Can Mario Games Be "Darker"?

[General Vezax]

Super Paper Mario has a world where you witness a giant black hole obliterate it as you progress. You then end up in the underworld.

The game literally kills Mario.

[Dasani]

No, they can't.

Nintendo is extremely, EXTREMELY pro-family. Family of course being the corporate word everyone uses for "we peddle to children primarily". They don't want a gritty or dark mario, he will always be goofy and fight goofy enemies.

Mario games are pretty fun when you're in the mood for that kind of platformer gameplay and I could see how a more dark or realistic style could be appealing, even desirable, but it'll never happen.

If it makes you feel any better though, in my head cannon, bowser keeps kidnapping the princess constantly because he is raping her and each time she is "rescued" she has another one of bowser's children and she just ships them back to him when she has them because abortion is unethical in the mushroom kingdom and she doesn't have the heart to kill it in it's crib either.

[Deleted]

Make a usual mario game, don't change anything.

When you win the game, show that it was all in Mario's head who was using shrooms.
Then Mario OD's and dies.

Pretty dark to me!

[GennGreymane]

Remember when Admiral didnt want to go to sea again because his wife died while he was out at sea and he blamed himself for her death?

[jakeic]

I can't believe no one has posted this yet, but a darker mario exists already...

https://youtu.be/fKr3Jkyy-l4

and i remember renting it from the Sinclair gas station.

[Mechazod]

I actually like the Super Mario Bros movie, because as far as its setting is concerned, that is how I would have liked to have seen a Mario RPG game look like (before SMRPG came out) with such a contrast to the usual Mushroom Kingdom and characters, yet not going full on darker gritty reboot territory.

I think most of the people here posting are not getting what the OP is saying when he means a "darker" Mario game. Think less Max Payne, Conker's Bad Fur Day and Grand Theft Auto and more along the lines of EarthBound, Majora's Mask, Final Fantasy 9, the original Jak & Daxter, Banjo-Tooie or the MegaMan Legends games. Darker undertones surrounding a mostly light-hearted or simplistic on-the-surface plot and characters. I totally agree with the OP and have been saying/wanting this for years as well (hence why I actually to an extent liked the Mario movie for what it was). It seems like the only Mario games that are really willing to take a chance with such an atmosphere are the Mario RPG games, the Wario series (the real ones, not Ware) and the Donkey Kong games that Rare released. There are of course some exceptions to those like some bits here and there from the Galaxy games and older titles.

Speaking of older titles, does anyone remember in the last world of Super Mario Bros 3 in the Koopa navy levels where it looks like the boats are sailing through a red sea of lava? Well you can jump into that shit and swim around so that aint lava...
Also I seen people mention sections of Super Paper Mario, but I haven't seen anyone state what the actual main goal of Count Bleck was in the game. Nothing short of complete and total destruction of every world in existence. Not to out there for most baddie goals in JRPGs, but certainly raised the stakes for a Mario game.
Oh yeah, also those Jason Vorhees enemies in Super Mario Land 2.

If anyone wants to see what a "darker" traditional Mario game could feel like, then the Wario series has been providing that for years. Virtual Boy Wario Land, Wario Land 4, Master of Disguise and Wario World all feature a mix of dark blended with the totally bizarre (even for a Mario game). The Virtual Boy one especially felt the least like a Mario spin-off with its underground labyrinth setting, chain-saw swordfish enemies and its straight up freaky demon final boss years before the Shadow Queen ever made her debut.

Also god damn Rudy the Clown in Wario Land 3.