As a new writer here on Infendo, one thing I wanted to write on was game ideas that Nintendo COULD do. Lets face it, the potential of Nintendo’s vast array of franchises is near limitless, yet they seem to be limited at times to what will sell to their new-found casual market. Also, I want to clarify that this is not a hardened, perfected concept of gameplay, storyline, controls, mechanics, soundtrack, pixel coloration, voice overs, etc etc etc. This is simply ideas of what could be done with Nintendo’s wonderful characters (some of which have been horribly underused).
Take a look at the picture at the top of the article. This beautiful sprite art done by ~AbyssWolf over at Deviant Art, if you haven’t seen it, was done around the release of Super Smash Bros Brawl. When I first saw this, I thought to myself “SEE! THIS IS WHY SMASH BROS WOULD WORK ON DS!” Since then, as I have rethought the idea, the controls and multiplayer focus would not entirely lend themselves to the DS.
The idea of the entire Nintendo universe coming together on the DS is still amazingly appealing, however. And as I am now playing Mario & Luigi 3, as well as Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days coming next Tuesday, the gears have once again been turning on my wishes for a Smash Bros game on the DS. Imagine an RPG that brings the entire Nintendo universe together in the same way that Kingdom Hearts does with Disney and Final Fantasy worlds.
Although I admittedly have not played any Kingdom Hearts games in any serious fashion, the appeal of going through several worlds congregated into a single game is really cool. That was one of the most charming things about Smash Bros in the first place. So imagine a game where, through the course of the story, you are taken through the worlds Nintendo has created: Mushroom Kingdom, Hyrule kingdom, Lylat system, Sinnoh, etc. To make it less linear, perhaps provide something like a warp whistle to let you jump from world to world, and as the story progresses make the player go back to previous worlds to help unlock the mystery and treachery that is unfolding. Imagine one moment flying around little planets in the Mario Galaxy universe, the next participating in a race in the Blue Falcon, and the next barrelling down a mine cart level with Diddy Kong.
As you go through the game, each world allows you to play as a character from that world. Whether you have a new character for the game, much like Kingdom Hearts does, or simply stick to the characters that already exist, the key would be to have interaction between the characters. Although Smash Bros Brawl DID have a single player story mode, the cut scenes only hinted at possible relationships between characters. This would be essential in creating a compelling story and game.
Possible villains? I loved the idea of having all the bad guys team together a lot in Brawl, and to have a 25 hour RPG game based on such a team up would be epic. This could provide a great way of having world-specific bosses as well, with Team Galactic grunts blocking the way of our heroes, later finding out that Cyrus was working along side Bowser, Ganon, Andross, etc. I liked the dissension of King Dedede in Brawl as well (a hint of possible story twists in the game).
As far as presentation and style, a visual style based on the Mario & Luigi series would be perfect. Their platforming/overworld controls would be great. Battle controls could also be similar to M&L, though a totally new control scheme would be great as well.
I have been wanting a game like this for a long time, and I had to get it out there for discussion. What do you think, would this game work? How would you do it? Would you play it?