Can Mario Games Be "Darker"?

[GennGreymane]

Can they? I am currently replaying the Paper Mario series and I think they can, in a more Alice in Wonderland kinda way (where things are just more fucked up then flat out darker).

I dont mean darker like Sonic Adventure 2 where the story was just.... wtf and everything from there was kinda wtf. I think Mario, like Zelda can go for the unsettling and eerie, just look at Super Paper Mario (not everyones fav, but its alright) there is a level that shows what will happen if you fail!

[A Chozo]

There are some instances of... darker places in the mario games, yes.

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time - the Shroobs enslaved toads to drain their life essence to make fuel. Toad Town is in ruins, and that ugly purple princess of theirs laughs while she sips some vine.

Like you already said - Super Paper Mario. Count Blumiere is veeery... sad. And the World of Nothing.

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team - The music from the dreamy Neo Bowser Castle is creepy. Bowser kinda got really really dangerous there. But Luigi got things fixed.

Super Mario RPG: The main antagonist is one creepy guy. "Then we could get rid of all wishes and create a world filled with...WEAPONS!!”

Rosalina's story is kinda sad. She lost her mom very young.

There are more but I can't remember right now.

[GennGreymane]

The shadow queen flat out kills ur audience to heal and so does Hooktail (who eats them and the toads are screaming as he does it)

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also just for fun

Guess who bow was when she was alive!

here is bow
https://i.warosu.org/data/vr/img/0024/19/1432279049887.png

Here is her when she was alive
https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/dormer.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1


they look so alike!

[Deleted]

turn the brightness down on your TV. put on some Nine inch nails on a low volume.
and Mario is now a dark and gritty game

Seriously though, would be interesting to see a really Dark and twisted Mario game. However, Nintendo will never allow one of their most beloved IP's become a sick and twisted game, No matter how many turtles he stomps on.

[Baneador]

Terror Piano



And remember the baby penguin, you can throw it from the cliff

[A Chozo]

The shadow queen flat out kills ur audience to heal and so does Hooktail (who eats them and the toads are screaming as he does it

Poor audience D: But hey, if Mario can stomp Goombas into oblivion, Hooktail can kill stuff too :P She's in her rights!

[Lotus Victoria]

It would be interesting. Like...let's say, Majora's Mask? Yea, I would love it.

[GennGreymane]

Remember when Mario is accused of murder in the penguin village

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Also remember when you think you find Koops's dad's dead body, but its ok because its not actually him?

(hootails castle)

[Edge-]

I mean, sure but...why? Do we really need another "dark/gritty" game?

[GennGreymane]

I mean, sure but...why? Do we really need another "dark/gritty" game?

Well the last couple have been the traditional mario style, its been a while since they made a eerie mario game and the paper mario series (other than sticker) did a decent job at providing a good narrative

[Woobels]

Sure it could be but it would be a pretty stupid decision.

Keep Mario the funny, tongue in cheek style game they are now please, darker locales, sure, but please don't make Mario edgy or grittier or whatever.

[GennGreymane]

Sure it could be but it would be a pretty stupid decision.

Keep Mario the funny, tongue in cheek style game they are now please, darker locales, sure, but please don't make Mario edgy or grittier or whatever.

Yeah thats why I say avoid the sonic route by making it just super edgy, the whole *this shits kinda fucked up* deal they did in the RPGs and Super Parper Mario are what I really am refering to.

These games also had a good balance between the formula we know and love and the eerie feel.

[Lotus Victoria]

Seeing a dark, mature version of a kid's franchise is interesting, if you do it correctly. Don't worry, you don't need to make Mario and Peach have sex, but it would certainly be entertaining to see Mario like Max Payne.

[Shinzai]

Clearly we need a 'Shadow the Plumber' game, with a black Italian plumber, with a gun. Yeah that should be a thing.

[Deleted]

Dark mario? i'd buy that.

[spinner981]

Probably, but its also probably not something that will be easy to pull off in traditional platformer Mario games.

The solution? More real Paper Mario titles. No stickers allowed. That is how to solve all problems, period.

[Deleted]

It's a me!

[Pony Soldier]

Sure they can. The Super Mario RPG game for SNES, Mario & Luigi series, and the Paper Mario games are perfect examples. They may not look dark but compared to your typical Mario game it's definitely darker as far as the story goes at least. Thing is Nintendo doesn't want to do anything but collecting coins, stomping on goombas and koopas, fighting Bowser and saving Peach for the 10,000th time. They don't want to change ANYTHING about the Mario games which is really annoying. There's so many great possibilities and ideas they can come up with for the Mario games but I guess your run of the mill sidescrolling Mario game is good enough.

[GennGreymane]

Remember when Bowser got a sex change in Mario & Luigi super star saga?

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Clearly we need a 'Shadow the Plumber' game, with a black Italian plumber, with a gun. Yeah that should be a thing.

And fight against those BLACK aliens....(that game was racist)

btw thought of this to ur comment

[Soulwind]

Mario RPG had a darker villain than Bowser, but Square has half of the rights so we probably won't ever see those characters again.

I think Nintendo is avoiding darkness by all means with the Mario saga. I'd be interesting if they had a more mature Mario universe completely separate from the other games, but I guess it goes against their design.

Maybe a couple decades from now, if/when Nintendo is run by other people, they would allow that kind of project.