The Problem with Spin Off Games
Although Mario Kart is a great series, and generally is immune to the problem which is being discussed in this article, the other spin offs have this problem in droves. But what is it? It is simply that the games are not Mario based enough, that they are too far based on the real world or realistic styles of gaming. And yes, this is mainly aimed at Mario Gold and Mario Party.
But what do I mean? Take Mario Party. At first, there was at least a minor bit of Mario series reference in the levels and mini games. You had an island with Thwomps, Bubba and Yoshis. A battlefield with Bob-ombs and a Fly Guy. A jungle with Whomps, boulders, etc. Not so much I guess. Mario Party 3 did better. It had huge amounts of Mario like background detail besides the boards. The mini games starred all kinds of obscure Mario characters and enemies. You know the drill. But it's games like Mario Party 5 that killed this. A dream world? Okay you'd think, maybe some nice references to Super Mario Bros 2 could be made here. Some come backs. But guess what? You get a bland weather type world with hardly anything Mario related besides possibly a snowman and cheep cheep statue. You didn't really have that much that referenced the games. Sweet Dream had practically nothing to do with Mario. Toy Dream had only Mecha Bowser and just generic toys. Come on Nintendo, use some imagination! They did the final Bowser board and battle semi well, but they generally do that quite well every time. But Toy Dream could have had a basis on Shy Guy's Toy Box! That weather type place could have had Huff and Puff, the giant snowman from Mario 64 and a pond of Cheep Cheeps. Sweet Dream, if it was possible could have been a bit better like Cake Lane from Mario Galaxy (mixed with Sweet Sweet Galaxy). Those generic pieces of junk could have been in any party game from Crash Bandicoot party to Sonic Party to Mickey Mouse Party. You can do better Nintendo. Same with a few of the later game levels. Mario Party 6 or 7 had a level with windmills. When has that ever been based on a Mario series game? It had another level called Neon Heights based on a (not particular Mario themed) city, another called Pagoda Peak based on a generic Japanese/Chinese mountain setting with an oriental theme. None of these have ANYTHING to do with the Mario series, being almost fully designed from scratch by Hudson and could been in any generic party game known to personkind.
Another example of not so Mario design is Mario Golf. I know, Golf in the real world is hitting a ball in holes with a club. So yeah, Mario Golf needs that in it at least to be golf. But it's the course designs. But from what I can tell, the designs of the levels are not particularly Mario related but more so to do with real world type golf courses. That's something I will criticise. Mario is meant to be wacky. Yeah, and with advanced strategies as well. But Mario games are meant to apply at least some of the Mushroom Kingdom theming to the games, not base them off realism. In the real world, such levels would be fine. In the Mushroom Kingdom, they are not.
Compare these games to a good example of what a Mario spin off series should be like, the Mario Kart series. In Mario Kart DS, there are a few boring courses, yes, but there are also some excellently designed ones which truly are based off of Mario's adventures. Take Luigi's Mansion for example. You race into a mansion, see the ghosts from Luigi's Mansion in paintings with the same kind of decorations, exit through the graveyard with tons of boos swarming around and then go through a spooky swamp in the forest which surrounds the mansion. Yeah, moving trees aren't that good an idea, but when you add a very thematic piece of music for the background theme, that is when you get a level which truly reflects the Mario series. Another really good example is the final track of the Star Cup, known as Airship Fortress. A real masterpiece of track design this is, and one which draws heavily off the classic games. First there is a long path with Bullet Bills being fired from the airship cannon (which is based exactly on a said type of ship from Super Mario Bros 3) and then a quick trip across the deck while avoiding Rocky Wrenches. Followed up by a trip through the hold while avoiding boxes and jet engines from Super Mario Bros 3, you get to a massive cannon and shot through into a tower, racing back round to the start line. That is Mario themed. The enemies, the scenery of airships and castles in the sky, the awesome music. That needs to be the kind of area in Mario Party/Tennis/Golf, not some pathetic generic 'wacky' map or a real world look alike.
However, I will say that a good game needs to not be made boring or broken by the additions. Items, enemies and scenery is fine, but stopping the whole game while you pull off an invincible super move in a cut scene ala Mario Power Tennis is not. The game needs to be about the game, but also about the Mario based action, wackiness and just items flying around the arena and causing stuff to explode.
In conclusion though, remember one easy sentence. The Mario series is not like 'reality', and hence should not be depicted as such. Seriously though, base those spin offs of the main games, because generic junk will get the same low scores and criticism it always did until you do.