Summary
TheMario & LuigiRPG series began on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. It was the third attempt at making an RPG franchise starring Mario and the first to give Luigi a co-starring role. What set the first game,Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, apart from the previous RPGs was that each character was controlled by a single button whether in battle or in traversal mode.
Mario was mapped to A while Luigi had the B button. The formula could work so well with other classic duos in Nintendo franchises for an RPG spinoff. All they need are a few ideas to get the ball rolling, so here they are.
Wario and Waluigi have never starred in a game together outside all of theMariosports titles. Wario has certainly starred in a bunch of non-sports titles but Waluigi hasn’t. An otherworldly version of theMario & LuigiRPGs but with antagonists could work well as Nintendo could go wild with the characters.
When AlphaDream was still developing the series, they attempted something like this via the third game,Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, making Bowser the co-lead. This idea is too good to pass up so whether Wario and Waluigi co-star in an RPG, a platformer, an RTS, and so on, the characters deserve more.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong became partners whenDonkey Kong Countrywas released on the SNES.EveryDonkey Kong Countrysequelfollowing that on the SNES had two different leads like Diddy was joined by his cousin Dixie inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. That pairing would work the best for an RPG spinoff as it would give players of different mindsets someone to root for.
Maybe the RPG could have Diddy and Dixie try to rescue Donkey Kong as they did inDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. It would also be interesting if the RPG could incorporate the various mounts from the series into battle or traversal like Rambi the Rhino.
Link and Zelda have not worked together in many games so much as they have been love interests. Also, Zelda has typically been a literal damsel in distress for players to rescue. With the release ofThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, it seems like Nintendo is more open to allowing Zelda to be a playable lead. The opening ofThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomeven has the two characters exploring with each other, teasing fans about what could be.
Whether Nintendo chooses an already-established universe or creates a new one, the active RPG combat system ofMario & Luigiwould work well in Hyrule. To bounce off of Mario & Luigi: Brothership specifically, a sailing RPG set in the world ofThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerwould be fun as Tetra seems the most capable out of all theversions of Zelda.
Jesse and James were created for thePokemonanime and they are twomembers of Team Rocket. They did appear inPokemon Yellowthough which tried to add things from the show. Now, the anime had the two villains try and steal Pikachu from Ash and various other Pokemon in nearly every episode. They’re fun villains to hate on even though they do seemingly have good qualities underneath too.
Good qualities that could be likened to Wario or even Bowser, making Jesse and James the perfect unlikely stars for aPokemonspinoff. ThePokemonseries are already turn-based RPGs and they feature the titular monsters as party members. So, giving that battle role to Jesse and James would be odd but there are ways to make it feel less weird. Jesse and James could command Pokemon in RTS or tactical battles with active elements like in theMario & Luigigames, for example.
Technically, theStar Foxseries hasn’t had a new gamesince 2017 viaStar Fox 2. That was based ona canceled SNES gamethough, so the last real entry was 2016’sStar Fox Zero. Now, most entries in the series have been aerial space shooters but there have been spinoffs into other genres like platformers and RTS games.
Also, the star, Fox, doesn’t just have one partner in the series, he has three via Slippy, Falco, and Peppy. Of those three, it would make the most sense to pair Fox with Falco in a buddy-buddy RPG. They butt heads in the series, giving the characters room to grow as they have to work together in this proposed RPG.
Post-apocalyptic games explodedin the late 2000s and the genre is seemingly here to stay. Nintendo doesn’t have a lot of post-apocalyptic exclusives under their belt save for theSplatoongames. The theory goes that humanity was wiped out and fish mutated into anthropomorphic beings who now live in old human societies like Japan. That’s why the squid-like Inklings have a lot of Japanese customs like their worshiping of pop idols.
In every game, there is a pop group set up as broadcasters to give players the lay of the land. Callie and Marie were in the first game, Pearl and Marina were the stars in Splatoon 2, and Shiver, Big Man, and Frye were the idols ofSplatoon 3. Basing an RPG on any of these groups would be interesting like a collage betweenTokyo Mirage Sessions #FE,The World Ends With You, andMario & Luigi. That said, Callie and Marie, as the OG pop idols, deserve the role the most.
Little Mac is the hero in most of thePunch-Outgames but he is aided by his coach, Doc Louis. Sometimes Doc has good advice while other times his lines are silly like telling Little Mac about the advantages of joining the Nintendo Fun Club. ThePunch-Outseries has been dead since the Wii game launched in 2009 unfortunately.
While fans may want a pure sequel of boxing mayhem, that may not be enough to sell copies anymore. Instead, the sequel or spinoff could take on an RPG system wherein Doc will help Little Mac train in turned-based battles around the city. Big boss battles could be classicPunch-Outstylized boxing matchesthen as Little Mac makes his way to the top.
