Author: Mike Minotti / Source: VentureBeat
Two of my co-workers, PC editor Jeff Grubb and head of social media Anthony Agnello, are going to take part in a panel at PAX East in Boston next month to debate which games count as “core” to the Mario series. This debate has been raging on for some time now, and Jeff and I have discussed it ourselves on the GamesBeat Decides podcast.
I will not be at PAX East this year, so you won’t hear me scream my opinions during the panel. Honestly, I think that most of the selections should be obvious.
I can’t get mad if you say Super Mario Sunshine isn’t a core Mario game, because the idea is preposterous. Other titles, like Mario vs. Donkey Kong, are so far removed from the traditional series tropes and mechanics that there’s no real danger of anyone considering them.But then there’s Yoshi’s Island. Or, as some would love to remind us, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Its status is one of the most hotly contested. And while I won’t be at PAX East, I want my colleagues to know that I firmly stand in the “no, it’s not core” camp.
Let me be clear. Yoshi’s Island is a fantastic game. It’s one of the greatest 2D sidescrollers ever. But being a core Mario game isn’t about quality. I have three simple rules for what makes a core Mario game.
- Mario is in the name.
- Mario is in the principal character, meaning the one the player controls most often.
- Mechanically, it plays similarly to the traditional 2D (as started in Super Mario Bros.) or 3D (as started in Super Mario 64) molds.
This is how I come to my list of core…
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