My Ideas: Let's do someone else's idea this time.

The last post has inspired me to post something new for my ideas. As proud as I am of my original ideals, I also enjoy contemplating other game series and considering the paths they would take. Specifically, I consider how I would make the games if I had incredible power of the game industry. Would my version be better? How would my voice influence the game?

I already did this since I was eight or so with my Megaman ideas. But let's face it, a new Megaman isn't much for innovation. Toss in eight bosses with adjective names, design some levels, figure out the skeletal plot tying it together, and new game! Mind you, even here, I tended to go epic a few games in, but it never really became too complex, especially since I last made one in high school.

But I think Nintendo inspires me to try this again lately. Partially it comes from the long history of the games, with characters still going strong from my childhood and strong archetypal conflicts. At the same time, the games haven't changed much, encouraging brainstorming. What if the Zelda games had slightly different settings?

Even less story-driven series, like Mario Kart, can be innovated through some sort of plot. Smash Brothers Brawl inspired me on this case. They could have just as easily made another chaotic fighting game with slightly better graphics. Instead, they created an entire adventure mode featuring a unique foe that forced all the Nintendo characters (and some Konami and Sega characters,) to unite for their mutual survival.

And since the new Mario Kart caused so many...issues in me, I thought that was another series that deserved a more mature treatment, inspiring new levels as a result. In my version, I'll take advantage of the more serious plot of Mario Galaxy. Based on that game's ending, where the entire Mario universe was basically reset, Mario Kart Me (get it?) focuses on how the universe is changing. The story revolves around a new villain (working name Tinker) who exists outside of all universes and seeks out universes with new potential power and alters them to make them into factories that serve only him. Rosalina learned of this power and seeks out Mario and his friends (and inexplicably friendly enemies,) to harness the power of the reborn universe and return it to normal before Tinker could use that power for himself. The problem is the temptation to control the universe is too great for all but the purest of heart. As a result, when the racers get near that power, the universe starts to alter itself around the desires of the racers as they briefly gain the power for...about the length of a race around a track.

The first half of the new racers revolves around getting to that power via the obligatory tracks. With only two series of tracks, we'd have to cut out several of the usual tracks? The Luigi Track? Gone. The Peach/Daisy courses suffer the same fate, turning the Mario Circuit into the de facto first track. The first set also tosses in your typical beach tack (with a vague Koopa Troopa theme,) a standard ice track (with no character theme, because there is still not one ice-themed character in the whole damn series,) and conclude with a DK mountain track. I wanted to actually use the Donkey Kong games as a reference, after they were ignored, and base the level on the Kremling Island from Donkey Kong Country 2. The music consists of remixed music of various levels from that game, and the stage itself includes bramble jungles near the top before passing through amusement parks, swamps, and lava caverns near the bottom. The next series opens with the usual Wario/Waluigi muddy track reminiscent of BMX or monster truck courses, and continues with a Toad-themed highway level, a ghost house (after missing that stage for several generations now,) and Bowser's Castle to conclude that half.

The second half of the game moves from "the world that is" to "the world that will be," or "will bes" for short. The first set are mostly humorous. Luigi's track imagines him as a hero out of sentai series like the Voltron and Power Rangers that we're familiar with. His subordinates are all toads, save for love interest Daisy, and Mario works as a janitor. Like all these levels, it tries to tell a story as well. In this case, Luigi and his team serve as obstacles to fight the racers on the assumption that they're dimensional invaders, and by the final lap, the heroes merge to form a giant robot that serves as both a threat and an alternate path along the track at points.

The set continues with Yoshi tapping into an ancestral memory of when dinosaurs ruled the world, creating stampedes and flying reptiles as obstacles. Of course, they're all ancestors of Yoshi, so they all have goofy cartoon faces and saddles, which mean they can be ridden. Peach and Daisy end up sharing a level, so the level is divided perfectly to the beautiful, pink, and dainty Peach ideal, and a rougher Daisy version with a sports theme. The path often branches, so characters can choose the less risky Peach side or the short but dangerous Daisy half. Oh, and the theme music for the level has lyrics. And is a duet. Finally, Donkey Kong imagines a jungle-based city, much like those seen in fantasy. As the characters cross through the elevated bridges, ramps, and treetop huts, legions of apes will perform the Donkey Kong Country theme song, with the playable characters performing on the main instruments. That's more a musical tour de force, plus a way to apologize for all the crappy Donkey Kong levels.

The last track set, though, is more serious. The first is also the one I detailed the most. The racers arrive on Bowsapolis, a world were, simply put, Bowser won. The entire Mushroom Kingdom is a dark city, the toads are put into slave labor and attacked with hammers if they fail, and Mario is pilloried. I admit that this level could be a hard sell, for the record, as it significantly darkens the image of many popular characters in the series. For example, Peach is married to Bowser, and quite happily, what with it being his fantasy. There are even blond half-reptile children running around in the opening. The level also features the Koopalings after a long hiatus, who play the level's military-heavy theme song, imagining the Koopa nation as a fascist police state (hey, if the Lion King could get away with it...) Threats include sky-darkening rains of hammers, attacks by both Ludwig Von Koopa and Bowser Junior (though the two start to compete in later laps and eventually collide in their respective vehicles,) and even evil Peach attacks near the end.

The other three levels start with a Rosalina level, which starts out on her space ship/comet, but it soon takes a somber turn into her past, as she imagines the mother that died in her back story has been brought back to life. This moment of weakness to temptation lets Tinker take control, so the penultimate level starts as his fantasy; an endless series of churning machinery and smoke-belching factories. The first lap is a gloomy and dangerous run through here, but by the second lap, Mario's fantasy starts to take control as his pure heart gains control of the universe's potential power. The level becomes a story of triumph as Tinker lays defeated and the universe is restored to normal. This last step occurs as the characters ride the prismatic energy of the universe back home. In other words, we end with Rainbow Road as usual, but here it ties into the story of the game much more clearly.

Ideally, the game can be an easy source of downloadable content as well. Each could contain new characters and willbes for these and old characters, like Wario, who didn't make the cut the first time around. More importantly, the game would give a touch of class and just a new sheen to the new series. As the Mario series goes into its fifth console generation, it needs to make us care not just about the games, but also the characters themselves, and games like this give meaning and remind us and new generations why Nintendo is the master of the archetypal video game character.