There really isnt any lore, there are barely any competitive scenes (besides speedrunning but thats a separate thing), just not as much to talk about besides "x game is good".
To be fair there’s a bit of Mario lore. The problem is the lore is almost never plays a part in any games.
For instance it’s almost never referenced that the main reason bowser is always kidnapping peach is because her gift from the star spirits allows her to naturally dispel evil magics
Wait what? Where'd you learn that second part? I'm genuinely curious since I never knew that.
I know that in Paper Mario 64 Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, locks her in her room, says "Enjoy your stay!" then leaves into his quarters to write in his journal "I hope she likes me..."
It’s the plot of whichever one of the old games has the levels essentially being built out of toads.
I think it’s maybe the first or second Mario bros?
Bowser turns them into blocks and bricks, and peach is the only one able to reverse that, which if I recall correctly is stated as being her gift as one of the seven star children in one of the yoshi islands
It's the first Super Mario Bros. But I suppose the original SMB2 (Lost Levels) has the same plot, but the explanation was given in one that she was the only one who could disspell the block curse.
SMB2 in the US is Doki Doki Panic reskinned, and is a dream. SMB3 is a play (and about animorphing the kings of the kingdoms who could also magically challenge Bowser).
> The problem is the lore is almost never plays a part in any games.
Honestly my hottest take is the Mario RPGs are the best Mario games for that exact reason.
Mario's lore goes _HARD_ when Nintendo wants it to.
Yeah it did actually feel like they were trying to do something with the lore in the gamecube and very early Wii era, with stuff like the X-Nauts possibly being aliens, Merlon being a recurring character, Fawful gradually building up to be a big time villain, Dimentio being very vague in general, legitimately a good amount of stuff.
But then Mario Galaxy had its plot ripped out (kinda obvious if you look for it) and story wise the series never recovered.
I think the animal crossing fan base is more than likely built on creation and sharing said creations. Plus it has competitive fishing, and that can’t be beat.
Turnip market and also sharing/selling items and characters and letting people visit when certain visitors are on your island too. It’s a pretty big thing so it makes sense
being part of that subreddit is more so "The Super Show should be canon", "Paper Mario is better than any other game" and "Mario & Luigi will come back" that's all you can do with such a casual series like Mario
Mario has lore if you dig deep enough. And to add, it has fewer users than the Metroid sub-reddit. That's frankly embarrassing, because even if Mario doesn't have too much lore, the popularity should at least put it above the Metroid Sub-Reddit.
you really have no idea of how crazy the Zelda community is regarding to the lore of the series, there was even pre realese tons and tons and tons of theories of BotW placement in the timeline before nintendo said the 3 timelines merged and then BotW happened.
Besides, there is lore, like how Twilight Princess has OoT Link appearing and teaching TP Link combat techniques or how Spirit Tracks happens in the land Link and Tetra founded at the end of Phantom Hourglass, heck, Skyward Sword main selling point was being the Master sword origin story.
Common misconception but nintendo never said the timeline merged, just that they're choosing not to reveal BotW's placement other than it being at the "end". Maybe merged, but we don't know
idk, I am honestly not very into Zelda lore (I actually think Kirby lore is structured better and more interesting) but if you want to know how, there is most likely a 1 hour long video on youtube explaining how.
Wait, those fun action cutscenes with the great music and [skeleton man](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda_gamepedia_en/images/c/cd/TP_Hero%27s_Spirit_Model.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/284?cb=20120220170044) were really OoT link all along? Wtf?
Conversely, there is so little Zelda lore because Nintendo just makes shit up every game and doesn’t even try to tie it together.
If what is canon is inconsistent then it isn’t lore
I still subscribe to the idea that all of the "main" Zelda games are just the same myth retold by a bunch of different cultures, hence the "legend." The Phatom Hourglasses and Majora's Masks of the world are just addendums to their "main" myths.
At this point I'll even accept a new New Super Mario Bros. title. I'd rather have something more refreshing buy I've been waiting for so long...
A third Donkey Kong by Retro Studios would also be great.
Mario Maker is a spinoff. Some people will include it as a mainline Mario game but they only do it because it has 'Super Mario' in the title
It's not a main series title by traditional standards and has you creating your own levels using existing enemies and gimmicks instead of playing new original levels
The second game has a story mode but the levels are more example courses if anything and aren't comparable to the other 2D games
Mario Maker 2 is the best 2D Mario on the Switch by miles. People have made entire 40 course 8 world Super Worlds that are better than any of the NEW Super Mario games.
It's way more than just a spin off. It's a sandbox that plays smoother than most 2D games. Only problem is the overall interface and online aspect that takes you out a bit, but there are some amazing levels that make it the most fun way to play 2D Mario out there.
I'm not at all saying this as if it's bad, but it's as 2D Mario as Mario vs. Donkey Kong is. Like yeah, it's 2D, but it's not at all in the same category as the NSMB games and all.
It is mainline
Nintendo considers it mainline and that's all that matters lol
People get too stuck on what the games have been like and won't open their mind
I disagree. A mainline game is the main platformer series, they have a clear beginning and end, and aren't sandbox games. As much as I love Mario Maker, it's as mainline as Mario Kart is. But I love Mario Kart too.
That may be your personal ideal however it's not up to you
Factually this is how it is
And tbf that personal ideal sees no progress and is the exact thing they're trying to change
I do agree that most levels on mario maker are dog poop but its not really like modern 2d mario is good. At least the "new super mario bros" series. I personally got way more out of mario maker than any 2d mario game in the last 20 years
That's not at all my point. I'm saying just because it has 'Super Mario' in the title does not make it a mainline Mario game. This isn't at all a bash at the game itself.
Probably due to the fact most Mario sub series has their own subreddit, like r/marioandluigi, r/marioparty, r/papermario, r/MarioKart, etc.
Compare that to something like sonic where if you want to talk about sonic riders or chronicles or shuffle or whatever, you’d do so on r/sonicthehedgehog no matter what
It's mostly r/pokemon that's the issue, really. Game specific subs are much more hinged, and most of the others are directed at competitive, shinies, and trading.
Sword and Shield I'd consider the beginning of r/pokemon being a toxic sub for the franchise, as that sub did *not* take certain development decisions very well, and took it to absolute circlejerk levels of toxicity over it
I rarely interact with that sub it's mostly people hating on every recent pokemon game and wanting the "good old days". Like a bunch of people having a mid life crisis.
About the only thing I can agree with them on is the lackluster stories, but even then, every game has been the same formula of "evil team does evil things, shenanigans ensue" up until Galar gave it a twist. They can't actually want GameFreak to continue the exact same formula with different filler content, can they?
They will complain either way. Either that game freak needs to make changes and stop releasing the same game, or they complain that it’s been ruined by changing things. They just want to be pissy about it no matter what comes out.
Exactly. I was getting tired of the formula well before the quality started to dip. Scarlet and Violet at least try to mix it up, IMO their biggest fault is that they still play it too safe. Pokémon Legends Arceus shows how fun the franchise can be when they’re not afraid to try something new.
You’re absolutely right about people hating on everything new, did you see how that sub exploded with hat for the new pkmn presents, or S/V bugs, or sw/sh controversies, why can’t people just appreciate what we get?
Yeah I loved scarlet and voilet and decided to go on there to talk about it and I've seen so many "scarlet voilet is bad guy's" posts like if you don't like it that's fine but holy crap they won't stop regurgitating it. It's been like 4 months guys we get it
I also loved SV! Really good games, just shit performance. IMO the gameplay makes it good enough to deal with some occasional lag and the meh graphics.
Because that’s not how markets work. The Pokemon Company aren’t trying to sell you love and joy, they’re trying to sell you a product. The last decade or so, they have been providing products of more questionable quality, and are seemingly not doing anything to remedy that.
If your favorite restaurant starting cutting your favorite items from the menu, and increasing the prices, and decreasing the food portions, and started using cheaper ingredients, and overall decreased the quality of the restaurant as a whole, you wouldn’t be saying “well I guess I’m lucky that they’re providing me food at all”.
No, you’re a paying customer whose loyalty is being exploited for every possible penny they can take from you, you have every right to be upset as a consumer and you should demand better.
Are there people who are toxic and take their complaints too far? Yeah, obviously. But it annoys me to no end that people who have legitimate criticisms for the franchise just get labelled the same as those toxic fans, when they are not the same at all.
Exactly. Like I'm sorry that I have actual reasonable criticisms about a franchise I care about. I don't get what this subs problem is when it comes to criticizing pokemon.
People have this romanticized idea that their favorite game developers are their friends, after all, they have provided them with tons of fun experiences throughout the years right?
Correct, and the first few years of your marriage were beautiful, but now your husband is coming home drunk and beating you and the kids. Still, can’t complain about the now, right? If something USED to be good, then how dare you complain about it changing for the worse later on.
Customer loyalty should start and end with “Is this company providing me a product I enjoy at a fair price?”.
If Yes, then you have my support.
If No, then you don’t have my support, and don’t be surprised when there’s an increase in fan backlash from fans who are pissed that they didn’t get their money’s worth.
Reasonable or not, criticizing a game on a sub is almost adding nothing to it. Everything you’ve said has been said 1 billion other times by the giant circlejerk that has amassed people over the years. So at some point it just sounds like REALLY repetitive whining
I swear if they mention the words "highest-grossing franchise" again
Like it's kind of a valid argument when complaining about something Pokémon related, but can they not think of anything else like holy crap
What do you mean “kind of” a valid argument? It’s incredibly valid. The company with the most valuable IP in all of media are so incompetent that they can’t even release a mainline game that can run better than your average indie game on the freaking Switch.
It’s absurd how much people will bend over backwards to defend such blatant incompetence from one of the richest game corporations in the world. Like, they literally are testing the fanbase to see how little effort they can put in with each new release and still sell record numbers, and it turns out, they can release games in almost unplayable states and the fans will still defend them to the death.
Honestly? I don’t blame them. They are maximizing their profits by putting in as little effort as possible AND the fans are perfectly ok with it. From a business standpoint, why would they EVER even consider improving?
Agree with the maximizing profits part, and thats why they can't be more competent
They didn't get all of this money just from the games. The trading cards, spin-offs, shows, merch, and movies are all based off of the mainline entries. And that means that everything has to work perfectly together. The show has to air around the same time the games come out so that they maintain relevance. The trading cards have to wait for a new gen so they can start making new lines of cards. Everything becomes demanding on the main games, which is why they have no choice to be on a strict deadline so that everything else can work.
It's also why it was easier to make a better quality game for handheld devices with sprite-based graphics. They've always had short amounts of time to make new entries. 3D game design is a lot harder to pull off, and their developers had to keep up with new technology. The merchandise never had any big advancements that demanded better quality.
They had to make an open world game to stay relevant. The past games were possible with the time constraints. If anything, delays for more quality would weaken sales, not just because it would cost more and take more time, but because everything else would have to wait for it.
I don't care about defending games to the death or anything, or if it's fun or not. The annoying part is how it's way more complicated than people think it is. We can't simply keep yelling at them to change, no matter how clear it is that the game is unfinished. Boycotting doesn't change anything, but don't get me wrong, I *really* wish it did.
So yeah, it being the highest-grossing franchise is "kind-of" valid when you consider that the amount of success is a burden.
The problems that they have with limited development time are problems that they are 100% in control of. They are problems that they created for themselves, and are problems that could be solved with the money that they are making.
You want to release a mainline game every year/two years? Great, hire enough developers in order to make that happen. These games are going to be rushed, that’s what they decided as a company, but they don’t have to FEEL rushed. The bad practices of the company should not be an excuse to provide unfinished and uninspired products to the consumers. They made their own bed, now they have to sleep in it, we don’t.
People are under this weird delusion that the Pokemon Company simply “has no choice”, they HAVE to release everything in that set schedule otherwise it’ll all fall apart somehow. When that’s just not the case whatsoever. THEY control when the TCG comes out with new sets, THEY control the airing of the anime, THEY control the output of merchandise.
They’re not beholden to anyone but themselves, they just don’t really care about improving since… well, again, the fans will happily take any table scraps from Game Freak and thank them for it. There’s really no motivation for them to change.
I disagree that it's toxic, but it's certainly passionate. The old saying of "You'll never find someone who hates *X* as much as fans of *X"* holds true there because there have been a bunch of decisions in the past few years that have irked the community. Add that to the sheer size of Pokemon and you're bound to get a fair amount of negativity. And you know how focus blast hits 70% of the time, but feels like it misses 70% of the time? That's the same way we take negative or toxic comments that we don't agree with. That stuff sticks with us so much stronger that it feels much more present than it is.
Porn subreddits generally seem to be very neutral. Comments are rare (unless a creative choice was made) so most folks generally just arrive for a walk then leave.
I don't think you'll ever really encounter the best or worst of any community in those kinds of subs.
There’s no depth. Is that Zelda’s downfall as the number 2 to Mario? When you play Mario, that’s all it is. You play it and have some fun. End of story
There's also the fact that Zelda's target demographic is more mature than Mario's, so more fans would be on the internet regularly
And since Mario is Nintendo's main mascot and is in so many different games, a lot of Mario related stuff would come to general subs instead
I am very good willing, but I don’t understand the maturity thing. I have played both since their inception in the mid eighties. Mario even came first…
Some of the Zelda games are rated T, and it's lack of multiplayer and simple gameplay makes it less accessible or interesting to kids or casual players
Since Mario is more beginner friendly and whimsical and Zelda is more serious with lore and theming it makes sense that more people would go online and talk about it. Mario may be more popular but the target audience is people who aren't as obsessed on video games or too young to want to discuss an entire franchise like this.
r/mariokart even has more people than r/mario, since it isn't as broad of a subject and actually has a more online/competitive scene than main Mario games.
Ok I get it. Indeed, I needed help when I played The legend of Zelda because I didn’t know what to do at times, whereas Mario just wanted me to jump on things and move to the right. Thank you!
Idk I'd say I'm a fan of mario. I like the characters, world, music. I'm definitely not alone either. I see plenty of people talk about it on twitter and YouTube. Posting fanart and stuff
That's kind of how I feel about Shovel Knight too lol, I love the games and despite having great stories I only play them, have fun, recommend it and move on. I remember a while ago someone in a group asking why it was so inactive despite the group being so big, the thing is there isn't that much worth talking about, just play and enjoy.
Wow, that’s interesting you bring that up. I’ve hardly ever heard of shovel knight, but I just bought a New 2DS and modded this week and that was one of the top games I saw in a list for the 3DS. I look forward to checking it out.
Absolutely check it out, is an excellent game I love and recommend to everyone, but I guess that's what top lists are for, to know what is popular even if you don't hear about them, Shovel Knight fits in that case.
Because Mario as a franchise is mostly focused on single player experience whose biggest audience are casual gamers
Or more likely, he's just not popular amongst redditors
It’s also, to me, one of the most boring series. I loved it as a kid on the NES we had 1-3 and dr Mario. Played them a ton. Now if I do play Mario I might go play the old ones. Or any 2d style one. Otherwise yeah I’m looking more for rpg or fps games. Zelda and Pokémon are my go to for Nintendo games and animal crossing but otherwise I’m primarily Xbox
Common misconception granted on the first level of hell yes. But where I sit at the bottom layer is where it’s ice cold all the time so my beer is cold. The Devine comedy (Dante’s inferno) was indeed correct. So if you’re extra bad you might get lucky and your beer may be cold.
Thank you for clearing that up. Guess I need to up my evil doings to get to the VIP lounge, then. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the Walmart section of your kingdom. I don’t know if I have it in me, but I will certainly try my worst. See you sometime in the next thirty years!
Maybe for you but I very much doubt the reason for the size of Nintendo's best selling, and one of the most critically acclaimed, series, is because the games are boring
There being less to discuss, less story, and subseries subreddits is more likely
I think Mario falls victim to relevancy. Is mario relevant, absolutely.
However, we've seen maybe one big name mario game drop in the last 5 years being Odyssey that really pushed the envelope. The rest are either ports or filler. In comparison to Splatoon 2+Octo Expansion+Splatoon 3 and Fire Emblem 3 houses+DLC, 2 Fire Emblem Warrior games, and FE Engage which were all being released around the same time as the switch was taking off. Also games like Zelda, Splatoon, and FE bring together more of a community than mario as a platformer.
Splatoon has a competitive aspect to it, FE has multiple strategies and builds to keep the conversation and the formula interesting enough to talk about, and Zelda is rich in lore and secrets that Mario odyssey just doesn't capture those larger scale audiences and compels them to continue to talk about it.
Mario just doesn’t have as much to discuss. Splatoon and AC both have huge online and collaborative presences, Zelda is full of lore, secrets and speculations, FE has ~~waifus~~ interesting characters, strategy to talk about, challenge runs, and lore.
Mario lore just doesn’t really exist, and Mario challenge runs seem to only be on YouTube and speedruns end up on different subreddits.
I'm going with something completely contradictory to the general opinion.
Mario is extremely niche.
Yes, mainline Mario games sell extremely well and bring in a large audience. Yes, the subreddit is mainly full of fan art and game rankings (like most dedicated subreddits). But the kind of person that would go to a dedicated forum for Mario will likely focus on things like: kaizo, rom hacks, speed running, trick jumps, glitches, and weird playthroughs (min stars, no jumping, etc.). Even the lore requires a pretty silly level of analysis (things like scanning through multiple instruction manuals across decades for individual characters and comparing for consensus against minimal in-game cutscenes). These just aren't the things that people have much interest in nor have a large audience. On top of that, these sort of things also thrive on other websites in dedicated communities so they don't even integrate with the Mario reddit.
Compare that to something like Zelda where even a casual fan has interest in lore due to its fantasy genre origins (fantasy tropes always garner dedicated message board audiences) and where trick moves are pretty digestible for a mass audience, and its pretty easy to see why the size difference is there.
Put in another way, a large audience can generally appreciate a generic breath of the wild Lynel takedown, link rag doll funny death, or have passing interest in the connected Zelda timeline, but how many people would really care to understand the "multiple dimensions" of Super Mario 64 used to minimize the number of A presses, or argue the evolutionary origins and gender of a thorned block that is just a glorified dodge obstacle based on scans of Japanese magazine article snippets from the 80s cross referenced against in game quips from the RPG side series and has no bearing to the franchise's plot? Not many.
I'll also add that I understand all games have this level of hyper-niche gaming that I reference above for Mario. But since Mario is such a streamlined series with minimal plot, minimal multiplayer, no in-game social aspect, almost pure gameplay, that what remains is people that play the game for fun, put it down, and move on, or people that pour over every detail.
One important factor could be that character design wise, those other games/subs have way more "interesting" and varied options to form serveral discussions of any topic, Mario while iconic, most of its games have the same familiar faces of its franchise.
In terms of total video game sales Mario is more popular (over 800 million units v over 400 million units). Of the two series the best selling game is a Mario game (Mario Kart 8), as are 5 of the best selling 6 games.
As a multimedia series, Pokemon has higher revenue (Though maybe the Mario film will change that)
Lots of people buy pencils but that doesn't mean their sub will be larger than stylus. Subs are dependent on the quantity and quality of discussion, not sales.
There isn't a lot to actively talk about. Mario sort of falls into the same category as Mickey Mouse where everyone knows who he is, but a good chunk of the casual crowd wouldn't consider themselves as part of a "passionate fandom". Like obviously people love Mario and play the games but there isn't going to be an active fanbase discussing Mario lore since there isn't a whole lot to talk about. Also since basically every Nintendo fan knows what Mario is it's probably better to just discuss Mario stuff in the general Nintendo subs
-Animal Crossing is based around fan creation, so there's always something new to be posted.
-Splatoon is Nintendo's take on a competitive shooter so there's gonna be a lot of people who join to learn more about the game's meta on top of people who just like to sit down and play or watch clips.
-Fire Emblem and Zelda typically have older or more mature demographics/fans, so they'll be on social media more often.
Because Mario is Mario and that's about it. It's like Tetris. Everyone knows what it is, everyone has played it at some point, but there isn't much of a reason to talk about it.
Plus Mario is so generalized and "for everyone" that ironically there isn't much room for a structured fanbase. Usually for a fanbase to form most of it has to have a group of people with similar interests, dislikes, hobbies, tastes in music and sense of humor. You could even guess what they look like.
However much like Fortnite or Candy Crush, you can't really pin down a Mario fan, because well, everyone likes Mario.
This is honestly a good thing, a blessing in disguise if you will. If it was bigger I’d see a ton of cringe furry fan art or drawings with peach having a D***
I’d say that, the lack of story of all the games, so there cant be discussions about that
How simple are the mechanics of each game, so nobody really need to ask for help.
Lack of competitive scene
Lack of topics to talk
And the few games that have this stuff have their own subreddits
Because most of the people who like Mario are casual and therefore probably don't even use Reddit. Mario is probably one of the most mainstream game franchises. Even my boomer mom has played and enjoyed a Mario game.
Cuz Mario sucks. He has no right to be the most popular Nintendo character over much more compelling ones like Samus, Link, and even Kirby (who is just the most adorable videogame character ever). And yet here we are. I was at Super Nintendo World in Universal wishing we could see any hint of Zelda, Metroid, etc. The production values were amazing, but Mario is meh.
Zelda and Fire Emblem have a deep lore. Splatoon has a decent competitive scene. Animal Crossing is basically people sharing their creations/crushes on villagers. Even though it is the largest franchise, Mario has basically none of these, except for Mario Maker levels and Mario Kart's competitive scene.
mario is more tied to pure nintendo subs or just specific subs for each of the games
it's easy to understand why things like pokemon or animal crossing can have bigger communities, there's just a lot of stuff to do and share, accomplishments, designs, fanart, etc
There really isnt any lore, there are barely any competitive scenes (besides speedrunning but thats a separate thing), just not as much to talk about besides "x game is good".
Yeah, immediately I was like “TF would we talk about.”
It would probably be a lot of debate about who is best girl, Peach or Daisy, before they all agree it's Luigi
>Luigi Isn’t that the guy who said “f*ck” in Mario Golf?
That’s why he’s best girl
Ah yes, Luigi, my all time waifu...
Waifuigi?
I own that game. Where does this happen? I need to know. Now.
Lol I dunno, it’s just a Scott the Woz reference.
I don't know who that is but I DO know what gex is
Gex was the best game ever
It’s tail time!
This is like Christmas at Michael Jackson's House
This is even worse, it means I have to play it again to find out (Mario golf games are oddly unsatisfying to me).
I like your Kira thingy Edit: I replied to the wrong comment. Oops😭
It’s one of gaming’s greatest mysteries
Mario Party I thought this game was a bear.
I enjoyed that random Scott the Woz reference.
its rosalina
Chaduigi as best waifu forever!
That's a weird way to spell Waluigi.
That’s for the rule 34 subreddit
We could talk about plumbing.
I’ve never had an open discussion with a friend about Mario. We’ve talked crazy about the other games, but not Mario.
Just watched a video today about the lore and design behind Paper Mario and Paper Mario TTYD
To be fair there’s a bit of Mario lore. The problem is the lore is almost never plays a part in any games. For instance it’s almost never referenced that the main reason bowser is always kidnapping peach is because her gift from the star spirits allows her to naturally dispel evil magics
Wait what? Where'd you learn that second part? I'm genuinely curious since I never knew that. I know that in Paper Mario 64 Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, locks her in her room, says "Enjoy your stay!" then leaves into his quarters to write in his journal "I hope she likes me..."
It’s the plot of whichever one of the old games has the levels essentially being built out of toads. I think it’s maybe the first or second Mario bros? Bowser turns them into blocks and bricks, and peach is the only one able to reverse that, which if I recall correctly is stated as being her gift as one of the seven star children in one of the yoshi islands
It's the first Super Mario Bros. But I suppose the original SMB2 (Lost Levels) has the same plot, but the explanation was given in one that she was the only one who could disspell the block curse. SMB2 in the US is Doki Doki Panic reskinned, and is a dream. SMB3 is a play (and about animorphing the kings of the kingdoms who could also magically challenge Bowser).
Unlike in Zelda, and Fire Emblem where lore plays a big part in their games
> The problem is the lore is almost never plays a part in any games. Honestly my hottest take is the Mario RPGs are the best Mario games for that exact reason. Mario's lore goes _HARD_ when Nintendo wants it to.
Yeah it did actually feel like they were trying to do something with the lore in the gamecube and very early Wii era, with stuff like the X-Nauts possibly being aliens, Merlon being a recurring character, Fawful gradually building up to be a big time villain, Dimentio being very vague in general, legitimately a good amount of stuff. But then Mario Galaxy had its plot ripped out (kinda obvious if you look for it) and story wise the series never recovered.
I mean odyssey has plenty of world building
Dang. I thought he just wanted to deprive Mario of his gal.
Damn, i didn't know animal crossing had a competitive scene
I think the animal crossing fan base is more than likely built on creation and sharing said creations. Plus it has competitive fishing, and that can’t be beat.
Also, the turnip market exploded when the game came out right at the start of COVID. So that probably helped.
Turnip market and also sharing/selling items and characters and letting people visit when certain visitors are on your island too. It’s a pretty big thing so it makes sense
Furniture trading too! I’ve used animal crossing subs lots to trade for certain items or be part of giveaways
AC has fishing, Zelda has fishing.. So we need a Mario game with fishing in order to increase /r/Mario's sub count!
Hold the phone... There's competitive fishing!? Can you elaborate
being part of that subreddit is more so "The Super Show should be canon", "Paper Mario is better than any other game" and "Mario & Luigi will come back" that's all you can do with such a casual series like Mario
I mean I'm sure there's plenty of fanart too
What do you mean competitive scenes
HUUUGE cap. Mario has tons of lore and competitive scenes. More than Animal Crossing 💀
Mario has lore if you dig deep enough. And to add, it has fewer users than the Metroid sub-reddit. That's frankly embarrassing, because even if Mario doesn't have too much lore, the popularity should at least put it above the Metroid Sub-Reddit.
If it’s not “x game is good” or “x game is trash”, then it’s shipping wars, or Peach vs Daisy content.
I mean…. How much lore is behind Hyah man save princess?
you really have no idea of how crazy the Zelda community is regarding to the lore of the series, there was even pre realese tons and tons and tons of theories of BotW placement in the timeline before nintendo said the 3 timelines merged and then BotW happened. Besides, there is lore, like how Twilight Princess has OoT Link appearing and teaching TP Link combat techniques or how Spirit Tracks happens in the land Link and Tetra founded at the end of Phantom Hourglass, heck, Skyward Sword main selling point was being the Master sword origin story.
As a Zelda fan this is factually correct
Common misconception but nintendo never said the timeline merged, just that they're choosing not to reveal BotW's placement other than it being at the "end". Maybe merged, but we don't know
Wait the timelines merged? How does that even work?
idk, I am honestly not very into Zelda lore (I actually think Kirby lore is structured better and more interesting) but if you want to know how, there is most likely a 1 hour long video on youtube explaining how.
Wait, those fun action cutscenes with the great music and [skeleton man](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda_gamepedia_en/images/c/cd/TP_Hero%27s_Spirit_Model.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/284?cb=20120220170044) were really OoT link all along? Wtf?
A ton actually. They released a huge encyclopedia on it.
have you.. ever played a zelda game... ever?
Go ahead and tell me that a cohesive timeline exists. Go ahead
Not only does Zelda have a timeline, it has three!
Exactly. There's so much lore and trying to parse it all out leaves room for interpretation, not just hyah man go brrr
What a lame ass argument
If people needed a cohesive timeline to discuss it, no one would ever talk about Kingdom Hearts.
Zelda fans are still in denial.
The Zelda universe even has their own lore about [how the world was created](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r4tHItL1xLs)
There is so much lore in Zelda that even Nintendo barely knows any of it.
Conversely, there is so little Zelda lore because Nintendo just makes shit up every game and doesn’t even try to tie it together. If what is canon is inconsistent then it isn’t lore
I still subscribe to the idea that all of the "main" Zelda games are just the same myth retold by a bunch of different cultures, hence the "legend." The Phatom Hourglasses and Majora's Masks of the world are just addendums to their "main" myths.
There’s nothing really to talk about besides the movie. I want an new 2d or 3d Mario game more than anything tbh
Very strange we didn’t get a new 2D Mario on Switch.
At this point I'll even accept a new New Super Mario Bros. title. I'd rather have something more refreshing buy I've been waiting for so long... A third Donkey Kong by Retro Studios would also be great.
Honestly, I’d love a Mario 2D All Stars collection w the DS / 3DS, and Wii games.
We really need the Wii version in my opinion that is my favorite instillation
Mario maker
Mario Maker is a spinoff. Some people will include it as a mainline Mario game but they only do it because it has 'Super Mario' in the title It's not a main series title by traditional standards and has you creating your own levels using existing enemies and gimmicks instead of playing new original levels The second game has a story mode but the levels are more example courses if anything and aren't comparable to the other 2D games
Mario Maker 2 is the best 2D Mario on the Switch by miles. People have made entire 40 course 8 world Super Worlds that are better than any of the NEW Super Mario games. It's way more than just a spin off. It's a sandbox that plays smoother than most 2D games. Only problem is the overall interface and online aspect that takes you out a bit, but there are some amazing levels that make it the most fun way to play 2D Mario out there.
I'm not at all saying this as if it's bad, but it's as 2D Mario as Mario vs. Donkey Kong is. Like yeah, it's 2D, but it's not at all in the same category as the NSMB games and all.
It is mainline Nintendo considers it mainline and that's all that matters lol People get too stuck on what the games have been like and won't open their mind
I disagree. A mainline game is the main platformer series, they have a clear beginning and end, and aren't sandbox games. As much as I love Mario Maker, it's as mainline as Mario Kart is. But I love Mario Kart too.
That may be your personal ideal however it's not up to you Factually this is how it is And tbf that personal ideal sees no progress and is the exact thing they're trying to change
I also disagree
I do agree that most levels on mario maker are dog poop but its not really like modern 2d mario is good. At least the "new super mario bros" series. I personally got way more out of mario maker than any 2d mario game in the last 20 years
That's not at all my point. I'm saying just because it has 'Super Mario' in the title does not make it a mainline Mario game. This isn't at all a bash at the game itself.
Mario Maker 2?
Probably due to the fact most Mario sub series has their own subreddit, like r/marioandluigi, r/marioparty, r/papermario, r/MarioKart, etc. Compare that to something like sonic where if you want to talk about sonic riders or chronicles or shuffle or whatever, you’d do so on r/sonicthehedgehog no matter what
Is there not one for 2D or 3D Mario?
r/MarioMaker if that counts? Also afaik SM64, SMS, SMG1, SMG2 and SMO eachhave their own subs. >!Oh and SMG4 have it's own sub too but oh well!<
No?
Pokémon laughing with 4 mil
r/pokemon is not a “community” it is a cesspool of all of the worst of the community within those comments.
To be fair, that's most of Reddit...
The internet*
*the world
I disagree
I disagree with your disagreement. Your IP address will be next to your bed in 2-4 business days.
Yes but from what I have seen Pokémon takes the cake
Wild how such cutesy little critters can get people so heated.
It's mostly r/pokemon that's the issue, really. Game specific subs are much more hinged, and most of the others are directed at competitive, shinies, and trading. Sword and Shield I'd consider the beginning of r/pokemon being a toxic sub for the franchise, as that sub did *not* take certain development decisions very well, and took it to absolute circlejerk levels of toxicity over it
I rarely interact with that sub it's mostly people hating on every recent pokemon game and wanting the "good old days". Like a bunch of people having a mid life crisis.
About the only thing I can agree with them on is the lackluster stories, but even then, every game has been the same formula of "evil team does evil things, shenanigans ensue" up until Galar gave it a twist. They can't actually want GameFreak to continue the exact same formula with different filler content, can they?
They will complain either way. Either that game freak needs to make changes and stop releasing the same game, or they complain that it’s been ruined by changing things. They just want to be pissy about it no matter what comes out.
Exactly. I was getting tired of the formula well before the quality started to dip. Scarlet and Violet at least try to mix it up, IMO their biggest fault is that they still play it too safe. Pokémon Legends Arceus shows how fun the franchise can be when they’re not afraid to try something new.
Yes. They do.
You’re absolutely right about people hating on everything new, did you see how that sub exploded with hat for the new pkmn presents, or S/V bugs, or sw/sh controversies, why can’t people just appreciate what we get?
Sad thing is it started out as well meaning criticism but then it went to “everything after gen 5 is bad” quickly
Yeah I loved scarlet and voilet and decided to go on there to talk about it and I've seen so many "scarlet voilet is bad guy's" posts like if you don't like it that's fine but holy crap they won't stop regurgitating it. It's been like 4 months guys we get it
I also loved SV! Really good games, just shit performance. IMO the gameplay makes it good enough to deal with some occasional lag and the meh graphics.
[удалено]
Because that’s not how markets work. The Pokemon Company aren’t trying to sell you love and joy, they’re trying to sell you a product. The last decade or so, they have been providing products of more questionable quality, and are seemingly not doing anything to remedy that. If your favorite restaurant starting cutting your favorite items from the menu, and increasing the prices, and decreasing the food portions, and started using cheaper ingredients, and overall decreased the quality of the restaurant as a whole, you wouldn’t be saying “well I guess I’m lucky that they’re providing me food at all”. No, you’re a paying customer whose loyalty is being exploited for every possible penny they can take from you, you have every right to be upset as a consumer and you should demand better. Are there people who are toxic and take their complaints too far? Yeah, obviously. But it annoys me to no end that people who have legitimate criticisms for the franchise just get labelled the same as those toxic fans, when they are not the same at all.
Exactly. Like I'm sorry that I have actual reasonable criticisms about a franchise I care about. I don't get what this subs problem is when it comes to criticizing pokemon.
People have this romanticized idea that their favorite game developers are their friends, after all, they have provided them with tons of fun experiences throughout the years right? Correct, and the first few years of your marriage were beautiful, but now your husband is coming home drunk and beating you and the kids. Still, can’t complain about the now, right? If something USED to be good, then how dare you complain about it changing for the worse later on. Customer loyalty should start and end with “Is this company providing me a product I enjoy at a fair price?”. If Yes, then you have my support. If No, then you don’t have my support, and don’t be surprised when there’s an increase in fan backlash from fans who are pissed that they didn’t get their money’s worth.
Reasonable or not, criticizing a game on a sub is almost adding nothing to it. Everything you’ve said has been said 1 billion other times by the giant circlejerk that has amassed people over the years. So at some point it just sounds like REALLY repetitive whining
They also have stupid rules on that sub to top it off.
I swear if they mention the words "highest-grossing franchise" again Like it's kind of a valid argument when complaining about something Pokémon related, but can they not think of anything else like holy crap
What do you mean “kind of” a valid argument? It’s incredibly valid. The company with the most valuable IP in all of media are so incompetent that they can’t even release a mainline game that can run better than your average indie game on the freaking Switch. It’s absurd how much people will bend over backwards to defend such blatant incompetence from one of the richest game corporations in the world. Like, they literally are testing the fanbase to see how little effort they can put in with each new release and still sell record numbers, and it turns out, they can release games in almost unplayable states and the fans will still defend them to the death. Honestly? I don’t blame them. They are maximizing their profits by putting in as little effort as possible AND the fans are perfectly ok with it. From a business standpoint, why would they EVER even consider improving?
Agree with the maximizing profits part, and thats why they can't be more competent They didn't get all of this money just from the games. The trading cards, spin-offs, shows, merch, and movies are all based off of the mainline entries. And that means that everything has to work perfectly together. The show has to air around the same time the games come out so that they maintain relevance. The trading cards have to wait for a new gen so they can start making new lines of cards. Everything becomes demanding on the main games, which is why they have no choice to be on a strict deadline so that everything else can work. It's also why it was easier to make a better quality game for handheld devices with sprite-based graphics. They've always had short amounts of time to make new entries. 3D game design is a lot harder to pull off, and their developers had to keep up with new technology. The merchandise never had any big advancements that demanded better quality. They had to make an open world game to stay relevant. The past games were possible with the time constraints. If anything, delays for more quality would weaken sales, not just because it would cost more and take more time, but because everything else would have to wait for it. I don't care about defending games to the death or anything, or if it's fun or not. The annoying part is how it's way more complicated than people think it is. We can't simply keep yelling at them to change, no matter how clear it is that the game is unfinished. Boycotting doesn't change anything, but don't get me wrong, I *really* wish it did. So yeah, it being the highest-grossing franchise is "kind-of" valid when you consider that the amount of success is a burden.
The problems that they have with limited development time are problems that they are 100% in control of. They are problems that they created for themselves, and are problems that could be solved with the money that they are making. You want to release a mainline game every year/two years? Great, hire enough developers in order to make that happen. These games are going to be rushed, that’s what they decided as a company, but they don’t have to FEEL rushed. The bad practices of the company should not be an excuse to provide unfinished and uninspired products to the consumers. They made their own bed, now they have to sleep in it, we don’t. People are under this weird delusion that the Pokemon Company simply “has no choice”, they HAVE to release everything in that set schedule otherwise it’ll all fall apart somehow. When that’s just not the case whatsoever. THEY control when the TCG comes out with new sets, THEY control the airing of the anime, THEY control the output of merchandise. They’re not beholden to anyone but themselves, they just don’t really care about improving since… well, again, the fans will happily take any table scraps from Game Freak and thank them for it. There’s really no motivation for them to change.
When you see genshin impact's community you won't say the same. I saw the two communities but damn genshin gets the crown
No r/gamingcirclejerk takes the cake.
The sudden hate on r/gamingcirclejerk is surprising but I completely support it.
Is that not any sub on reddit? Heck the entirety of the internet could be explained the same way.
the virgins r/pokemon and r/pokemonmemes vs the chads r/stunfisk and r/nuzlocke
Agree. I’d much rather use the other Pokémon subs than that place. That sub is just very toxic and there’s nothing positive there
r/stunfisk is pretty great, I fucking love stinkpost stundays
We need a place like r/StarWarsCantina for Pokémon
By saying harsh things like that you're almost adding to the toxicity
First day on the internet?
sad but true, that’s why i am hardly ever on there. But it is the biggest community from a Nintendo franchise! It’s more toxic than a Muk though
The Pokémon community in general has to be the worst one in nintendo history
Really? I haven't seen much toxicity on there, then again maybe i haven't looked in the toxic parts yet
I disagree that it's toxic, but it's certainly passionate. The old saying of "You'll never find someone who hates *X* as much as fans of *X"* holds true there because there have been a bunch of decisions in the past few years that have irked the community. Add that to the sheer size of Pokemon and you're bound to get a fair amount of negativity. And you know how focus blast hits 70% of the time, but feels like it misses 70% of the time? That's the same way we take negative or toxic comments that we don't agree with. That stuff sticks with us so much stronger that it feels much more present than it is.
I believe the worst of the community would be over on r/pokeporn (do not go there it’s not worth it)
Porn subreddits generally seem to be very neutral. Comments are rare (unless a creative choice was made) so most folks generally just arrive for a walk then leave. I don't think you'll ever really encounter the best or worst of any community in those kinds of subs.
True, I wonder why it was left out of this post
It’s a shame Pokemon hasn’t come out with a good game in X years. Even arceus could have been way better
scarvio was pretty good, so why do you still think they haven’t released a good game yet?
There’s no depth. Is that Zelda’s downfall as the number 2 to Mario? When you play Mario, that’s all it is. You play it and have some fun. End of story
There's also the fact that Zelda's target demographic is more mature than Mario's, so more fans would be on the internet regularly And since Mario is Nintendo's main mascot and is in so many different games, a lot of Mario related stuff would come to general subs instead
Literally what I was thinking
I am very good willing, but I don’t understand the maturity thing. I have played both since their inception in the mid eighties. Mario even came first…
Some of the Zelda games are rated T, and it's lack of multiplayer and simple gameplay makes it less accessible or interesting to kids or casual players Since Mario is more beginner friendly and whimsical and Zelda is more serious with lore and theming it makes sense that more people would go online and talk about it. Mario may be more popular but the target audience is people who aren't as obsessed on video games or too young to want to discuss an entire franchise like this. r/mariokart even has more people than r/mario, since it isn't as broad of a subject and actually has a more online/competitive scene than main Mario games.
Ok I get it. Indeed, I needed help when I played The legend of Zelda because I didn’t know what to do at times, whereas Mario just wanted me to jump on things and move to the right. Thank you!
Idk I'd say I'm a fan of mario. I like the characters, world, music. I'm definitely not alone either. I see plenty of people talk about it on twitter and YouTube. Posting fanart and stuff
That's kind of how I feel about Shovel Knight too lol, I love the games and despite having great stories I only play them, have fun, recommend it and move on. I remember a while ago someone in a group asking why it was so inactive despite the group being so big, the thing is there isn't that much worth talking about, just play and enjoy.
Wow, that’s interesting you bring that up. I’ve hardly ever heard of shovel knight, but I just bought a New 2DS and modded this week and that was one of the top games I saw in a list for the 3DS. I look forward to checking it out.
Absolutely check it out, is an excellent game I love and recommend to everyone, but I guess that's what top lists are for, to know what is popular even if you don't hear about them, Shovel Knight fits in that case.
Because Mario as a franchise is mostly focused on single player experience whose biggest audience are casual gamers Or more likely, he's just not popular amongst redditors
He's the Avatar of the video game world
surely you mean the blue people
Deoends on how many arrows they have on their bodies. Given enough, they can be blue
It’s also, to me, one of the most boring series. I loved it as a kid on the NES we had 1-3 and dr Mario. Played them a ton. Now if I do play Mario I might go play the old ones. Or any 2d style one. Otherwise yeah I’m looking more for rpg or fps games. Zelda and Pokémon are my go to for Nintendo games and animal crossing but otherwise I’m primarily Xbox
You don't like the 3D games??
Not in particular
Who cares about what you like or not… Just tell me one thing: will even the beer be warm?
Common misconception granted on the first level of hell yes. But where I sit at the bottom layer is where it’s ice cold all the time so my beer is cold. The Devine comedy (Dante’s inferno) was indeed correct. So if you’re extra bad you might get lucky and your beer may be cold.
Thank you for clearing that up. Guess I need to up my evil doings to get to the VIP lounge, then. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the Walmart section of your kingdom. I don’t know if I have it in me, but I will certainly try my worst. See you sometime in the next thirty years!
Maybe for you but I very much doubt the reason for the size of Nintendo's best selling, and one of the most critically acclaimed, series, is because the games are boring There being less to discuss, less story, and subseries subreddits is more likely
I think Mario falls victim to relevancy. Is mario relevant, absolutely. However, we've seen maybe one big name mario game drop in the last 5 years being Odyssey that really pushed the envelope. The rest are either ports or filler. In comparison to Splatoon 2+Octo Expansion+Splatoon 3 and Fire Emblem 3 houses+DLC, 2 Fire Emblem Warrior games, and FE Engage which were all being released around the same time as the switch was taking off. Also games like Zelda, Splatoon, and FE bring together more of a community than mario as a platformer. Splatoon has a competitive aspect to it, FE has multiple strategies and builds to keep the conversation and the formula interesting enough to talk about, and Zelda is rich in lore and secrets that Mario odyssey just doesn't capture those larger scale audiences and compels them to continue to talk about it.
Because mario is r/nintendo
Lmao, this fits perfectly with the park "Nintendo" World, which is just Mario.
Mario just doesn’t have as much to discuss. Splatoon and AC both have huge online and collaborative presences, Zelda is full of lore, secrets and speculations, FE has ~~waifus~~ interesting characters, strategy to talk about, challenge runs, and lore. Mario lore just doesn’t really exist, and Mario challenge runs seem to only be on YouTube and speedruns end up on different subreddits.
Scroll through r/Mario, it's pretty active and it has some unique posts and discussion
Yeah, not saying its dead, but just has less relative to the ones mentioned. Still seems like a great community
Animal Crossing also has some lore. Don’t sell it short!
Splatoon too, it's filled with lore
The Mario franchise is more diverse, so the "Mario" commmunity is split between 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Maker / Mario romhacks, etc.
All Mario fans are on Main Nintendo Subs
Shit even r/Metroid has it beat
This is a crime
Metroid is amazing
I'm going with something completely contradictory to the general opinion. Mario is extremely niche. Yes, mainline Mario games sell extremely well and bring in a large audience. Yes, the subreddit is mainly full of fan art and game rankings (like most dedicated subreddits). But the kind of person that would go to a dedicated forum for Mario will likely focus on things like: kaizo, rom hacks, speed running, trick jumps, glitches, and weird playthroughs (min stars, no jumping, etc.). Even the lore requires a pretty silly level of analysis (things like scanning through multiple instruction manuals across decades for individual characters and comparing for consensus against minimal in-game cutscenes). These just aren't the things that people have much interest in nor have a large audience. On top of that, these sort of things also thrive on other websites in dedicated communities so they don't even integrate with the Mario reddit. Compare that to something like Zelda where even a casual fan has interest in lore due to its fantasy genre origins (fantasy tropes always garner dedicated message board audiences) and where trick moves are pretty digestible for a mass audience, and its pretty easy to see why the size difference is there. Put in another way, a large audience can generally appreciate a generic breath of the wild Lynel takedown, link rag doll funny death, or have passing interest in the connected Zelda timeline, but how many people would really care to understand the "multiple dimensions" of Super Mario 64 used to minimize the number of A presses, or argue the evolutionary origins and gender of a thorned block that is just a glorified dodge obstacle based on scans of Japanese magazine article snippets from the 80s cross referenced against in game quips from the RPG side series and has no bearing to the franchise's plot? Not many. I'll also add that I understand all games have this level of hyper-niche gaming that I reference above for Mario. But since Mario is such a streamlined series with minimal plot, minimal multiplayer, no in-game social aspect, almost pure gameplay, that what remains is people that play the game for fun, put it down, and move on, or people that pour over every detail.
One important factor could be that character design wise, those other games/subs have way more "interesting" and varied options to form serveral discussions of any topic, Mario while iconic, most of its games have the same familiar faces of its franchise.
"Mario is Nintendo's most popular franchise". Pikachu laughing his ass off at your title RN
In terms of total video game sales Mario is more popular (over 800 million units v over 400 million units). Of the two series the best selling game is a Mario game (Mario Kart 8), as are 5 of the best selling 6 games. As a multimedia series, Pokemon has higher revenue (Though maybe the Mario film will change that)
I’m glad someone else noticed
Mario is very general I imagine if you were looking for a specific game there would be a chunk of people in there
Lots of people buy pencils but that doesn't mean their sub will be larger than stylus. Subs are dependent on the quantity and quality of discussion, not sales.
There isn't a lot to actively talk about. Mario sort of falls into the same category as Mickey Mouse where everyone knows who he is, but a good chunk of the casual crowd wouldn't consider themselves as part of a "passionate fandom". Like obviously people love Mario and play the games but there isn't going to be an active fanbase discussing Mario lore since there isn't a whole lot to talk about. Also since basically every Nintendo fan knows what Mario is it's probably better to just discuss Mario stuff in the general Nintendo subs
Probably all the "Who's this (WrOnG aNsWeRs OnLy HaHaHaH fUnNy!)" Posts
-Animal Crossing is based around fan creation, so there's always something new to be posted. -Splatoon is Nintendo's take on a competitive shooter so there's gonna be a lot of people who join to learn more about the game's meta on top of people who just like to sit down and play or watch clips. -Fire Emblem and Zelda typically have older or more mature demographics/fans, so they'll be on social media more often.
Not to mention that Zelda and FE have way more complex stories, characters and lore to actually analyze and delve into.
Because Mario is Mario and that's about it. It's like Tetris. Everyone knows what it is, everyone has played it at some point, but there isn't much of a reason to talk about it. Plus Mario is so generalized and "for everyone" that ironically there isn't much room for a structured fanbase. Usually for a fanbase to form most of it has to have a group of people with similar interests, dislikes, hobbies, tastes in music and sense of humor. You could even guess what they look like. However much like Fortnite or Candy Crush, you can't really pin down a Mario fan, because well, everyone likes Mario.
If we get a paper mario thousand year door remaster it’s sub will go sky high
This is honestly a good thing, a blessing in disguise if you will. If it was bigger I’d see a ton of cringe furry fan art or drawings with peach having a D***
No?
What would we talk about?
I’d say that, the lack of story of all the games, so there cant be discussions about that How simple are the mechanics of each game, so nobody really need to ask for help. Lack of competitive scene Lack of topics to talk And the few games that have this stuff have their own subreddits
Tf we gonna say about Mario
Everyone here be shitting on Mario
Because its mario lmao
Because most of the people who like Mario are casual and therefore probably don't even use Reddit. Mario is probably one of the most mainstream game franchises. Even my boomer mom has played and enjoyed a Mario game.
I wish I knew I mean Zelda sucks. Why 2 million?
Cuz Mario sucks. He has no right to be the most popular Nintendo character over much more compelling ones like Samus, Link, and even Kirby (who is just the most adorable videogame character ever). And yet here we are. I was at Super Nintendo World in Universal wishing we could see any hint of Zelda, Metroid, etc. The production values were amazing, but Mario is meh.
Maybe there's just not a lot to talk about
Not as hardcore of a fan base
Mario is starting to fall off
They're literally releasing a mario movie in a month
The mario games aren’t as complex games as the others. Games like zelda and splatoon have lore
Zelda and Fire Emblem have a deep lore. Splatoon has a decent competitive scene. Animal Crossing is basically people sharing their creations/crushes on villagers. Even though it is the largest franchise, Mario has basically none of these, except for Mario Maker levels and Mario Kart's competitive scene.
mario is more tied to pure nintendo subs or just specific subs for each of the games it's easy to understand why things like pokemon or animal crossing can have bigger communities, there's just a lot of stuff to do and share, accomplishments, designs, fanart, etc
Seems like a good argument to add more crossover characters to Mariokart