Zelda Vs. Mario

[Majora's Cat]

I don't believe I saw another thread similar to this on ZD, so...

Which franchise do you believe truly represents Nintendo? I'm not asking which franchise you think is better, but rather which one suits the role of Nintendo's mascot more comfortably.

 

[LinksPastLife]

Well , I would Say Zelda cause Link/Zelda has more power then Mario, Also Mario does not have as my weapons and cool things in the game. But thats my Opinion. Oh , and I think they might be more Zelda fans.

 

[The Skull Kid]

I belive that Super Mario has proven to be the "face" of nintendo, not necessarily because it's better, but because it was FIRST. nintendo's first game was (duh) Super Mario Bros. the classic. then came SMB 2, then SMB 3, then the Super Nintendo came along with Yoshi's Island a.k.a. SMB 4. N64 came out all those years later with 3-D, then came one of the most memorable mario games from my childhood, Super Mario 64, come on, who didn't like swinging bowser around by his tail? When Super Mario Sunshine came out on the Nintendo Gamecube it had Mario, Peach and all the toads taking a vacation, a very well thought out game but no one considered this game a TRUE sequel to Super Mario 64.

COMING FROM A FAR AWAY GALAXY...yeah you know whats coming...SMG (no not the gun) 1 & 2. These have proven to be some of the best games of ALL time, what with the gravity switching, black holes, and who knows what else, and in SMG 2 here came yoshi! he had his own power-ups such as, the balloon fruit, the bulb fruit and the red hot chili pepper! several more power-ups made an appearence than the previous game such as, the drill mushroom, the cloud flower, and the boulder mushroom, and coming back from the previous game were items like the fire flower, and the spring mushroom and who didn't like turning into a bee or a ghost? that was fun!

Now think ALL the way back to SMB 4 (yoshi's island) after that, there was a yoshi's island done on the GBA, and later on the DS, they featured baby mario, a reasonable game, then there was New Super Mario Bros. on the DS but there was no original mario side scroller since SMB 4, until now...out of the blue with almost no warning nintendo releases NEW super mario bros. WII!!!! I think this was like the BEST side-scrolling mario games nintendo ever made in my opinion, mostly because you could play with 3 other people SIMULTANEOUSLY, and either play competitively trying to kill each other, or play cooperatively, and try to finish the level by helping each other. the best, or worst part (depending on if your good or bad at the game) of competitive play was the poison levels, or the lava levels, where it was too easy to get killed by yourself let alone with people out to kill you.

All in all mario has become the face of nintendo, 1. because it was first, 2. because it has more games, and three because it's just how nintendo rolls. Thats what I think, please read it, I pulled a shoulder muscle typing this, be greatful! hahahaha

 

[Cel-Shaded Deku]

Although I would love to see Link become the mascot Mario is better suited for the position. See the post above me for the reasons.

 

[The Skull Kid]

Although I would love to see Link become the mascot Mario is better suited for the position. See the post above me for the reasons.

hahahahaha, way to be lazy, but yeah, very good idea, look at the mini-essay above Cel-shaded Deku!!!

 

[KickinBird]

I think Mario more represents Nintendo just because the Mario universe is about a thousand times more crazy and spontaneous than the Zelda universe. Zelda is a lot more realistic compared to Mario: there's classic elements of the medieval setting, based mostly on swordplay, archery, and magic, and other things we see in countless other games. Nintendo has always been more about being completely original and truly in it's own league of creativity (with other series like Pokemon and Megaman and Metroid that really have no comparison story-wise), and the Mario series has always been the leader of the pack, so to speak. The most original, the most creative, the most "out there" if you will. Now, I don't mean at all to downplay the originality or creativeness of the Zelda series; it is in of itself a truly different experience compared the any other medieval-style fantasies out there, including Dungeons and Dragons, the Warcraft series, etc. Compared to the rest of the video game industry, Zelda truly does stand out. However, if compared to the Mario universe, there's really no denying it makes Zelda look like the thousands of WWII shooters we've seen in terms of creativity and originality. There's just no comparison, Mario is just so far out of any other dimension of game-worlds. What with all the different characters and enemies and the ways Mario fights them: Zelda slashes with a sword or shoots arrows (admittedly, things we kind of see all the time), while Mario is jumping on them or blasting them with giant water-gun things. It's just in a league of it's own. Also, I don't mean to use only the ways they fight enemies as a way of comparing their originality; I just used it as one example simply because the list of examples would be endless.
So there's my two cents. While I've never really been a fan of Mario or any other Nintendo franchise (besides Pokemon), and Zelda will always be my all-time favorite, when it comes to representing the absolute craziness that Nintendo is, Mario wins every time.

 

[Zelda Freak]

Mario. He's been an old friend of my game systems since I can remember, and he represents the epic lulz Miyamoto give me sometimes.

 

[dur.i.am]

Well , I would Say Zelda cause Link/Zelda has more power then Mario, Also Mario does not have as my weapons and cool things in the game. But thats my Opinion. Oh , and I think they might be more Zelda fans.

It doesn't matter about how much Power Link or Zelda has, because that doesn't mean anything when it comes to which out of the Zelda series and the Mario series is the face of Nintendo. The thing about there possibly being more Zelda fans is something that would effect it, however, I believe there are more Mario fans out there. I mean, I bet you can't find one gamer who hasn't heard of Mario at least once in their life, I think that there are many who probably have never heard about Link or Zelda. Mario's games appeal to everyone, Zelda's doesn't really do that for the main reason the Zelda series isn't anyway near as versatile as the Mario series in my opinion. I'm not saying you are wrong about that, but I'm sure that there are more Mario fans.

I'd have to say Mario, considering that he has been referred to as "Mr. Nintendo" by many, which already indicates that he is the face of Nintendo. He's a lovable character that all will recognise, Link/Zelda on the other hand, is not in my opinion. A Mario game has also knocked a Zelda game off the top spot as "Best Game of All Time". To be honest, the topic of this thread was won a long time ago anyway, even before Super Mario Galaxy 2 was even in the making, as Zelda doesn't have any equivilant games to classics such as Mario Kart or Mario Party...etc. Zelda as a whole was an underdog in this battle, and has been for a while.

Even though I wouldn't mind if Link was the face of Nintendo, I think that Mario is a more fitting character.

 

[Danlo]

I really Link but I have to say Mario, his games are very fun and sometimes weird but in a very funny way. And by he way, Today Mario Has it's birthday. 25 Years now

 

[Fraxinus]

As much as I enjoy killing Bowser and stomping koopas, Mario just doesn't give me that feeling of adventure. The Legend of Zelda has more developed characters, better plot, exciting gameplay, and excellent soundtracks. I will admit I like the Legend of Zelda more than Mario. I am more for swords than mushrooms.
As for Nintendo's mascot, I would go with Mario because it is one of their first successful titles, I believe. In my mind, they are just the dudes who redefined gaming. I don't think they really need a mascot, but they are more known for Mario than Zelda.

 

[bradley]

Mario is definitely the mascot. He is more recognizable as a Nintendo character to the general populace than Link is. Nintendo has been using him as their mascot for 30 years now and has ben doing fine. If they at least started adding Link as a mascot equally alongside Mario though, I think less "hardcore" gamers would have a reason to call Nintendo the kiddy console.

 

[insanity76]

Mario undoubtedly is the face of Nintendo .. he's been in just about every major Nintendo console's title launch, and has appeared in several other Nintendo games, whereas Link/Zelda has been exclusive for the most part to its own franchise.

 

[arkvoodle]

Of course Mario is nintendo's mascot. There's no debate there. Their logo (in some places) is Mario's hat, so that further proves my point.

IN terms of recognition, in a recent survey, it was proven that Mario is more globally recognised than Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse for crying out loud. Mario is bigger than the mascot of one of the most influential corporations in the world.

If he can surpass Mickey Mouse, he can surely surpass Link, who (at least in my area) is not really known by most of the new age gamers or the non-gaming community.

 

[TwilightZelda]

Mostly i would like zelda because its more adventurous and fun.

 

[Majora's Cat]

I truly believe Mario is Nintendo's mascot, of course as arkvoodle stated. Mario isn't always featured in stellar games (hello, Mario Party series)... but he sure is a phenomenon. Perhaps the reason for Mario's popularity is the 200+ games he has been featured in. There's no doubt for me that Zelda is ultimately better, but when it comes to Nintendo's figurehead, it's the mustached Italian.