I was playing New Super Mario Bros Wii over the past few days and started wondering if there are other games out there that are similar to Super Mario. I started brain storming and was only able to come up with Donkey Kong for the SNES. There were some other titles, but I discarded them because they did not involve the same game mechanics. Take for example Contra. It is a 2D platformer, but I discarded it because it involves shooting. Are there any other games out there that share similarities to Super Mario? If not, why are there none? FPS's are a dime a dozen and there are almost no differences between them.

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Original post by adam17 There were some other titles, but I discarded them because they did not involve the same game mechanics. Take for example Contra. It is a 2D platformer, but I discarded it because it involves shooting.

Why would you want to find games with the exact same mechanics as an existing game? And why would anybody with something other than money in mind want to make one without including something which differentiates their game from the inspiration?

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Are there any other games out there that share similarities to Super Mario?

There have of course been a few shameless Mario rip-offs over the years - consider

>Great Giana Sisters.

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If not, why are there none? FPS's are a dime a dozen and there are almost no differences between them.

Legal pressure is one reason (see the Wikipedia page for Giana Sisters for an example).

These days it's because a Mario clone is unlikely to be very profitable - it's largely due to the historical power of the Mario brand that games like New SMB Wii can even get a look-in in the modern commercial market: a clone of the gameplay without the well-known characters to back it up would probably go nowhere.

Cookie-cutter FPSs, on the other hand, are popular because they are profitable and in demand currently (which, personally, I see as only a bad thing for gaming) i.e., people roll out this kind of game purely because the consumers allow them to get away with it. Even given this, there is usually some token attempt to do something "new" with each title, even if only thematically (how about including some kind of bullet time feature!?).

Most platform games include more than just jumping, because players expect more. Plenty of them still have fairly limited mechanics, though - Spyro and Crash Bandicoot are two of the most popular early 3d platformer series, but there are plenty of 2d ones; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_platform_games. Commercial platformers these days tend to be 3d, but 2d ones are still released by independent game creators.

Among personal nostalgic favourites for me are Bugs Bunny & Taz: Lost In Time (the first co-operative platformer I'm aware of) and The Lost World : Jurassic Park for PlayStation, which is an action/platformer but still has limited mechanics and only a few levels allow anything except melee combat - unsurprisingly, since you play as a series of dinosaurs for most of the game.

WOW giana sisters is a blatant ripoff! im betting there was a lot of money lost over that.

as far as finding games identical to mario, that wasnt my goal. i was trying to figure out what makes mario sell millions of copies even though the genre is very old. it seems that mario is the only franchise that knows how to make a good 2d platformer. donkey kong for the SNES was amazing. it was a lot of fun.

as for it being the mario franchise alone? that im not sure about. if that was the case, younger kids say around 10 years old, would not be interested in mario. they would play it for a bit and leave it unfinished.

is it the story? it couldnt be. rescuing the princess is the main story. nothing more than that. the story in a porno is more engrossing lol.

is it the mechanics? mario is about timing with a touch of exploring. you need to time the jumps and runs perfectly to avoid enemies and/or get coins. this lends the urge to become perfect and gain higher scores and faster times.

is it the graphics? maybe. during the NES years of mario, no other game (for a while) had smooth side scrolling graphics. most games loaded screen by screen. every console after that mario was outshined graphically by tons of other games. the graphic style within the past few years may have some selling appeal. every mario game is cute and cuddly. take the turtles in new SMB. they dance with the music. fortunately it adds to the gameplay. donkey kong for the SNES (namely the second and third games) fall into the cute and cuddly category too. they sold tons, and they had nothing to do with mario. japan has a knack for cute and cuddly. look at pokemon and hello kitty. look at packaging for products. everything is super happy and cheerful.

i dont know. there is an essence that mario contains that draws players to it year after year, and i cannot figure it out.

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Original post by adam17 as for it being the mario franchise alone? that im not sure about. if that was the case, younger kids say around 10 years old, would not be interested in mario. they would play it for a bit and leave it unfinished.

I certainly agree that there is something about the gameplay and style of Mario which has remained a lot of fun over the years... It isn't purely the franchise driving the success, but it is what gives the games a chance to be played in the first place, allowing the kids to realise how awesome it is even when it doesn't align with current gameplay trends. The problem is that 2D platformers are still a lot of fun but just aren't cool enough to reach a large audience without a name behind them.

There are a few other side-scrolling platformers about which look like loads of fun but, because their mascots aren't as recognisable as Mario, it is far less likely that they will be taken seriously. Look at

>the new Rocket Knight for example - looks nicely designed and interesting but is probably doomed to a modest level of financial success.