14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo needs to walk quite a fine line with its upcoming games. Last year, hardcore players were flustered by the fact that the Japanese publisher released titles geared towards more inexperienced players.
This year, the announced line up includes titles like a new Zelda game for the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and a fresh Metroid title, which should satisfy the hardcore, but the company needs to make sure that it can attract more casual players, the main audience of the Nintendo Wii.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the lead designer for Super Mario Galaxy 2, told Nintendo Power that “I do believe that there is a lot here to appeal to the more veteran and more experienced gamers, and I think it's a title that they will obviously enjoy. But I really took it into consideration and tried to do our best to create a game that's accessible to new gamers as well. And, you know, we also built it with consideration that we believe that people who played through the first Mario Galaxy have become better players.”
Super Mario Galaxy introduced some pretty interesting mechanics to the series, with some of the planets that the protagonist visits in his quests to save Peach having quite alien designs that are at time tough to navigate. If they return in Super Mario Galaxy 2, players who see them for the first time might need to play a little before getting accustomed to them while those who have played the original able to step in quicker.
Miyamoto's comments also point to the fact that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will probably be easier to complete as far as the main quest goes, in order to maybe attract more players who have less experience with Mario and his platforming ways, while offering more sidequests and optional content for those hardcore players who like to collect all the stars and unlock all that the game has to offer.