Here's a debate that really ultimately doesn't matter to your health, well-being, and stability: Do you rate a piece of art/entertainment based on the context of its time or based on how it stacks up against the more evolved artifacts that have come since? I'm going to say - mix both these criteria and maybe Super Mario Bros. comes in at 4 stars. But then add a dash of "screw it," and you get my five star rating.
Nintendo has come to dominate the narrative of the 80's, painting itself as the savior of the video game industry after Atari nearly buried it in a landfill. So it'd be fascinating to see what would have happened to a franchise like, say, Pitfall, if Atari had remained in the game. Maybe then you'd get a rival to Mario. But as things stand, the sheer audacity of Miyamoto and Nintendo in taking a character from their blockbuster Donkey Kong franchise, warping him out of his vertical arcade roots, and transporting him into a world where the background wasn't stark black space created something that can still be picked up, played, and enjoyed until the heat death of the universe. Screw it, five stars.
Nintendo has come to dominate the narrative of the 80's, painting itself as the savior of the video game industry after Atari nearly buried it in a landfill. So it'd be fascinating to see what would have happened to a franchise like, say, Pitfall, if Atari had remained in the game. Maybe then you'd get a rival to Mario. But as things stand, the sheer audacity of Miyamoto and Nintendo in taking a character from their blockbuster Donkey Kong franchise, warping him out of his vertical arcade roots, and transporting him into a world where the background wasn't stark black space created something that can still be picked up, played, and enjoyed until the heat death of the universe. Screw it, five stars.