be replaced with Mario in the Zelda series and it'd still like his games. Hell, they'd be better because they'd have a mustache.

Do you admit that Mario 64 defined 3D gaming as we know it today?

How did it do so? Was it the first fully 3D game in development?

Super Mario 64 revolutionized 3D platforming
-snip-

Well, then...it was quite revolutionary. It broke the mold, shall we say? But that doesn't make it any good, imo.

Seriously can't finger why I hate the series so much...It's really irking me...What do the games I mentioned have that Mario doesn't?

 

[TheBluesader]

I only played one Mario game. It was an ancient console, before I had my PlayStation.

It was good fun but I just never bought one again for some reason. I guess with games like Dino Crisis, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy I thought 'why would I want to play a game with two Italian plumbers with moustaches collecting gold coins or whatever?'.

Ancient? I saved up all summer to get my NES! Do you know how much $100 was in 1990? Do you have any idea??

Oh wait. That does seem like 2,000 years ago, doesn't it? Stupid rapid technological progression in free societies.

I think Mario was a lot better back when there was virtually no alternative, except Atari games, and anything that wasn't an Atari game that wasn't Missile Command was better than every other Atari game. The problem now is that new Mario games are still being made in a way that only holds up against virtually no competition. But there is a lot of competition now. So Nintendo's old Mario formula is now crap, where it was once gold.