I've tried really hard not to get sick of Mario over the years. He's the most recognisable video game character of all time and the reason video games are a cultural success with triple-A titles being distributed to a hungry audience each year. We owe the red plumber a lot for his contribution to making video games a mainstream success. But we're so sick of him. After 200 (two hundred) games, he's become a bit of a running joke for excessive job-hunting. He's been everything from a doctor to a paper aeroplane (seriously), with spinoffs and sequels veering off into yet more spinoffs and sequels with every console generation. We've honestly had enough. We've explored every facet of this character within the consistent paradigm of Nintendo gameplay and storytelling. We need either a break from Mario, or something radically different, though that seems impossible to achieve. The last Mario game to shake things up at least a little bit was Super Mario Galaxy, which utilised gameplay mechanics that made sport of gravity-based physics and beautiful graphics. The fun RPG aspects of the Mario & Luigi series has also been a significant step forward for the character, especially during these times when Mario himself doesn't constantly steal the spotlight. Are there any Nintendo characters you're sick of? Let us know in the comments.
Jon is the author of the Pixar Theory, the narrative that combines all of the Pixar movies in one timeline. You can read more about his random nonsense on jonnegroni.com
