This. I can't wrap my head around this. Three years and a talented team of 100+ and all they have to show for it is a sidescrolling platformer in DK?! It's just unbelievable to me.
I can totally buy the EDGE story about porting the Super Mario 3DS sequel to Wii U though, sad as it seems.
Rare's game just confuses me.
You already have Sonic, Rayman, Mario, Luigi, and now DKCR2? How many platformers do they need this fall?
Either Mario 3D Land should have been pushed to Spring or DKCR2 should have. We don't need so many platformers all at once around the same time.
And its not even like I don't want DKCR2 from Rare. The first was amazing and of course I want part 2 but I was expecting part 2 as part of the release schedule for next fall (2014).
It would have made so much more sense to push DKCR2 as a big holiday game in Fall 2014 alongside Smash Bros. And what happened to all the rumors about Rare working on a new IP? We had an almost confirmation from Peer from IGN (who is pretty trust worthy) and then last e3 (2012) Nintendo said they had a trailer ready but decided against showing it. Are you telling me the trailer they had ready last year was for DK? Why hold back on it then?
I can't fathom Rare not being able to work on 2 games at once or that the only game they have been working on since their game is DKCR2. Hell I would think if this was the only game they were working on, it should have been a launch title! We waited 3+ years for this game? Sure it will be a 9/10 game but at this pace from Rare we won't see another title until 2016. WTF are the teams at Nintendo doing?
EDIT: BTW the Edge story is just them speculating. No proof. For all we know this is the next Mario game they had planned all along.
I don't get the "real" Mario or "innovation" talk. Mario largely is the same. The one big change we had was from 2D side scroller to 3D platformer. Sunshine following in that same footsteps. Galaxy games were AMAZING but besides the flying from planet to planet, the actual meat and potatoes was still traditional Mario platforming which was established in Mario 64.
The new Mario game is being developed by the same team that did Galaxy 2 and the Mario 3DS game. How can it not be good? They even said its a culmination of ideas from both games. We have possibly seen less than 10% of the actual game. It has 4 player co-op. I think the disappointment comes from people's warped sense and definition of "innovation". The real innovation will be from clever platforming challenges or game play mechanisms we haven't seen yet in Mario games. Not the setting or look really.
Of course if the graphics looked better or aimed for a more realistic look (say like MK8 or even the Mario model from Smash) people wouldn't be so fast to brush it off. And I think this is the real reason people are complaining. The art style is too similar to the 3DS game and the 2D games. Galaxy stood out even if playing it was similar Mario fun. I have no doubt given the team behind this game, the game itself will be spectacular. Same with Retro and DKCR2. Just question the timing of releasing both so close to each other and Sonic World, Rayman, and other platformers.
Personally their release schedule should be switched around. If you are releasing DKCR2 this fall, switch Mario 3D Land with Mario Kart 8.
