Talk:List of Mario references in Nintendo video games

What is Tetris for the Game Boy?
The Game Boy version of Tetris features a two-player mode in which player 1 takes control of Mario and player 2 takes control of Luigi. They're always on-screen, and they are seen celebrating their win or loss after the game. Just as Tetris Attack depicts Yoshi fighting against enemies through the puzzle gameplay, this depicts much of the same. The manual even describes each player's gameplay as "Mario's Game Screen" and "Luigi's Game Screen". They're not just there as background decoration: clearly, the players are controlling them. Now, when I made the proposal about Alleyway, I made the argument that, since Mario is depicted as the one-and-only playable characters, the game is therefore a full-fledged member of the franchise. However, it's not quite that simple in this case, as Mario and Luigi are only playable in one of the two modes; in the other mode, it's just the player by themselves. I will only make the argument that Tetris for the Game Boy should be considered a guest appearance, much like Tetris DS, but the options will all be there for you. The most important fact that I want to make clear is that Mario and Luigi are playable characters in this game, and that matters.

(Due to the little amount of content in the game, both the full-fledged member and guest appearance options won't particularly affect how the game is covered. Both will result in the game having a standalone article; this'll just affect which sections the game will appear in and the like. If it's a cameo, it'll stay on this page, i.e. nothing happens.)

Proposer: Deadline: January 21, 2018, 23:59 GMT

It is a guest appearance

 * 1) Per proposal.
 * 2) It is whatever Tetris Attack is.
 * 3) Per proposal and Alleyway.
 * 4) Per all.
 * 5) Even with Alex95's concerns, the Tetris style of games practically never show direct control from the playable characters. This includes Tetris Attack (and Panel de Pon, for that matter) as well as all of the Dr. Mario series games. Not only that, but there actually appears to be an intent on having Mario as a playable character, as he is selectable and is seen cheering if he wins. That said, per proposal!
 * 6) Per all.
 * 7) Per proposal
 * 8) Per all.

It is a cameo

 * 1) - I'll just post what I said on Discord here: Mario and Luigi do appear, but unlike Alleyway, they aren't controlled directly (yes, I think otherwise than what you said in your proposal) or have any major significance on the game. imo, makes perfect sense to me where it is now.
 * 2) Per all.

Comments
@Alex: That's a matter of semantics. In every game, it's the player that's controlling everything, but the game clearly depicts Mario and Luigi as the ones doing the actions. Why would the manual describe each screen as Mario's and Luigi's otherwise? 18:23, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * The only thing you see the characters actually doing is stare at you, followed by a short cutscene afterward with an action determined by the results. The manual referring to Mario and Luigi's screens seems like an editorial choice; they could've said "P1's" and "P2's screen". 18:30, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * But they didn't refer to it as P1 and P2. And Mario and Luigi celebrating and/or moping is exactly what I'm talking about: is Mario just coincidentally getting happy or sad at the exact same time that he wins or loses? Like, if I booted up Tetris Attack right now and chose a character to play as, am I not actually playing as that character? 18:33, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * For the celebration, you don't actually control what they do, do you? For character choice, I repeat from Discord, you don't actually control them directly, they serve as a representation for what player you are. It's not the same as deciding to play as Player 1 or Player 2 in Super Mario Bros., for example, as there you can directly control what the characters do. 18:36, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * "they serve as a representation of what player you are"... Can you elaborate on how that's different from them being the player's character?  18:43, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * Okay, yes, the same can be said for just about any game since they are video game characters. What I mean is they act more like NPCs, the player doesn't control them specially, the player controls the Tetris pieces. Mario and Luigi are just sort of...there. The player doesn't do anything to them and they don't influence what the player does. 18:48, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * You could say the same for any game with some level of abstraction, though. By that logic, Dr. Mario doesn't actually depict Dr. Mario as the player character. 18:59, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * Dr. Mario is centered around Mario properties, however. 19:02, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * That's not the argument I was making? I'm talking about the player characters, that's why I brought up Tetris Attack. 19:04, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * This Tetris has Mario characters in a non-Mario game. The only reason why we cover the other Tetris games with full articles is because of the abundance of Mario-related graphics, mechanics, and characters that the original Tetris game does not have. Tetris DS has several Nintendo and Mario themes, and items that can influence how the player plays. Tetris Attack actually has a story following Yoshi. What does this original Tetris have? A non-controllable, player representative in the form of Mario and Luigi. Really seems more like a cameo to me. 19:11, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * What does that make NBA Street V3' and SSX on Tour, then? 19:13, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * I say those are guest appearances. Basically playable = guest, non-playable = cameo. And then there's full on crossovers like Smash and Fortune Street. 19:24, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * This is why I was talking about Dr. Mario, and how your argument makes it seem as if the player is not actually Dr. Mario in that game. 19:30, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * But Dr. Mario is a Mario game, so what's the point here? I've said everything on how I feel about this, so I don't think I can add anything more. I feel this is a cameo appearance, but if the proposal ends in your favor, then I'll support the change. For now, I'm done talking about this because this is going nowhere. 19:40, 7 January 2018 (EST)
 * So's Tetris Attack, but that's not even the point I was trying to make. We were discussing whether or not Mario and Luigi were the player characters, therefore I brought up examples from other games. 19:42, 7 January 2018 (EST)