Nick plays games

Parish’s Gamespite should be required reading for anyone interesting in learning to appreciate the 8-bit generation from a modern standpoint. His latest article — one so good that he even felt comfortable endorsing it — examines Super Mario Bros. 3 in detail. It’s no coincidence that he chose to run this piece on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the NES.

One choice quote that I think deserves recognition:

“Here, too, does Mario 3 demonstrate a fundamental component of modern Nintendo design: The canonization of the unique. Nintendo has always been distinct from other developers in its tendency to take a simple core mechanic and explore countless different permutations of that idea: outward-looking game design. Other developers tend to grab a scattershot array of ideas and force them into a cohesive whole, working from the outside in. Such games usually feature a handful of brilliantly original ideas used to the point that they become utterly rote.”