As I’m wrapping up E3 coverage over on CentralGadget.com, I paused for a moment and asked what was the real winner there.
No, it wasn’t the PSPgo (didn’t like it, sorry). It wasn’t the Project Natal (like OnLive, I’ll hold off judgement until it’s in the real world). It certainly wasn’t Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. No, folks, it was New Super Mario Brothers.
Friends of mine will probably gasp at that, as I am a Sega evangelist and typically shun most-things-Mario. Scratch that, all-things-Mario.
But, the game does underscore what I have been begging Sega (publicly for the most part) to do… get Sonic back in 2D. And, don’t pull a Paper Mario, but make a new Sonic game that feels like the old ones. It should have the graphics of the old ones. No, I don’t mean 8-bit, but the same texturing, the same shading. The same pseudo 3D elements (that don’t conjure up the word pseudo-3D when you play it).
Please, Sonic Team, rip off New Super Mario Brothers… because I was telling you to implement the idea long before there was a Paper Mario. And, to be honest, with Sonic churning out 2D games throughout the Game Boy Advance era, I don’t think anyone would consider it stealing the concept either. But, please, Sonic Team, don’t take the GBA-era and apply that to consoles… reach back to your Genesis (and Sega CD) roots.