Years ago, this concept would probably have me laughed out the entire community. However, times have changed; Mario and Sonic have both starred alongside each other in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Sonic starred in his own not-sucky RPG Sonic Chronicles (it may not have been a GREAT RPG, and certainly was a flawed one, but the general consensus is that it works). So, what if we took the two franchises and put them together in a genre which apparently makes sense for both of them?
General premise is the same as all the usual Mario RPGs - evil force invades Mushroom Kingdom and, say, South Island; Mario and Sonic have to team up to defeat it. Gameplay is probably similar to Mario and Luigi, playing on both characters' strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Mario can jump higher than Sonic can, but Sonic can jump further than Mario can (given enough room to gain momentum); Mario can swim across bodies of water, avoiding most underwater battles while passing on any underwater bonuses may be underneath the surface, while Sonic can hop right in and get said bonuses, but is vulnerable to attack from enemies underwater. Collision with an enemy starts a battle, and in true Mario & Luigi-style, you get the upperhand if the character you're playing as attacks the enemy sufficiently, whereas the enemy gets the upperhand if they attack YOU, and nobody gets the upperhand if you just casually bump into each other. Obviously, given Sonic's Spin Attack and Spin Dash, this means it's pretty easy to get the upperhand - this could be offset by doing less damage when he gets the upperhand than if Mario does, since Mario would have to put more effort into doing it.
Level design would take advantages of both characters, as mentioned above. More methodical jumping puzzles would call for Mario, while large spans of area would probably be ideal for Sonic to zoom around in. Sonic can break fragile walls with his Spin Dash, while Mario can slam down pegs and such with his hammer. This would probably preserve the proper balance of speed and exploration; at least, if the levels are designed well enough.
Nintendo would probably develop it, seeing as licensing the game out to either Square or Bioware would probably be a bit of a hassle, legally speaking. Music had better be by Yoko Shimomura - Mario RPG and both Mario & Luigi games have phenomenal music, so why turn away from that? (And so do Kingdom Hearts and Street Fighter 2, two more soundtracks she composed, but they aren't related to either the Mario or Sonic series, so.)
Anyway, thoughts on this concept would be appreciated. I think it'd kick ass, myself, but Sonic being in an RPG is still an iffy concept, even after Chronicles apparently did it sufficiently.
Mario becomes a Gary-Stu.
A character like Mario (or Link) cannot be a Gary Stu because he has a void personality. You fill it with your own.
I'm a Gary-Stu?! D:
Mario becomes a Gary-Stu.
You mean he's not already a Gary-Stu? :O
As for the RPG, let Intelligence Systems develop it. There the only ones in Nintendo who wouldn't bastardize the Sonic characters beyond belief.
As for the RPG, let Intelligence Systems develop it. There the only ones in Nintendo who wouldn't bastardize the Sonic characters beyond belief.
^No love for Alfa Dream? Also why or how would Nintendo bastardize any Sonic character for that manner?
Though I do think IS would be better than S-E and Bioware, not so much that it would be economically feasible, but because I don't think either 3rd-party company can really do both franchises' characters and world justice.
U R MA HEDEGHOG
To me the novelty of Sonic and Mario coming together has long since faded, not to mention we've seen that Sonic doesnt belong in the typical rpg setting. Now I've played almost all the Mario rpgs and enjoyed them (Superstar Saga being my favourite BTW), but I dont see Sonic really fitting into the concept. Sonic doesnt need Mario really, Sonic can run and fly and reach the other side of the rainbow, remember? As much as I dislike party based games ( i has no friends BAWWW), it seems to be the only proper vessel to bring these two icons together in a way that doesnt involve us having to think too much the same way we will accept that somehow Sub-Zero just defeated Superman by freezing him and shattering his body into pieces. My main problem with Chronicles was that it wasn't very Sonic. Mario rpgs gameplay system, while leap years more fun than Chronicles, isnt it either.
Personally, I was hoping for the third version of the handheld Mario rpgs to be a Mario & Wario, it'd be in keeping up with the humour of the first two, but forcing these two rivals to work together for the first time instead of just more Mario and Luigi (no disrespect to my bro Luigi). But hey if this Mario and Sonic game was made by Nintendo it'd have to be better than Chronicles so I'd play it.
Question: do people still really want Sonic and Mario crossover games? (other than the two we already got which arent really what we dreamed off back in 1992).
I don't know about a crossover game, but after the awesomeness that was Super Mario Galaxy, I bet a whole bunck of folk would be on board of a EAD Tokyo developed Sonic platformer.
As for the RPG, let Intelligence Systems develop it. There the only ones in Nintendo who wouldn't bastardize the Sonic characters beyond belief.
^No love for Alfa Dream? Also why or how would Nintendo bastardize any Sonic character for that manner?
Though I do think IS would be better than S-E and Bioware, not so much that it would be economically feasible, but because I don't think either 3rd-party company can really do both franchises' characters and world justice.
Because many Nintendo characters aren't known for their personality. I suppose Sonic characters are the same way but nowhere near as shallow. The only ones that do are created by Intelligence Systems. Soren, Pellas, Dimentio, Bleck, Vivian, Hector all had great personalities.
And I never played an Alpha Dream game. Did they ever made a game besides the M&L series
Yeah, the only characters who have personalities in Mario games are those who had personalities provided for them by the RPG titles. Like Luigi, for example. He was always the "Little Brother" character, but it wasn't until the Paper Mario titles (I think) that he was portrayed as the wounded soul he is, so envious of his brother's adventures.
I don't know about a crossover game, but after the awesomeness that was Super Mario Galaxy, I bet a whole bunck of folk would be on board of a EAD Tokyo developed Sonic platformer.
Quoted for hellz yeah.
Because many Nintendo characters aren't known for their personality. I suppose Sonic characters are the same way but nowhere near as shallow. The only ones that do are created by Intelligence Systems. Soren, Pellas, Dimentio, Bleck, Vivian, Hector all had great personalities.
And I never played an Alpha Dream game. Did they ever made a game besides the M&L series
Arguably the Mario characters being "more shallow" than Sonic characters is probably one of the reasons why they are seen as "less sh***y" than the Sonic characters by many people in the gaming community. Sonic Team is no better than Nintendo EAD in providing basic characterisation with their respective mascot characters. The difference is that everytime Sonic Team attempts to develop them beyond their simplistic roles they either fail hard or create insufferable flanderizations of them. Besides, I don't think EAD is a Nintendo division that delves into creating RPGs(unless you count Zelda as an RPG series--which is a whole other arguement altogether) which makes this discussion a bit moot.
Also, Alpha Dream has also made a JP-only game before the M&L series called Tomato Adventure.
Alpha Dream does a really nice job of giving the brothers nice characterizations, without the use of proper language. Their gestures and other actions says it all.
And to Turtle Guy, PM1 also intruduced Luigi's fear of ghosts.
it wasn't until the Paper Mario titles (I think) that he was portrayed as the wounded soul he is, so envious of his brother's adventures.
Actually, on Star Hill in SMRPG, if you go up to the stars on the ground with smiles, they will reveal wishes, and one of them has an obvious wish by Luigi that says, " I wish I could be a great plumber like my brother, Mario!"
I was about to post the same thing. Good show.
Luigi's just one tragic death away from having his wish come true.
Thank you, ol' boy. Anyway, I've seen that comic before but where did it come from?
Personally, I think a fighting game would be a better way for a Mario/Sonic crossover.
I'm currently making it up. 
