LogFAQs > #906514324

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Ehh. To be fair, the original games didn't have a plot because they were released at a time when it was almost impossible to integrate plot into games due to technological limitations. And we as an audience accepted that lack of story because we understood there really wasn't much alternative, and we'd never really seen story-intensive games to contrast it against.

I get what you're trying to say, but this is false. Text base games have plots, and they predate Mario by a decade. Even then, Zelda and Metroid came out right after Mario.

The issue is, you're looking for Mario games to provide something it never did, and never said it would did. It was always a game about platforming, with saving the Princess a giant McGuffin just to get to the end. Where the Goombas come from, why mountains and cloud have eyeballs, and other aspects of the game are still largely unexplained today. Mario never promised a story, and expecting it at this point is like being mad that Ridge Racer isn't an FPS.

Hell, I'm not even sure what story one could even put in that would matter at all, since it'd still have to be framed around "get to the end and save the thing." That's why we have Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi games, for those that want Mario with a story. But the core Mario games have always been gameplay driven.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

But that was 30+ years ago. Since then, games have evolved, technology has improved, and plot has become integrated into most games to at least some degree. We've grown more sophisticated as an audience, and we tend to expect more out of games than we did in the past. We demand they do better because we've SEEN other games do better.

Again, not true. If you NEED story to go with your game, that's fine. There have always been games for that. Likewise, games that get acclaim to this day like Shovel Knight or Limbo are no more sophisticated story wise than Mario. And that's fine, since there's clearly an audience for games that are more about the gameplay/adventure/experience.

Basically, you're conflating game evolution with personal taste. The aforementioned games and franchises have evolved tremendously from where they started, but if Mario ain't your jam because you need a story, then that's on you, not Mario. And that's fine.
---

PotD's resident Film Expert.