Are platformers in trouble?
Again?
Sunset Overdrive for the XBox One had platformer elements and didn’t really do much of anything. 8 weeks in and its being outsold by the dismal Nintendo Land and the can’t-believe-I-am-still-in-the-charts Mario Kart Wii. The Super Mario games on the WiiU despite decent software-to-hardware ratio barely moved WiiU sales---combining the sales of both games and they still trail Super Mario Galaxy by at least 4 million copies, and trail New Super Mario Bros. Wii by over 20 million.
In case nobody noticed, but LittleBigPlanet 3 came out. In case nobody noticed, it did quite poorly. It trails the original by 4 million copies and can’t even outsell the Vita version---which didn’t do much better either. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze also came out in 2014, and disappeared off the face of the map by not even hitting its first million copies. The mediocre and jarring Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country sold better for crying out loud.
Last but not least, we have Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker make less than a whisper on the sales charts, not even crossing 500,000 copies. Not saying that I was right in that it should have been a Wario game (the franchise averages 2 million copies per entry, while missing a sequel for the past 6 years), but it does make you think why not label Wario on a game that has you collect money….
Come to think of it, where was Wario on the coin-crazy New Super Mario Bros. 2---which also is part of the downward trend as it sold less than a third of what the original New SMB sold….
So of course, with the sales of the genre on the downward spiral, the question is why, and the next question is how to end the trend? My main theory is that you can find far, far cheaper simple platform games on tablets, on smartphones, on webpages promoting television shows, and many other sources when compared to other genres like sports games, like shooters, and sandbox gems like Grand Theft Auto. Platform games are simpler to create and entertain so therefore you will find plenty of choices cluttering the market, leading to games like Tropical Freeze slide underneath the radar. There are still lots of seventh generation carryover sales, leading to the new-gen games suffering.
The bigger problem is that the high-budget high-profile platform sequels have lately absolutely failed to display why it’s superior to the previous installment and display why you should fork over the money to buy another game in the series. New Super Mario Bros. U was a launch title, yet still looked and played exactly like the Wii version. No level editor, no new characters, no major gameplay changes, and no additional goodies worthy of checking out. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze looked exactly like the Wii (and 3DS) installments, while failing to bring back the popular Kremlings villains that we had grown to love during the SNES days.
The lack of diversity and creativity is tarnishing the platform genre right now. Treasure Tracker might seem clever, until you realize that it’s just a spin-off from another WiiU game (Super Mario 3D World). Sunset Overdrive is at least a hybrid of Tony Hawk, third-person shooter, and platform---total shame it didn’t create Halo or Destiny sales. However Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Sockman, and Mega Man hasn’t seen dramatic changes or improvements in years, while other platform franchises have been eerily quiet for an even longer period of time (Banjo-Kazzoie, Conker, Earthworm Jim, Wario, Gunstar Heroes, Contra). This isn’t the first time the platform genre had a drought (Sixth Generation anyone?) but was saved in the seventh generation because of the influx of new platform franchises and revivals as well as the rise of indie gaming. But the overkill of games may have led to the fatigue.
To get out of the current funk, we need the platform genre to take the next step forward. Mario should find new and innovative ways to get from the beginning to the end, while simultaneously changing the rules on the 3D platform series. Sonic should refocus on speed and intensity, and should stop imitating the others. Wario, COME BACK ALREADY! Wario Land 2 and 3 are some of the finest platform gaming you’ll ever experience because of its extremely unique level design. Lastly on a personal level, I would love to see Earthworm Jim make a comeback and have an image makeover for the new generation.
Bottom Line: The platform genre has seen better days, as 2014 gave us acclaimed games that were outsold by all the competitors and seventh generation installments. It could be the fatigue, it could be the familiar looks that lost appeal to the gamers, it could be the overwhelming competition from all types of technology, and lastly it could be the slow transitioning to the next creative step. Whatever the reason, the sales are sliding, and it’s affecting even deserving games. The Age of the Platformer is done, and unless the designers can concoct some new recipes, it’s going to be this way for a while….
…especially for Nintendo, which thrives on the genre…..
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