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[Alexios]

VR isn't a genre, Tales is an FPS, or is it the same as Eleven: Table Tennis since they're the same VR genre and Star Wars: Squadrons is a different genre to X-Wing when you play it flat and different when in VR and Vader isn't a cinematic action adventure cos it's in VR

Also lol @ Smash Bros not counting, then you're pitting a whole universe against one character basically, rather than two IPs treated equally, and even said character doesn't count when he's in other games if it doesn't suit you.

Also, why is it a poll if it's just about objectively finding numbers. What if Star Wars had 100 and Mario 2, but people voted Mario on the poll, that would be fine because polls win reality? Lol.

 

[marquimvfs]

I was going to say Mario, without reading trough the tread. Now I'm not so sure. But I think that OP's analysis needed to dismember the sports category, given that some related categories are getting it's own sport. I'd like to see Mario Tennis, Strike and so on on it's own category instead of a single one.

 

[kicker]

i would say that

RTS and turn based strategy should be counted separately. and star wars has done both. should add another

Eh, I tried to stick to large overarching genres. If I separated RTS and Strategy, I would also have to separate Chess, VR, Sports, and so on.

Mario Family, shirt patterns design-type game

From the wiki:

Mario Family is a piece of software for the Game Boy Color released only in Japan to be compatible with Jaguar's JN-100 sewing machine. The JN-100 came with a cable that would link it to a Game Boy Color, and in the game the player can choose one of several designs that the machine can copy onto fabric. Another more recent model, the JN-2000, also works with a Game Boy Color. This game is the second Mario sewing game after I am a teacher: Super Mario Sweater on the Family Computer Disk System. It is also the last Mario game released on the Game Boy Color.

The above text is from the Super Mario Wiki and is available under a Creative Commons license. Attribution must be provided through a list of authors or a link back to the original article. Source: https://www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Family

So this technically counts as an embroidery game? I don't know what that would fall under. Think I should add a sewing category?

Super Mario Bros. 35, battle-royale - or does it fall under 2D platformer?

2D platformer should cover it

Super Mario Run, endless runner/auto-runner - if that’s a genre? Or maybe it’s just a sub genre to something else?

Wiki says they're platformers

And if VR counts I guess Mario Kart Arcade GP VR should be included.

It was under arcade in the wiki so I didn't count it, but based on some other posts I think I'll just remove VR altogether

VR isn't a genre, Tales is an FPS, or is it the same as Eleven: Table Tennis since they're the same VR genre and Star Wars: Squadrons is a different genre to X-Wing when you play it flat and different when in VR and Vader isn't a cinematic action adventure cos it's in VR

VR isn't a genre, sure, but the wiki separated VR games by genre, so I did the same. If you guys want, I can remove it from the list
Squadrons and X-wing are listed the same in the official star wars games genre listing, that's why I put them together. Check the sources I listed
Vader's specific distinction wouldn't matter because its genre is covered either way
Also, what's 'Tales'?

Also lol @ Smash Bros not counting, then you're pitting a whole universe against one character basically, rather than two IPs treated equally, and even said character doesn't count when he's in other games if it doesn't suit you.

It's not about universe versus one character. It's about star wars games versus mario games. All the other games on the mario list are mario games primarily. Is smash a mario game or a nintendo game? If I added smash, I would also have to start adding other games that happen to have star wars characters in them.
I put the source for why smash isn't a mario game in the op

Also, why is it a poll if it's just about objectively finding numbers. What if Star Wars had 100 and Mario 2, but people voted Mario on the poll, that would be fine because polls win reality? Lol.

If you read through the thread, you'll notice we were all guessing at first. That's why there's a poll.
I added the table after so we could try to be objective.

Don't take this as a definitive list, we are all discussing here. What counts as a genre, which games count as unique, so on. Pitch your opinions, the same as everyone else and the table will be edited

 

[kicker]

Now I'm not so sure. But I think that OP's analysis needed to dismember the sports category, given that some related categories are getting it's own sport. I'd like to see Mario Tennis, Strike and so on on it's own category instead of a single one.

Thing is, If I started expanding categories there would be too many to go on. There are only 11 officially recognized broad genres of games and we've had to stretch that because they were too broad.
Try to think of it this way, for it to be its own genre it would have to be eligible to win a distinct game award at most gaming publications. I don't think there are awards for best golf game (instead of just sports game) or best real-time strategy or 4x game (instead of just strategy game).

 

[diffusionx]

Like I said it comes down to how you define genre. You can easily qualify games like Rebel Assault, TIE Fighter, and Rogue Leader as 3 different genres despite all 3 of these games being you in a spaceship shooting stuff flying around. But normally "sports" is a genre that covers all sports. It becomes a question not of Star Wars vs. Mario but how you define these genres.

 

[kicker]

It becomes a question not of Star Wars vs. Mario but how you define these genres

Not me. The sources I listed have genre listings next to every game. I'm sure you saw them when you made your own list.
Other people have already done this for us.

But like I said, we're discussing it here. Let's agree on genre types because I don't think this comparison has been made anywhere else

 

[Robb]

So this technically counts as an embroidery game? I don't know what that would fall under. Think I should add a sewing category?

No idea, it’s a very weird title.

I just wanted to throw those in there for the sake of discussion.

 

[kicker]

No idea, it’s a very weird title.

I just wanted to throw those in there for the sake of discussion.

I think I'll create a smaller table under the main genres just for very unique or miscellaneous genres. Then we can have two totals: one with just clearly defined, regular genres, and another with the basic genres + the more odd ones.

Odd ones will probably include pinball and railshooter/lightgun too

 

[kicker]

Table updated

 

[John Marston]

I just Gafted OP simply based on the love and care of his post

EDIT: Shit forgot to vote

 

[A.Romero]

Evidently Star Wars.

Why is VR crossed for SW?

 

[kicker]

Why is VR crossed for SW?

meh. If you can properly argue against this ↓ we'll add VR back

EDIT 2: removed VR since some posters argued it isn't distinct enough to be its own genre, since a lot of the VR games are just slightly modified forms of the other genres. what do you think?

Thanks again for the gaft John Marston

​

I just Gafted OP simply based on the love and care of his post

 

[A.Romero]

meh. If you can properly argue against this ↓ we'll add VR back



Thanks again for the gaft John Marston

Vader Immortal is VR exclusive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vader_Immortal:_A_Star_Wars_VR_Series

 

[DonJimbo]

MARIO

 

[kicker]

Vader Immortal is VR exclusive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vader_Immortal:_A_Star_Wars_VR_Series

I was going to point out that vader immortal is basically Jedi Knight with a different viewpoint, but, really the VR experience is as unique as a railshooter or a sewing game.

I'll add it

 

[kicker]

MARIO

For some reason, you just made me remember this video at 2:44

 

[cartman414]

Star Wars Football pls

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Sonic and Pac man have been in more genres than both.

Sonic has been in all the same genres Mario has been in addition to a traditional fighting game, kart-free racers, and an exercise game. Sonic also plays pool, poker, had pet simulation, and goes out fishing all things I don't think Mario does.

Pac man has the same stuff as Mario and adds a traditional adventure game, an interactive drawing game, a Monkeyball clone, an endless runner, Battle Royale, an AR game, and also has been in a traditional fighting game.

Another series I just remembered is Mega Man, just using the original series only it appears to also have more genres than both. It has the genres Mario has except Golf. It replaces that with a real-time strategy game, then adds a kart free racer, an FMV interactive game, several traditional fighting games, a shmup, a card battle game, a board game style video game, a gambling game, and a business simulator.

 

[kicker]

Star Wars Football pls

It's really strange that there are zero sports or party star wars games.

Sonic and Pac man have been in more genres than both.

Sonic has been in all the same genres Mario has been in addition to a traditional fighting game, kart-free racers, and an exercise game. Sonic also plays pool, poker, had pet simulation, and goes out fishing all things I don't think Mario does.

Pac man has the same stuff as Mario and adds a traditional adventure game, an interactive drawing game, a Monkeyball clone, an endless runner, Battle Royale, an AR game, and also has been in a traditional fighting game.

Another series I just remembered is Mega Man, just using the original series only it appears to also have more genres than both. It has the genres Mario has except Golf. It replaces that with a real-time strategy game, then adds a kart free racer, an FMV interactive game, several traditional fighting games, a shmup, a card battle game, a board game style video game, a gambling game, and a business simulator.

Do you mean they've featured in more games ? The thread isn't about which games they've featured in. It's about how many genres they have in their main line of games. Sonic and pacman have featured in many games but they don't have as many genres in their main line of games.
That's why smash isn't listed for Mario. It's a game mario is featured in, but it isn't a mario game
If we went just by games star wars characters have featured in, the table would be too long

edit: Actually, I just glanced at their lists and you're right that they do have a lot of genres. I'll start counting and add them to the table if they really are as many as mario

edit edit: I've looked at it for a while and I don't think either Sonic or Pacman or Megaman cover more genres than Star wars or Mario. They do have a lot, but when you open up their fan wikis you find that a lot of the genres they put there are silly (for example, they made 'redemption' a genre on the sonic wiki because redemption was a brand of arcade)

 

[Ogbert]

An impressively pointless investigation.

 

[kicker]

An impressively pointless investigation.

 

[existensmaximum]

Where are the following games/genres (whatever they are..):

Hotel Mario
Wrecking Crew
Mario is Missing
Dr. Mario
Mario Paint

 

[nkarafo]

Star Wars must have more because it has games on both consoles and PC while Mario is restricted on consoles only. So it taps additional genres you don't usually see on consoles like point & click adventures, flight sims, etc. There are also Star Wars games on old home computers like the Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Atari ST and Amiga and those platforms have a shit ton of weird and experimental games. Maybe there's a Star Wars text adventure somewhere in there, dunno.

Where are the following games/genres (whatever they are..):

Hotel Mario
Wrecking Crew
Mario is Missing
Dr. Mario
Mario Paint

Puzzles and educational.

 

[Madserb2023]

Mario is crazy. The only think we haven't had is an FPS but that about it. I am still waiting for Star wars golf with lightsabres. You would have the Sarlecc in the bunkers. Star Wars at the Winter Olympics would also be pretty funny. Who wouldn't want to see Darth Vader and Palpatine curling.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Of star wars games there is everything

… I’m morbidly curious as to who’s King and who’s Queen on the Empire’s side…

 

[Drizzlehell]

Kudos for doing a thorough research on this.

I guess the difference wasn't so vast after all.

 

[Billy Awesomo]

Oh right Mario was briefly missing and you had to find him, which would make it some sort of Kidnap and seek game? AND he had a Time Machine at some point (check mate star wars!). Plus I think Mario was a hotel owner at one point where he was closing doors as a game. He also had a game about a cement factory so still going with Mario on all of this.

 

[kicker]

Hotel Mario Wrecking Crew
Mario is Missing
Dr. Mario
Mario Paint

Oh right Mario was briefly missing and you had to find him, which would make it some sort of Kidnap and seek game? AND he had a Time Machine at some point (check mate star wars!). Plus I think Mario was a hotel owner at one point where he was closing doors as a game. He also had a game about a cement factory so still going with Mario on all of this.

Mario is Missing - Educational https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Is_Missing!
Mario's Time Machine - Educational https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Mario's_Time_Machine
Hotel Mario - Puzzle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Mario
Mario's Cement Factory - Puzzle/Platformer https://www.mariowiki.com/Mario's_Cement_Factory
Dr. Mario - Puzzle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Mario
Wrecking Crew - Puzzle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrecking_Crew_(video_game)


Mario paint is the only one that I think we can add. Wiki says it's an art tool, but it's listed as a mario game, so I think it still counts

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Do you mean they've featured in more games ?

I said genres.

… I’m morbidly curious as to who’s King and who’s Queen on the Empire’s side…

I'm not going to lie, I though this said you were morbidly obese until I looked again.

 

[kicker]

I said genres.

Well, you'll have to contribute then. In the op I've listed all the legitimate sonic genres I found when I checked earlier; will add pacman and megaman too.

If you think anything's been missed you'll have to point us to them and we can discuss it

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Well, you'll have to contribute then. In the op I've listed all the legitimate sonic genres I found when I checked earlier; will add pacman and megaman too.

If you think anything's been missed you'll have to point us to them and we can discuss it

Casino games are a genre (slots poker).

Do you count mobile? That will add more genres.

 

[kicker]

Casino games are a genre (slots poker).

Eh, casino videogames would typically be under sports. Again, we should be thinking overarching genres.
Although, to be fair, I guess we could put them under miscellaneous

Do you count mobile? That will add more genres.

Yeah, I didn't separate mobile games. Any genre under mobile is eligible, and I already used the mobile games I could find for some entries

Not counting fan games though, and sonic has a lot of those (the sonic fanbase scares me, man)

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Eh, casino videogames would typically be under sports.

Casino is usually never under sports in game databases, but you have it under Misc so it's fine. Shame you can't fit Mega Man in the post.

Sonic has a paint game on the Pico btw.

Pac man has a art game as well

Pacman also has a casino game

Sonic has an AR game

Pacman also had an AR game

Sonic has a board game

Pacman also has a board game

 

[kicker]

Casino is usually never under sports in game databases, but you have it under Misc so it's fine. Shame you can't fit Mega Man in the post.

I'll just add another column, I'm still looking up mega man games in between episodes of the sopranos

Sonic has a paint game on the Pico btw.

You'll have to link it, can't find it anywhere

Pac man has a art game as well

Sonic has an AR game

Pacman also had an AR game

Will add. That game hoard is a cool site too

Pacman also has a casino game

Man, this one is *very* debatable. Is this a pac-man videogame or a slots machine that's themed around pacman? I don't know but I'll add it with an asterisk

Sonic has a board game

Pacman also has a board game

We're only comparing virtual boardgames (videogames only) so these won't count

 

[Three]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario's_Game_Gallery

Digital Table/ board game

 

[kicker]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario's_Game_Gallery

Digital Table/ board game

Damn, where are all these games coming from

Will add

 

[Draxon Gamer]

We're only comparing virtual boardgames (videogames only) so these won't count

Star Wars Monopoly was a video game? That's cool if not a bit unusual.

 

[kicker]

Star Wars Monopoly was a video game? That's cool if not a bit unusual.

My bad, it was called 'Monopoly Star Wars' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_Star_Wars

Star wars Monopoly is the physical one

 

[Gamerfan81]

Here's a few other categories you should put in the OP. Which franchise has gone woke, has divisive issues, and pushes agendas?

Like it or not, Star Wars is a very damaged brand, even hardcore fans will tell you that.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Kind of a necrobump, but relevant

 

[kicker]

Found the energy to update the OP with mega man

Another series I just remembered is Mega Man, just using the original series only it appears to also have more genres than both. It has the genres Mario has except Golf. It replaces that with a real-time strategy game, then adds a kart free racer, an FMV interactive game, several traditional fighting games, a shmup, a card battle game, a board game style video game, a gambling game, and a business simulator.

Any idea where I can find official information on the bolded games? Neither the official wiki nor Fandom have them listed as far as I can tell

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Any idea where I can find official information on the bolded games?

FMV interactive game

Super Adventure Rockman

real-time strategy game

It's a Chinese game, forgot the name but I'll look for it and update.

board game style video game

Rockboard

 

[AmuroChan]

LEGO games are really just 3rd person action adventure games. Platforming is not a core mechanic in those games like it is for a true platformer like Super Mario World.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Pacman has a point and click, it's Pacman 2.

Pacman is also in a golf game

Rockman Strategy is the name of the strategy game.

Megaman Legends is a 3rd-person Action Adventure game.

I mentioned a Mega Man simulation game earlier you skipped.

Pacman has an rpg, it's Pacman monsters

Sonic X is an anime series, not a fighting game, Sonic has a fighting game, it's called Sonic The Fighters.

Rockman Online is an MMO,


I think the difficulty you are having in the search is that you are depending too much on wiki and fandom which are not usually good sources to use.

 

[kicker]

Super Adventure Rockman


It's a Chinese game, forgot the name but I'll look for it and update.

Rockboard

Haha, amazing how much megaman has covered. The japanese are really something else when it comes to this stuff. All the franchises we're discussing, apart from star wars, come from there.
Waiting for the chinese rts one, but are you sure it's an official game?

Will update the op. Thanks.

LEGO games are really just 3rd person action adventure games. Platforming is not a core mechanic in those games like it is for a true platformer like Super Mario World.

I was going to disagree with the bolded, but after thinking about it for a bit, you're right. There are entire levels that don't really involve platforming challenges in the lego star wars games. Can't say the same for the mario games

Really though, since Wikipedia also agrees with you, that they're in the action adventure genre, I'll update the op.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Haha, amazing how much megaman has covered. The japanese are really something else when it comes to this stuff. All the franchises we're discussing, apart from star wars, come from there.
Waiting for the chinese rts one, but are you sure it's an official game?

Will update the op. Thanks.



I was going to disagree with the bolded, but after thinking about it for a bit, you're right. There are entire levels that don't really involve platforming challenges in the lego star wars games. Can't say the same for the mario games

Really though, since Wikipedia also agrees with you, that they're in the action adventure genre, I'll update the op.

I named it in the next post, it's this game

 

[kicker]

Pacman has a point and click, it's Pacman 2.

Pacman is also in a golf game

Rockman Strategy is the name of the strategy game.

Megaman Legends is a 3rd-person Action Adventure game.

I mentioned a Mega Man simulation game earlier you skipped.

Pacman has an rpg, it's Pacman monsters

Sonic X is an anime series, not a fighting game, Sonic has a fighting game, it's called Sonic The Fighters.

Rockman Online is an MMO,

Will add, except for the sonic x thing, which I left that way because the search brought up an issue that made me forget.

You'll notice I put the actual sonic fighting game under 'arcade'. That particular game made me reconsider even having a separate arcade genre since every game on there is usually some other genre but just released on arcade machines instead of home consoles. I considered just striking it or just moving to miscellaneous, but I forgot and left it. Still not sure if it should be left alone

I think the difficulty you are having in the search is that you are depending too much on wiki and fandom which are not usually good sources to use.

I just start down a rabbit hole with search engines and usually end up there since other sites are kinda iffy. I've been asking ai bots too.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I feel like for as many genres Mario has touched, Star Wars has touched quite a bit of variety as well. For a longer period of time too.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Will add, except for the sonic x thing, which I left that way because the search brought up an issue that made me forget.

You'll notice I put the actual sonic fighting game under 'arcade'. That particular game made me reconsider even having a separate arcade genre since every game on there is usually some other genre but just released on arcade machines instead of home consoles. I considered just striking it or just moving to miscellaneous, but I forgot and left it. Still not sure if it should be left alone

I just start down a rabbit hole with search engines and usually end up there since other sites are kinda iffy. I've been asking ai bots too.

Putting Sonic the Fighters in Arcade is fine, so instead of Sonix X for fighting, you can put SOnic Battle, which is on the GBA and also a fighting game, that way you have a home fighting game and an arcade fighting game.

 

[kicker]

Op updated with megaman and pacman games.

Rockman Online is an MMO,

Looks like this was cancelled before release.

Pacman is also in a golf game

If it's the one where he's a guest character, I don't think that counts since it's not a pacman game

If we were allowing games where characters have simply been featured in, then every single genre would probably be covered by Mario and Star wars.