Net Ten: Ten Mario Sellout Moments (page2) Subscribe to this RSS feed

#5 Super Mario Bros. Movie - [ NES ]

It's a shame that the virtual Mario character had absolutely no influence on Bob Hoskins' Mario character in the super craptastic Super Mario Bros movie from Buena Vista. While it's no big surprise that a game-to-movie conversion went awry, this one had a distinct disregard for anything and everything that made the Mario universe special. You'll have a better time playing the original Super Mario Bros NES game blindfolded, one-handed, and holding your breath than sitting though the 1993 straight-to-trashcan production.

#5 Super Mario Bros. Movie
N/A average
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#4 Mario Party 4 - [ GameCube ]

The first generation of Mario Party games for the GameCube proved stale and uninspired. Rather than revamp the series and take it in a new direction, developer Hudson Soft decided to go with more of the same, loading up the disc with 50 mini-games, many of which were simply evolutions of previous Mario Party ones with improved graphics. While the series can be credited with birthing the party genre, I will rue the day that I show up to a "Mario" party unless there are plenty of "magic mushrooms".

#4 Mario Party 4
70% average
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#3 Baby Mario - [ SNES ]

Baby Mario was first introduced into the Mario series in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, though each subsequent appearance (Mario Tennis, Mario Golf) helped to make his character increasingly agitating. His cutesy interactions and "baby speak" earn him the title of most obnoxious Nintendo character and deserving of a swift kick to the grill--albeit a small one.

#3 Baby Mario
N/A average
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#2 Super Mario 64 DS - [ DS ]

The handheld remake of Super Mario 64 would have been the perfect counterpart / first release for the Nintendo DS...if the latter had an analog stick. Where the original N64 version was a perfect fit for the groundbreaking Nintendo analog controller, maneuvering the camera was a different story. Super Mario 64 DS is a beautiful game, had fun mini-games, and made creative use of the second screen, but without the analog stick, it's just plain goofy.

#2 Super Mario 64 DS
85% average
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#1 Mario Kart Double Dash!! - [ GameCube ]

Without a doubt, the biggest letdown in Mario land was Mario Kart Double Dash!! for the Nintendo GameCube. Perhaps the most anticipated Nintendo release of this generation, Double Dash!! is proof that little has changed since Mario Kart on the SNES. The sense of speed is mediocre and little was done to compensate for the lack of online multiplayer play, with the exception of a Crash Team Racing power slide rip-off and two-in-one kart action. Big deal.

#1 Mario Kart Double Dash!!
84% average
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