" @schizogony said:

" Man, I don't know.   I haven't played a Mario game since the abysmal Mario Sunshine. "

Am I a bad person for thoroughly enjoying Mario Sunshine? "

" Mario peaked at 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is uninspired and too segmented. I'm not being Armond White here, I just think the planet system kills a lot of the charm and the space theme just makes me wonder why they don't do Star Fox games anymore. "

" @Ignor said:

" Super Mario Sunshine had the best atmosphere >=| Also this topic is 3 months old. "

@Deusoma said:

" Personally, I thought Mario peaked at Sunshine, but then that's just my opinion. "

You're both crazy. "

The first post looks like it's just copied and pasted from some other site.

I think when we start hearing things about a "realistic, gritty mario FPS" we can start worrying about whether he's hit his peak.

Mario has definitely not reached his peak. His games are getting better and better.  
 
And Sunshine was at the very least a decent game. Screw anyone who disagrees.

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Mario peaked at 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is uninspired and too segmented. I'm not being Armond White here, I just think the planet system kills a lot of the charm and the space theme just makes me wonder why they don't do Star Fox games anymore. "

I loved SM64 and Sunshine, but I'll take the superb, focused game play over big open levels any day. To call either Galaxy uninspired is a real unfortunate use of words. That's like calling the latest greatest car "uninspired" for continuing to use wheels and an engine. "

" @YoctoYotta said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Mario peaked at 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is uninspired and too segmented. I'm not being Armond White here, I just think the planet system kills a lot of the charm and the space theme just makes me wonder why they don't do Star Fox games anymore. "

I loved SM64 and Sunshine, but I'll take the superb, focused game play over big open levels any day. To call either Galaxy uninspired is a real unfortunate use of words. That's like calling the latest greatest car "uninspired" for continuing to use wheels and an engine. "

But no one is going to call the greatest car 'the most innovative car of all time' without taking into account that no one makes that kind of car anymore anyway. "

" @HandsomeDead said:

" @YoctoYotta said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Mario peaked at 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is uninspired and too segmented. I'm not being Armond White here, I just think the planet system kills a lot of the charm and the space theme just makes me wonder why they don't do Star Fox games anymore. "

I loved SM64 and Sunshine, but I'll take the superb, focused game play over big open levels any day. To call either Galaxy uninspired is a real unfortunate use of words. That's like calling the latest greatest car "uninspired" for continuing to use wheels and an engine. "

But no one is going to call the greatest car 'the most innovative car of all time' without taking into account that no one makes that kind of car anymore anyway. "

They will. Especially if it provides a better driving experience than almost every other contemporary car. "

Mario and his games is awesome, and that's enough for me.

" @Icemael said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" @YoctoYotta said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Mario peaked at 64. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is uninspired and too segmented. I'm not being Armond White here, I just think the planet system kills a lot of the charm and the space theme just makes me wonder why they don't do Star Fox games anymore. "

I loved SM64 and Sunshine, but I'll take the superb, focused game play over big open levels any day. To call either Galaxy uninspired is a real unfortunate use of words. That's like calling the latest greatest car "uninspired" for continuing to use wheels and an engine. "

But no one is going to call the greatest car 'the most innovative car of all time' without taking into account that no one makes that kind of car anymore anyway. "

They will. Especially if it provides a better driving experience than almost every other contemporary car. "

Show me the contemporary platformers that Super Mario Galaxy 2 has outperformed. "

Super Mario Galaxy outperforms every contemporary platformer. Although for the life of me I can't think of too many other contemporary platformers. Which kind of proves my first sentence.

I thought Galaxy 2 was rather disappointing.  But I really loved the first one, so perhaps that's because it was more of a sequel rather than an original new Mario game.
Definitely wouldn't say they've peaked though, Galaxy is arguably the best in the whole series.  I'd at least rate it next to Mario World.

Mario will never peak.  I thought Mario peaked after Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario RPG, Mario and Luigi, Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Dude you basically state Galaxy fans are simpletons being cheaply tricked into liking something for artificial reasons then wonder you're not being treated in a civil matter. Get real.

" @ryanwho: Perhaps not fooled, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people who played Galaxy loved it because it reminded them of the Mario they loved as a child and all those callbacks got the nostalgia flowing. I'm obviously missing the point but when people just tell me they found it fun, that's great and everything, but talking like it's not a step backwards in game design from Mario 64 and Sunshine just seems bizarre to me. "

History says no... I thought mario had hit its peek with Mario 3 on the NES, then Super Mario came out on the SNES and I thought that had to be the best it was gonna get, but then Mario 64 came out and blew me away, now Mario Galaxy 2 is breaking records with its review scores... So yeah, I thought Mario had hit its peek along time ago but time marches on and Nintendo keeps pulling aces outta there sleeve.

That we're asking this of a series that has been relevant and quality for 25 years should already answer the question.

We can't know that anything's peaked until after it's ended and the same applies for Mario. We could have assumed the series had peaked after Mario 64, we could have assumed it peaked after Mario Sunshine, but Nintendo kept on making awesome Mario games. I'm sure they'll have lots more quality Mario experiences to come but even if they didn't the fact that the series has stood up this well after 25 years is phenomenal.

" That we're asking this of a series that has been relevant and quality for 25 years should already answer the question. "

" @HandsomeDead said:

" @ryanwho: Perhaps not fooled, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people who played Galaxy loved it because it reminded them of the Mario they loved as a child and all those callbacks got the nostalgia flowing. I'm obviously missing the point but when people just tell me they found it fun, that's great and everything, but talking like it's not a step backwards in game design from Mario 64 and Sunshine just seems bizarre to me. "

So why do you think it's a step backwards?  And Icemael is right; there's very little in terms of direct nostalgia in SMG2 aside from the Throwback Galaxy, in which the attempt to evoke nostalgia is intentional. "