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Mario Characters That You Think Should Be Playable/Show Up More in Mario Spinoff Games


Randoman
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What Mario characters do you think should show up more in Mario spinoff games? Or what Mario characters that haven't been playable yet in Mario spinoffs should be playable? Feel free to comment on the character picks of other SF members, so long as you're respectful about it. I'm particularly interested in hearing what characters I pick that you guys agree/disagree with, and why.

For the former, I think Kamek, Nabbit, Toadsworth, Boom Boom, Pom Pom, King Bob-omb, and Pauline should show up more. None of them have even appeared in a mainline Mario Kart yet (though some of them showing up in Mario Kart Tour is a good start). Also, fun fact: in the beta stages of Mario Kart 64, Kamek was supposed to be playable, but was replaced by Donkey Kong (that wasn't a bad of a choice in my eyes, though Kamek still not being playable in a mainline Mario Kart title 6 games later is a bit ridiculous).

For the latter, Wart, Mouser, and E. Gadd are definitely on the top of my list. I really think they'd have the potential to be fan favourite characters in Mario spinoff games, especially Wart. I suppose Triclyde, Fry Guy, and Clawgrip would also be cool additions to Mario spinoffs, but with their weird body structures, I can understand them being hard to animate and implement in Mario spinoffs (well, animating Fry Guy would likely be easy if they go with the "no hands" route). I'll admit, I've spent a bit too much time trying to figure out how Triclyde would ride a bike/motorcycle in Mario Kart games. At least Triclyde in a kart could work: with two heads steering and his tail on the pedal.

I've also felt that Poochy and Polterpup could potentially make for good playable characters in Mario spinoffs, though with their body structure being really weird for Mario spinoff games, I don't blame people who disagree. I still think their body structure would work for Mario Kart games, for both karts and bikes.

And if we really want to dig deep into Mario lore and find characters to use instead of generic enemies or baby/metal/fire/tanooki/cat/etc. versions of characters, there's:

Tatanga (the Super Mario Land 1 final boss, and a boss in Super Mario Land 2)

Foreman Spike (a rival/enemy in Wrecking Crew, who's confirmed to appear in the 2022 Mario Movie)

Stanley (from Donkey Kong 3)

Lakithunder (a boss from Super Mario Bros. DS. He's the only newcomer boss in that game with a body shape suited for Mario spinoffs.)

Boss Sumo Bro (a boss from New Super Mario Bros. U and Paper Mario: The Origami King)

Motley Bossblob (a boss from Super Mario 3D World. He's the only newcomer boss in that game with a body shape suited for Mario spinoffs, unless you're okay with Prince Bully and him having no hands)

Burt the Bashful (he's technically a Yoshi boss, but he's a heavily prevalent one. Also, the Yoshi series is far more tied to/connected to the Mario universe than the Donkey Kong or Wario universe, with Bowser, Shy Guys, and Koopas playing a prevalent role in Yoshi games)

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I'd like to see Captain Toad should appear in Mario Kart at some point as a tiny heavy character ("his backpack weighs a ton") and the minecarts from his game should appear as a kart.

I'd also like to see a sequel to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. That game was really fun, and I think they could do a lot more with the idea.

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Put me in the Kamek squad. I don't know what it is about him, but I'm charmed by the put upon Magikoopa. Though his list of appearances is pretty substantial, it's just the sports spin offs that he misses out on.

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Geno.

Mallow.

Smithy.

Big Yoshi.

Booster.

Knife Guy and Grate Guy.

Frogfucius.

So long as generic enemies are allowed to be "characters" (which I don't really agree with), might as well have Sniffit.

11 hours ago, Randoman said:

Foreman Spike (a rival/enemy in Wrecking Crew, who's confirmed to appear in the 2022 Mario Movie)

C'MON MANASCALCO!

11 hours ago, Randoman said:

For the latter, Wart, Mouser, and E. Gadd are definitely on the top of my list.

Yeah, those are good choices. I like Shy Guy quite a bit, so Mouser? A mouse with bombs? That's a 10/10 idea.

11 hours ago, Randoman said:

Stanley (from Donkey Kong 3)

This would be so random to basically any casual observer would have no clue what was happening and that's why it's actually an amazing idea.

11 hours ago, Randoman said:

Toadsworth

I do think this is a better idea than having generic toads be playable, but I feel like I'm out of touch on that one. I'll admit that Toadsworth and Toadette simply have less appealing designs than regular Toad.

Captain Syrup could be cool to have. She's the only recurring Wario Land character I can think of (besides Wario himself), and I think WarioWare should stay its own thing.

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13 hours ago, Randoman said:

Foreman Spike (a rival/enemy in Wrecking Crew, who's confirmed to appear in the 2022 Mario Movie)

Stanley (from Donkey Kong 3)

Don't have much to add to this post, but I'll say I didn't expect to see Wrecking Crew or DK3 references when starting the day and am pleasantly surprised.

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On 12/20/2021 at 10:52 AM, AnonymousSpeed said:

I do think this is a better idea than having generic toads be playable, but I feel like I'm out of touch on that one. I'll admit that Toadsworth and Toadette simply have less appealing designs than regular Toad.

Toadsworth is an absolute lad, though. And Toadette stands out by the "Smurfette" principle. I dunno, classic Toad feels boring to me. There are so many of them that I can't tell whether I'm seeing the same person, or multiple identical ones. Toadsworth and Toadette, at least, are at least distinct individuals. 

On a totally unrelated and not at all hypocritical note, my pick is Koopa Kid. Bowser Jr. has stolen the spotlight for too long. And the Koopalings bring neither the sass nor the work ethic of the Party-loving vaguely-minion-children.

Edited by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate
Formatting.
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On 12/20/2021 at 6:52 PM, AnonymousSpeed said:

Geno.

Mallow.

Smithy.

Big Yoshi.

Booster.

Knife Guy and Grate Guy.

Frogfucius.

So long as generic enemies are allowed to be "characters" (which I don't really agree with), might as well have Sniffit.

C'MON MANASCALCO!

Yeah, those are good choices. I like Shy Guy quite a bit, so Mouser? A mouse with bombs? That's a 10/10 idea.

This would be so random to basically any casual observer would have no clue what was happening and that's why it's actually an amazing idea.

I do think this is a better idea than having generic toads be playable, but I feel like I'm out of touch on that one. I'll admit that Toadsworth and Toadette simply have less appealing designs than regular Toad.

Captain Syrup could be cool to have. She's the only recurring Wario Land character I can think of (besides Wario himself), and I think WarioWare should stay its own thing.

Big Yoshi I'm not a fan of, but Boshi, now that's one cool ass Yoshi that should show up more.

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On 12/19/2021 at 9:59 PM, Randoman said:

(Posts thread topic "Mario Characters That You Think Should Be Playable/Show Up More in Mario Spinoff Games")

 

8 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

(Suggests tons of characters that aren't Mario related.)

No.

I specifically made this thread so we could brainstorm and think of Mario characters that would be good candidates/choices for the Mario Kart/Mario spinoff games, not so people can suggest any and every guest characters they personally want in. With all the complaints of generic Mario enemies and baby/metal/fire/tanooki/cat/etc. versions of Mario characters being used as playable characters, I made this thread so we as a group could think of and list good candidates that could replace Mario characters that people complain about, from a character roster perspective (eg: many people complain about how there's 4 baby characters stealing roster slots in Mario Kart Wii). I was interested in seeing SF members dig deep into Mario lore and list Mario characters that they think should have the spotlight in Mario Kart/Mario spinoff games, and perhaps have new life breathed into them (like what Super Mario Odyssey did for Pauline or what Mario Tennis 64 did for Daisy). Luigi's Mansion/Yoshi/Donkey Kong/Wario universe characters are fine, since they have heavy ties to the Mario universe.

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After the casting announcement for the upcoming Mario movie that has one female main character amongst a ton of male characters, my answer to this question is "literally any female character". Some personal favourites, though:

  • Pauline. Taking one of gaming's original damsels in distress and turning her into an actual character with agency and competence in Odyssey legitimately made me tear up, and I really hope Nintendo build on that.
  • Birdo. She shows up a decent amount, but she's one of my favourites, so I still want more. And I want proper trans Birdo and not "let's retcon that and pretend it never happened" Birdo, thank you very much.
  • Hariet. I just really love her character design with the bombs and the hair and would love to see her get some extra time in the sun.
  • Various Wario characters. I have never played a single Wario game, but I still know some of the characters like Ashley and Penny. If someone like me who doesn't care at all about Warioware thinks they'd be good additions to Mario spinoffs, then that can only speak well of them.
  • Queen Bee. I think she was in one Mario Kart game at some point? I think she could be cool in Mario sports games, though, where the combination of her size and flight could make her really interesting.
  • The Penguins from Cool Cool Mountain in Mario 64. Who doesn't love penguins?
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12 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

Jeez, sorry, I'll go ahead and delete my offending suggestions then. Actually, maybe I'll just delete the whole post and pardon myself from the topic altogether.

I apologize. I shouldn't have been so snippy about your guest character suggestions, and at the very least I should've been nicer in telling you to steer away from posting guest characters for this thread.

Guest characters in general just really frustrate me as a whole, especially with so many games these days focusing less on the original game's scope and more on which guest character will create the most hype/revenue, or which guest character will surprise people the most. (eg: Stars Wars characters showing up in Soul Calibur IV just to get Star Wars fans to buy it, Joker showing up in Mortal Kombat 11 to get sales from Batman fans, or Ninja Turtles showing up in Injustice 2 just because no one would've expected it) I suppose I can't do much to argue about the sales and money it brings in, but for fans of what the game series is originally supposed to be about, it's disappointing and feels like a betrayal to have the game image and game resources be directed away from what the game was originally supposed to be about. I mean, many people were angered over Joker making it in over Mileena in Mortal Kombat 11 (though she eventually made it in the latest DLC batch), or Mortal Kombat characters showing up in the Injustice games (especially with how Sub-Zero, Raiden, and Scorpion have showed up in 10-12 fighting games, while most iconic DC characters have only showed up in 2-3 fighting games).

One of the things that personally bothers me the most about guest characters is that in most cases, they hype up characters that are already popular and well known, instead of giving lesser known characters (and franchises in some cases) a chance to shine and potentially grow popular. I mean, Fire Emblem very likely wouldn't have been released internationally and become popular if Nintendo didn't give Marth and Roy a chance to shine in Super Smash Bros. Melee, who were unknown to most of the world at the time. Pit in Brawl and Kid Icarus Uprising is also in a similar boat. I really wish game companies would put more spotlight on their obscure characters, help their characters' popularity grow, and by extension, help their franchises/game universes grow as a whole.

In particular, Injustice 2 focusing more on guest characters than DC characters that could use the spotlight feels like such a waste of potential. You've got somewhat unpopular characters like Shazam, Stargirl, and White Canary with their own movies/TV shows, and they don't even bother to put them in Injustice 2 to boost popularity/interest in their movies/TV shows? (Shazam dying in Injustice 1 is no excuse, since they brought back Green Arrow and Joker despite both of them dying in Injustice 1 as well) DC characters outside of the Batman universe hardly get to be playable in video games as it is, and having a DC fighting game that barely scratches the surface of the DC Heroes/Villains library feels so disappointing and like such a waste.

Although putting obscure Mario characters like Wart, Mouser, or Kamek in future Mario Kart/Mario spinoff games may not be as impactful as my Fire Emblem/Kid Icarus Uprising examples, it would still help the Mario series/universe grow as a whole; expanding the amount of characters the Mario series uses frequently, and having more characters be known and loved by the fanbase. I tried to think of characters that would fit this bill, though with my unfamiliarity with Super Mario 64/Sunshine/Odyssey and a fair amount of other Mario games, I thought I should turn to SF for help, hence this thread's creation.

If anyone wants to continue with the "guest character beings good or bad" discussion, we should probably make a separate thread for that, since this thread is getting quite derailed. Again, I'm sorry for being harsh to you Lord_Brand. If you happen to have your old post saved, feel free to post it back if you're up for it. It was never my intention to have you delete your post, even if guest characters do frustrate me.

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