Somebody has to say it; Mario can be insanely annoying. All that "Ya'HOO!" and "It's a'me!" stuff is cute in a "Oh you" kind of way, but when it's stretched over years of releases across hours of gameplay it starts to grate. A lot. Nintendo are sometimes referred to as the 'Pixar of gaming', in that their loveable cast of characters have that winning combination of perfectly-polished aesthetics and minimalist affectations that appeal to all, but in doing so they've stripped away everything that could make them appealing to anybody other than the biggest market possible. Whilst that's certainly true - and totally fine - with the so-cute-you'll-throw-up Kirby, in advancing Mario over the years to be this 3D-space mastering, costume-switching one-for-all hero, Nintendo seem to have just thrown any ideas at him and hoped for the best. It's bad enough that the newer 3D experiences can be infuriating messes where you're lining up overhead boxes with terrible camera angles, but when it's compounded by a porky plumber waddling around in a squirrel suit "Wha-hoo!"-ing every five minutes, it's damn-near excruciating. Some of us never saw the big deal with him in the first place, and chances are if you didn't grow up with 'that theme' as the soundtrack to your childhood, it's impossible to like the guy outside of just appreciating him for what he's done instead.
