Author Topic: Should we consider Skylanders SuperChargers a Mario spin-off? (Read 13389 times)

MamaWeegee · « **on:** July 03, 2015, 03:01:43 PM »

Hi!

I would like to know... If you want every Mario games (like me) from NES to Wii U, should you buy Skylanders SuperChargers since Bowser and Donkey Kong are playable?
Is this game kind of a crossover? A spin off? Or is it only a cameo?

Is Super Smash Bros. considered to be a Mario game?
What about Tetris DS?

In other words...
What does make a game a Mario game?

Tavros · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2015, 03:36:04 PM »

Now that I think about it, this is actually a decent topic.
As for my answer, I'd probably say a game that mainly features Mario characters, and if there's a plot, said plot heavily focuses on the Mario crew.
Smash wouldn't be one because though it has a decent amount of Mario characters, they aren't really the only featured characters. And in the one game that had a plot, Mario was just kinda... there. He was just as much as a driving force as Kirby or Link.
And SuperChargers is most definitely a cameo.

BP · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2015, 04:50:14 PM »

Spin-off: spun-off of something. Like when you have an unfunny sitcom and make another unfunny sitcom about some recurring background characters. Or when you make a kart-racing game with aesthetics and tone borrowed from a platforming series. Typically a spin-off is only really a spin-off if set in the same world with the same canon (barring an AU).

Crossover: The properties meeting have proportional representation. Mostly. You may just forget to include the titular character of your most mega-iconic franchise now and again. Oops.

Guest appearance: Yoda fights the soulcalibur people

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #3 on:** July 04, 2015, 06:13:48 AM »

Yeah, I would say it's about as much of a Mario game as all those realistic sports games he awkwardly appeared in on the GameCube.

Weegee · « **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2015, 08:49:45 AM »

Don't hate, bro.

Tavros · « **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2015, 09:59:36 AM »

It's as much as a Mario spin-off as SoulCalibur II is a Zelda spin-off.

MamaWeegee · « **Reply #6 on:** July 05, 2015, 02:21:02 PM »

Quote

Yeah, I would say it's about as much of a Mario game as all those realistic sports games he awkwardly appeared in on the GameCube.

Yeah, thinking about it, that makes sens...
I don't buy game in which Mario only makes a cameo (SimCity, Punch-Out!!).
But when Mario (or in this case Bowser or DK) is on the boxart, it's kind of a Mario game to me.

But I will probably buy this game (on Wii, Wii U and 3DS) when they will be very very cheap since I have almost every games where Mario is playable (including NBA Street V3, SSX On Tour, Smash, etc.),
Yes, I know I have a big problem! Buying a game just because some characters appear in it :(

The Chef · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2015, 02:27:40 PM »

Why wouldn't you buy Punch-Out!!? Punch-Out!! is awesome.

Link is on the cover of SoulCalibur II, and that's clearly not a Zelda game. It's a SoulCalibur game. Bowser and DK are on the covers of Skylanders Racing and Skylanders Superchargers, but they're not Mario or DK games. They're Skylanders games.

MamaWeegee · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2015, 02:41:04 PM »

Quote

Link is on the cover of SoulCalibur II, and that's clearly not a Zelda game. It's a SoulCalibur game. Bowser and DK are on the covers of Skylanders Racing and Skylanders Superchargers, but they're not Mario or DK games. They're Skylanders games.

Yes, I know. I guess it all depends of how you see that.
For example, on the Mario Wiki: http://www.mariowiki.com/List_of_games
Punch-Out, is not listed as a Mario game but SSX On Tour, NBA Street V3 and Tetris DS are.
On the TMK website, some games like Tennis on GameBoy are listed as Cameo appearances and allusions of Mario. On the Mario Wiki, this game is considered a Mario game...

In other words, I have problems to draw the line to distinguish what is a Mario (DK/Wario/Yoshi) game and what is not to have a completed collection.

BriGuy92 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2015, 04:28:26 PM »

I think it's probably not a great idea to rely on Mario Wiki for... really anything. It's kind of garbage.

Tavros · « **Reply #10 on:** July 05, 2015, 07:59:17 PM »

Mario Wiki is to Mario as Wikipedia is to everything. Some facts, but mostly lies and garbage.

MamaWeegee · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2015, 08:05:32 PM »

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I think it's probably not a great idea to rely on Mario Wiki for... really anything. It's kind of garbage.

Quote

Mario Wiki is to Mario as Wikipedia is to everything. Some facts, but mostly lies and garbage.

There is garbage on this website, I agree (some members of the online community, the useless newspaper...) but this is also one of the rare website with a complete list of Mario games.
Unfortunately, TMK seems to exclude Donkey Kong games from being Mario games. I think this is debatable.
For example, on this games list: http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/games/SNES , DKC2 is not considered as a Mario game, but the first one is.
I can understand the logic behind this, but I personally think that the Donkey Kong universe is the same as the Mario one.
MarioWiki also considers all DK games as part of the Mario universe.

Do any of you have another source (excluding the MarioWiki) with all Mario games?

The Chef · « **Reply #12 on:** July 06, 2015, 12:40:39 AM »

You kinda just demonstrated that the definition of "all Mario games" differs from person to person, which renders it impossible to point you to one source.

MamaWeegee · « **Reply #13 on:** July 06, 2015, 09:35:26 AM »

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You kinda just demonstrated that the definition of "all Mario games" differs from person to person, which renders it impossible to point you to one source.

I guess you are right.
And it is impossible to find an official list since Nintendo will never admit that Mario Is Missing, Hotel Mario and other obscure games exit.

BP · « **Reply #14 on:** July 06, 2015, 01:54:20 PM »

I have a Super Mario Bros. Movie drinking game. It involves going into the comments section of any YouTube video or article or log post or forum thread about the movie and taking a shot every time you see one that says something like "Everyone seems to hate this movie but I actually like it!" or "This is just one of my guilty pleasures!" Is this one canon yet?

CrossEyed7 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 06, 2015, 02:14:40 PM »

I enjoy the Super Mario Bros movie in the same way that I enjoy the Flintstones movie -- it's a stupid, badly written movie that doesn't fit the mood of its source material, but it's got really nice set design. Flintstones had way better casting, though. And acting. And scientific accuracy.

BP · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2015, 02:23:47 PM »

Close enough

slurp

Tavros · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2015, 05:08:26 PM »

BP hates nothing more than his liver functioning correctly
Also it may be because I first watched it as a moronic doodlerbooty child, but I kinda like watching it.
For reasons other than revelling in its stupidity, I mean.

CrossEyed7 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 06, 2015, 07:06:49 PM »

tavros we need to stop enabling bp's alcoholism

The Chef · « **Reply #19 on:** July 06, 2015, 07:54:04 PM »

I enjoy the stories of how the movie got ~~made~~ ruined far more than the actual movie. They should make a movie out of that: "The Making of the Super Mario Bros. Movie: The Movie". I'd love it.

BP · « **Reply #20 on:** July 06, 2015, 08:02:50 PM »

i just think

actually i hardly remember it, i remember the mattress surfing scene [wtd] is this the princess diaries

it wasn't really even that good as its own thing, it wasnt funny and it wasnt bad enough to be so bad its good it was just kinda really forgttable and boring and that's even worse

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #21 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:07:15 PM »

Quote from: The Chef on July 06, 2015, 07:54:04 PM

I enjoy the stories of how the movie got ~~made~~ ruined far more than the actual movie. They should make a movie out of that: "The Making of the Super Mario Bros. Movie: The Movie". I'd love it.

Those docs about Apocalypse Now, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and even non-made flicks like Jodorowsky's Dune and the Nicholas Cage Superman seem to have done well, so this is actually extremely plausible.

Sqrt2 · « **Reply #22 on:** August 12, 2015, 05:12:52 PM »

Quote from: CrossEyed7 on July 06, 2015, 02:14:40 PM

I enjoy the Super Mario Bros movie in the same way that I enjoy the Flintstones movie -- it's a stupid, badly written movie that doesn't fit the mood of its source material, but it's got really nice set design. Flintstones had way better casting, though. And acting. And scientific accuracy.

To be fair, the source material for the SMB movie (ie SMB1) is pretty flimsy given that it's not a story-driven game (in fact, none of the main series Mario games are), and it would be very hard to make it into a decent movie.

Back to the question at hand, the obvious answer is no. Donkey Kong and Bowser are simply guest characters in the Skylanders universe, like Link is in Soul Calibur 2.