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New Super Mario Bros. U Director Gives Thoughts On Why 2D Mario Games Sell Better Than 3D Mario Games

Mario_Peach_BowserIt’s no secret that 2D Mario games, such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, sell significantly better than 3D Mario games, including the critically acclaimed duo – Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

There’s no definitive reason for as to why this happens; however, New Super Mario Bros. U Director Masataka Takemoto says he thinks that, compared to the simple controls in 2D games, most people tend to be less comfortable with 3D controls and, therefore, prefer 2D Mario games over 3D Mario games.

“I don’t think it’s because one game is better than the other. It’s just that compared to 2D, there seems to be more people who are not as comfortable with 3D controls. And maybe a wider range of people were more accepting of the New Super Mario Bros. series, which may have seemed simpler to them.”

70 thoughts on “New Super Mario Bros. U Director Gives Thoughts On Why 2D Mario Games Sell Better Than 3D Mario Games”

    1. over wellemed the difficulty is higher in 2d marios as is the speed of the game play and the time to think about it ie also much reduced 3D MARIO fails to be like 2d mario and thats the fundermental problem…

      show me one 3D MARIO were its like 2d mario there isnt one mario kart stayed the same from 2d snes right to this day zelda went to 3d with out breaking the fundermentals maruo changed coins went bye bye for stars this star hunting thing wasnt mario and the gameplay slowed we need a3d mario thats like 2d mario in 3D space the simple fact is people see mario as the guy in 2d games and kart they dont conect to 3d mario sean malstrom has talked about this in his blog for years

      mario wii and donky kong wii had more gameplay and gameplay mechanics and difficulty than any 3d game on x360 or ps3 EVER DID THATS A FACT mario is about the gameplay fast paced tight perfect mechanics 3d mario doesnt really come across like that

      make 3d mario more like 2d mario presto yourvhalf way there

      1. I think by controls he means the fact that 2D Mario games only have 5 buttons left, right, down, sprint and jump. (At least I thought that’s what he meant)

  1. Well, took the words out my mouth.
    I still think the 3D Mario games are better, they have more creativity in their level design, and more variation. They’ve also got a great balance in difficulty, we all remember Luigi’s Purple Coins in Mario Galaxy.

      1. Wasnt really. Even Luigi’s Purple Coins isnt bad to me now, maybe i was bad at games back then. Perfect Run in SMG2 is pretty simple.

  2. It’s probably because Nintendo don’t advertise the 3D games as much as the 2D games. Over the years, I’ve seen pretty much all of the New Super Mario games have good advertisement. (or at least decent)

    1. you joking right? do you remember the one with super mario galaxy 2 ads, it was advertise like crazy, but it got outshine by nsmbw in the end of the year.

        1. I remember the first Super Mario Galaxy commercial quite well in the U.S. It had some no good actor playing the game in a movie theater in front of his friends before the game was released. Lucky jerk!

  3. Ummm… what? People aren’t as comfy with 3D titles… it’s 2012. Most of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s have been playing 3D titles since the PSX and N64. I think our minds can handle the 3rd dimension. The reason 2D games sell better is because there are A LOT of casual gamers out there intimidated by the skill and practice needed to master a 3D title, I suppose. Though I recall the transition way back when and it really wasn’t that difficult. As long as you have tight controls and a good camera system it’s a cakewalk. I’d love to see a new 3D Mario title and even as a diehard fan I am sick to death of the New Super Mario Bros. franchise. It never changes. At least the original side-scrolling Mario titles had the balls to change up the art style each time. This series sells but for fans like me it’s growing stale. And this from a man who has half of his office at home decked out in Mario memorabilia. We need a good 3D title between 2D releases. A lot of us would really enjoy another Super Mario Galaxy or something similar in the vein of the Mario 64 masterpiece. I’m glad retro is making a comeback, but sometimes it just comes off looking like a cost-cutting measure.

    1. I’m having a hard time thinking of a different art style that would fit in the Modern Mario Universe, Any Suggestions?!

      1. Is not a fact cause you said it almost nothing in life is fact the only few facts i can think of is that the moon is in space and that the water is wet.

        1. The moon is set in a Nevada movie studio the size of a football stadium.

          Yeah, I’ve been reading too much Billy Bat, so what.

  4. The 2d Mario games to me are simple to control, but very fun to play, whereas the 3d games are much better detailed and more challenging to control, but still just as fun. Yay hold me!

  5. It shows that if Nintendo had also made a 2D Super Mario World 64 for the N64 as well as a 2D Super Mario game for the GameCube, they would have sold very well and Nintendo would not have lost fans they lost during the N64/GameCube era.

  6. Motion sickness is certainly another reason. It’s exactly why a roommate of mine can’t find it in herself to play most N64 games.

      1. You can make idiotic statements all you want, that doesn’t mean you’re “disagreeing” with them.

        Galaxy 2 had 3D and 2D sections. /post

  7. Quit making excuses for why you haven’t made a 3D Mario title Nintendo! Just make it already… the world is waiting for Mario Galaxy 3 on the Wii U so chop chop! lol(kinda being sarcastic, but at the same time I’M NOT!)

    1. You honestly think they aren’t already working on the 3D Mario game for the Wii U yet? They probably started it years ago when the Wii U was in early development. Same with Zelda. Mario could be out by next Christmas. Nintendo might show it off at E3.

    2. Forgot to mentioned no SMG3. Time for the next step. We went from Super Mario 64 to Sunshine to Galaxy. New system means new type of game.

  8. Pls read its about sales not what they are making and i doubt that tezuka will be the directly involved dis time i guess

  9. I’ll always have a certain love for the 2D side scrollers. Heck, I still play NES and SNES games. But I have to admit, I think the New Super Mario Bros. series is simply too darn easy. Actuallly, MOST side scrollers are too easy for MY gaming skills. NOTHING compared to the amazing challenges and fun of Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2. Those games never ceased to amaze me. Every time I thought I’d seen it all, something else overwhelmed and surprised me. The New Super Mario Bros. series is OVER advertised. Man, they have products of all kids based on that series. Action figures, plushies, lunch boxes, puzzles, clothes etc. It’s CRAZY! I wish they had all of those cool Mario clothes when I was a kid.

  10. I tend to disagree, New 3D approaches to Super Mario are the way forward in this day and age.
    Graphics are one thing, but don’t waste the 3D capabilities of today’s consoles. I like the 3D platformers that have come out for the series, and I would love to see more of them on Wii U.

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  12. Well the main problem I have with 2D Mario games is that it’s getting boring (if you only play single player).It’s the same thing every time now. I have the opposite feelings with 3D Mario games.

  13. When I put my little sister (she is only 10) to play a Mario Galaxy, for the love of god she could not past the first level, she say it was to complicated for her; I understood her because when I was her age, I to got my first 3D Mario experience with Super Mario 64 and I find that game as complicated as Galaxy was for her. But both of us can handle pretty damn well NSMBWii and I hope NSMBU to.

    It´s as he say, it´s more easy to understand and dominate the controls of a game in 2D rather than the ones of a 3D.

  14. Ultimately, Nintendo needs both 2D and 3D Super Mario games to thrive. But they don’t make anything that competes with the multiplayer giants Halo or COD or the open world giant Grand Theft Auto, Nintendo needs to make something to compete with Halo and Grand Theft Auto. Bring back Star Tropics with online multiplayer and a big open world Faxanadu.

  15. 3D games aren’t just harder to play, they’re also harder to develop for. With 2D games, you just need layers upon layers and that’s it. With 3D, you gotta think in so many other ways besides layers. This is why 3D engines are often difficult to make and only a real expert in computer science can make them.

  16. When I first got Super Mario Galaxy 1, I wasn’t too thrilled about it. The rotating of the planets (Mario walking underneath them and not falling) was getting me very dizzy and motion sick. And I felt like the game just GAVE most of the stars to you, with hardly no challenge. It’s one of those games that I had to play half-way through before realizing how amazing it really was.

    As an advanced adult gamer who started out in the 1980’s on the Atari 2600, I appreciate the 3D games’ challenges as compared to the 2D games. I get bored if a game is too easy. And a LOT of 2D games are too easy. Including New Super Mario Bros. I wished for years that Nintendo would make some new side-scrolling Mario games. And when they finally do, they feel like they were intended for young audiences.

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