Plenty of games are released with no central story or unifying theme, but they rarely feature franchise characters, if any characters at all. Mario's best hope for a 21st century debut would require a radical alteration of his world and the characters around him; not so much that it would be unrecognizable, but enough that the series would be stripped of its magic. Mario's universe is a wonderful place, full of colorful characters, fantastic and bizarre landscapes, and plenty of freedom to head off in just about any direction imaginable. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the bulk of the game takes place in the neighboring BeanBean Kingdom, a setting entirely unique to the game and rife with possibility for new friends, foes and situations. The BeanBean Kingdom was introduced as though it had been there all along, and why not? There are no rules, no restrictions but for the limits of the developers' imaginations and the player's ability to rationalize the gaps in logic for themselves. But this freedom would prove stigmatic if it were new today.
Without the established history of the character, Nintendo would be hard pressed to find the same degree of success if Mario was launched in the modern era. But those same elements of Mario's design that would limit him commercially as a new IP are what sustain him as an existing character; his evolution, unlike Sonic's, has been about lateral expansion. And while nostalgia plays a big role in maintaining his relevance, it's the creative license and quality gameplay that cement the character as an irreplaceable piece of modern gaming.
Mario is a creation that was absolutely in the right place at the right time. Having firmly cemented the character in the minds of gamers around the world, Nintendo's got a blank check to run wild with the universe without worrying about focus groups, gray-brown palettes or creating the next Master Chief. In an industry in which satisfying consumer expectations has become paramount, those characters wrought in creative mania are bound to become few and far between.
Aaron Linde, reviews editor for Destructoid, can't pry Mario's cheery freakin' voice from his head. Share your sympathies with him at aaron.linde@gmail.com.
