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The Super Mario Bros. series
It seems that Mario is one of the few series that avoided the fandom strife and divisions that usually come with being a long-running video game franchise. I guess there might be issues in the spinoff franchises such as the infamous snaking debacle in Mario Kart, but overall, I don't see people writing "How To Save Mario" articles by the droves after every game (guess this is an invitation for someone to link one). I think this is due to a few things:
* Mario is humble. Yeah, seems paradoxical with the Galaxy games' GameRankings ranks, but platformers tend to rank lower on the video game hierarchy than epic adventure games. Thus, Mario doesn't have to deal with the burden of having to live up to the title of "Greatest Game Ever" like, say, Zelda or Soul Calibur. It seems people was okay with 3D Land not being as good as the Galaxy games as long as it was still fun on its own right, after all.
* Mario changes, yet stays the same. No matter what kind of new framework each game uses, the premise is constant: You run, you jump, you bop things, all to reach the goal. Even when Super Mario 64 put off a bunch of people with its new direction, Nintendo knew to steer the series to win back the old crowd while keeping the new uns around so they don't segregate the fanbase into, say, Old Castlevania and New Castlevania.
* Mario is simple. The gameplay is simple. The characters are simple. And yet, the games manage to capture the imaginations of many, especially since with such a ridiculous premise, they just roll with it and don't take it too seriously. It's easy for the series to maintain its own identity and not have to struggle to get with the times like Sonic and Final Fantasy.
So that's my unfounded opinion. I might be wrong about some things, but I always have been impressed at how the games have truly stood the test of time. Even with a few missteps, they are not treated as anything major and the quality managed to stay consistent for more than 25 years.
Comments
I think one key reason is that the Mario series was never really heavy on plot. People don't really take plot, continuity, and canon all that seriously. As a result, when silly, stupid, or even outright strange things happen, no one complains that much. Similarly, Mario is very blank-slate as a character, allowing different contexts and players to assign him different personalities.
That said, I remember hearing that Sunshine was the least-well-received main series Mario game so far.
I think that part of why this is so is simply because people don't expect much from a Mario game in terms of advancing the medium's storytelling aspects, but in terms of improving the medium itself, as well as the formula, rather than coming up with new gameplay.
This is not to say that Mario hasn't been innovative (Super Mario 64 set many staples of 3D gaming, alongside Ocarina of Time), but that Mario is not expected to be innovative, simply because the idea behind each installment is to play with the ideas that have been already established beforehand. Like, super mario bros. started with just two actions: Running and jumping. Super Mario Bros. 3 gives you the ability to maintain yourself in the air via a power up, and so on.
Speaking of Zelda, it's interesting. I think that part of the reason so much is expected from a Zelda game is because Ocarina of Time started turning the franchise into an innovative franchise. When a series has brought so much to the medium as Zelda has, you kinda expect the next installments to be better and to be more of the same thing at the same time. The same thing here not being gameplay per se, but the abstract qualities that make it good (Innovation, storytelling, etc)
I don't know, that's my take on it. --shrug--
Well, there's also the fact that there are relatively few Zelda games, and each one of them is expected to be a polished masterpiece. As opposed to Mario, who gets random side games all the time. That's also fitting for a character whose role is generally taken less seriously in terms of canon context.
Yes, but I don't think that we're seriously discussing the merits of Mario Party...
...right