Image courtesy of myds.com.au

Many people wondered where Nintendo would go with its Mario franchise after the insanely popular Super Mario Galaxy. After all, they sent Mario from the confines of Mushroom Kingdom into the depths of space. What direction could Nintendo take their Italian plumber to keep the franchise fresh and relevant?

The answer, revealed at this year’s Game Developers Conference, is Super Mario Reloaded. Apparently, the new title finds Mario trading in Mushrooms and Star Power for ammunition. Mario will wield different weapons, ranging from 9 mm to shotguns, as he traverses through the underworld of the Mushroom Kingdom, searching for Princess Peach (what else could the premise of a Mario game possibly entail?). Players will control Mario’s guns with the Wii remote and be able to initiate “bullet-time mode” (slow motion) by flicking the motion controller. 

Obviously, Nintendo saw the popularity of games like Halo and Call of Duty and decided to try and cash in on the shooter phenomenon. To be honest, I am disappointed with this move. Shigeru Miyamoto once promised Mario would never murder someone and steal their car a la the Grand Theft Auto series, and it’s disheartening to see him break his word. 

Super Mario Reloaded is just the latest franchise to try to redefine its image by ramping up the violence and attempting to appeal to mature audiences. Shadow the Hedgehog took the classic Sonic formula, based on speed and fast action, and replaced it with dark tones and uninspired gunplay. Bomberman: Act Zero transformed the colorful world of Bomberman into a dark and desolate arena, where hyper-realistic mechanical cyborgs fight each other. 

As a gamer, it’s a shame to see all of these classic franchises dismantled in the misguided attempt to appeal to a broader audience. Many people worried the introductions of Sonic’s and Bomberman’s doppelganger could inspire a bad trend, and it looks like this has finally happened. With Nintendo jumping on this careening bandwagon, it looks like no gaming franchise is sacred anymore. 

I understand the success of this move has precedent; the second generation of Prince of Persia games revamped the Prince’s look to be dark and considerably more emo, and this change translated to more sales. However, it’s the other precedent of these games that concerns me: Too often, the new look of the protagonists replaces the focus on the actual game mechanics. Shadow the Hedgehog marked another poor installment in the rapidly declining Sonic franchise, and Bomberman: Act Zero is just one of the worst games ever made. Ever. So we get Mario and Sonic with guns and 100 percent more ‘tude, but the tradeoff is that the gameplay itself suffers.

Who knows? Maybe Super Mario Reloaded will buck this trend and deliver a game worthy of the Mario name. While the success of this movement will ultimately be up to the consumer, I will just never see why we needed a more brooding Mario. Is capping Goombas in the face really so much more appealing than stomping on their heads? Why would anyone think a cracked-out Koopa makes for a better villain? I already miss the days when the only firepower in Mario was the Flower and Bullet Bill. Only time will tell if revamping Mario’s image will succeed or backfire in Nintendo’s face, but I think as a whole, the gaming community should be very concerned with what is happening to its most important franchises.