Nintendo has been going through a rebranding period. The company’s iconic franchises such as Mario, Zelda and Pokemon have seen new games released this year in the form of Super Mario Odyssey, Breath Of The Wild and Detective Pikachu. We are on the precipice of what could be Nintendo’s most successful era yet with Blockbuster titles lined up for release over the next few years including Metroid Prime 4, Yoshi Switch and Luigi UDS 3: More Happy Than Not. How will these reboots affect future gaming trends?
Nintendo has been rebooted a few times in the past. Some video game series that need a reboot include: “Mario”, “Zelda”, and “Pokémon”.
Reboots sometimes receive a poor name for substantially diverging from the original material’s unique qualities, whether in terms of gameplay tone, cast, or anything. Every time a long-running series gets a revamp, it sounds like the beginning of a slew of caution signs. This was especially true for movie series in the 2010s, but don’t forget about the slew of gritty reboots in the 2000s, when Japanese studios were attempting to appeal to a wider audience: DmC Devil May Cry, Bionic Commando 2006, Bomberman Act Zero, and so on.
Reboots of video games, on the other hand, are often superior than their film and television equivalents. Tomb Raider 2013 by Crystal Dynamics breathed new life into the brand with stunning action sequences and a deeper look into Laura Croft’s background. God of War 2018 from Santa Monica Studios offers us a fresh action adventure with an emotive cinematic hook, while still technically continuing Kratos’ revenge against the gods. Finally, Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden 2004 accurately adapted the savage hack-and-slash action of the 2D games into the third dimension, spawning a separate franchise.
So, where does Nintendo fit into this picture? Over the years, their reboots have had their share of triumphs and disasters. Let’s get started with the excellent ones. Since 1996, when Donkey Kong Country got its third mainline entry, the series has been relegated to spinoffs and cameo cameos in Mario titles. Retro Studios, the same team that successfully brought back the Metroid series at the start of the decade, was assigned by Nintendo in the late 2000s to reproduce the charm and difficulty of the Donkey Kong Country brand. As a result
Donkey Kong Country Returns was created, and it was a huge hit, launching in November 2010 and generating an even greater sequel in Tropical Freeze.
Punch Out is a series that is almost as ancient as Mario and even started in arcades, although it is nowhere near as popular. Outside of an Assist Trophy return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the series went dormant after its fourth outing on the Super Nintendo. Nintendo joined up with Next Level Games, the company behind the Mario Strikers games, in the mid-2000s to bring this boxer back into the ring. Punch Out Wii is the culmination of their efforts, a cel-shaded throwback to the glory days of boxing, complete with a cameo from Donkey Kong himself! From the fourth episode forward, this revamp would be Little Mac’s ticket into the Smash Bros. series.
Then there’s Kid Icarus. The series grew from modest beginnings to two 8-bit forays before dying just as quickly. Brawl was released in 2008, and many people were acquainted to this strange angel child and his mighty queen. This piqued Masahiro Sakurai’s curiosity in a new Kid Icarus game, and he gladly obliged. Kid Icarus Uprising, released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, totally reimagined the series’ concept, replacing the originals’ platformer origins with an action-packed third-person shooter on rails. To top it off, there’s fresh and hilarious voice acting and banter, a plethora of weapon options, an excessive number of challenges and collectibles, and a complete online multiplayer component. It’s no surprise that over 10 years later, fans are still clamoring for a port or sequel.
Reboots, on the other hand, often fail in one way or another, and as a result, the series is canceled. In the 1990s, Wario Land was a hit on Nintendo’s handhelds, but it quickly faded away. With Wario Land Shake It, Nintendo and Good Feel teamed together to bring the series back to the Wii (known as The Shake Dimension in Europe). And, although it was a charming hand-drawn 2D platformer in its own right, it didn’t do very well in the sales rankings. Star Fox made its last appearance on the DS with the divisive Star Fox Command. With Star Fox Zero, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and PlatinumGames returned the brand to its roots, but the game’s GamePad-centered control system divided consumers in two. Finally, and most sadly, with the Superstar Saga reboot in 2017, AlphaDream sought to return Mario & Luigi to their beginnings. However, owing to poor promotion and poor timing (it was released between Mario Odyssey and Metroid Samus Returns), it and its sequel, Bowser’s Inside Story, were among of the worst-selling Mario games of all time. Let’s hope the next Advance Wars remakes don’t follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.
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A discussion topic about Nintendo and rebooting classic franchises. Reference: forgotten nintendo games.
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