User:Walkazo/Essays

Here's where I shall rant about my views on the Mario series. I like writing these sort of spiels in the first person, so by school standards my "essays" would fail (they're supposed to be in the third person, like lab reports, and things). I also like rambling, so don't expect picture-perfect structuring either; this is for me, not English class.

How I'd Organize the Content of the Super Mario Wiki
Bold entries (not including parenthetical listings) are series that require full coverage (individual pages for all aspects of the series); unbolded names indicate that a series page is all that's necessary for that series. Crossovers are also in bold, however the information on individual articles pertaining to aspects of series other than Mario should only be included in respects to that specific game/crossover series. The non-Mario series listed under their crossover titles should be given series pages, which would only include aspects of the series encountered in the Mario crossovers which are not relevant enough for individual articles (i.e. Wolfen), and Mario cameos in the series' games (such as the Thwomps in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening).

My Chart
Mario (Including Mario Kart, Mario Party, all Mario sports titles, Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, and everything else with "Mario" in it's title.) Crossovers:
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * WarioWare
 * Pyoro
 * Donkey Kong
 * Donkey Konga
 * Diddy Kong Racing
 * Banjo
 * Conker
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3
 * Final Fantasy
 * Itadaki Street DS
 * Itadaki Street
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
 * Sonic
 * Super Smash Bros
 * The Legend of Zelda
 * Kirby
 * Star Fox

My Justification
The links between Mario, Wario (including WarioWare), Donkey Kong (and its affiliates), and Yoshi are constantly being strengthened with Sports, Party and Racing games, whereas Banjo and Conker have been disassociated with the major Mario series since their beginnings in Diddy Kong Racing. This is why I feel series pages are enough coverage of these two for the time being - there's more relevant aspects of the Mario superseries (in relation to Mario and the other "core" series) that need the attention. Perhaps in the future, Banjo and Conker could be given full coverage, but that time is not yet upon us. As for Pyoro, it is still a new series, but (as far as I know), it's branching away from WarioWare too; because of this and the fact that Pyoro is as far removed from the central focus of this Wiki ("Mario" titles) as Banjo and Conker, by that same reasoning, it should only be given general coverage as well.

Now, the reason I include WarioWare under Wario, Donkey Konga and Diddy Kong Racing under Donkey Kong, and all the "Mario" games under Mario is because I feel they are all joined at the hip. The Mario Kart, Party and sports titles all bear "Mario" in their names, and feature Mario above all the other characters, so I consider them Mario titles. The same goes for all the "mainstream" Mario games: Paper Mario is no less of a Mario game than Super Mario Bros., in my opinion. The Wario games can be grouped together by the same rule: Wario Land titles and WarioWare titles both star Wario and have his name in their titles; he is an integral part in both (sub-)series. And while he may wear different clothes in WarioWare, I consider them Wario games as much as I do Wario Land. While I can apply this logic to the relationship between Donkey Kong's starring roles in the Donkey Kong and Donkey Konga titles, Diddy Kong Racing requires a bit more weaseling. DKR does not have "Donkey Kong" in its title, nor does it feature the big ape; this would be a problem, if that wasn't already a normal occurrence in the main DK titles: Donkey Kong Country 2 also features Diddy over the eponymous DK, and Donkey Kong Country 3 goes a step further and cuts out both stars of the original Donkey Kong Country. Clearley it's not "Donkey" but "Kong" that matters in the DK Country (and DK Land) games, so why should DK Racing be treated any different? - In my defense, it's not speculation, it's interpretation.

Finally, I'd like to talk about why I'd like to see series pages for the non-Mario series encountered in the crossover titles. As mentioned in the legend/overview up top, it'd be a place to dump minor out-series aspects found in the crossover games and summarize Mario stuff in relation to the series. The former would be a good compromise in the ongoing debate over what Super Smash Bros. stuff isn't worth inclusion (to go back to my example, Wolfen is pretty minor, and moving it to a Star Fox series page would preserve the information and also quiet those who wanted the Wolfen article deleted). The latter would mean the series pages would list the Mario cameos in the out-series, and their own cameos in the Mario titles (yes, we already have pages for those, but having them in one place would certainly be handy, especially for series like The Legend of Zelda, where it's harder to find a game that does not reference Mario). It's also irritating to have to read all the character articles or go to some other Wiki to learn the bare basics of a series, and a brief overview on a series page (I'm taking a paragraph only, and nothing game-specific, just series norms) isn't going to change what the Super Mario Wiki is all about.

And that's my two-cents on the whole thing.