I’ve been having an interesting conversation with a friend about the “need” for this sort of AAA mascot platformer in these days of more gritty games and less humor in too many major releases. We’re both not against the idea of this genre and yes, there are plenty of fun (and funny) indie games to fill the gaps should the mascot platformer just about vanish from the next generation of consoles. That said, outside anything “new” Nintendo has been doing with the Mario franchise, I’m seeing a bit too much by the numbers programming where deja vu takes the place of actual innovation and true creativity. Or hell, perhaps I’m getting too jaded about thing (which isn’t a good sign). I think not, though – I’m just old enough to know when a game is going the rote route.

Maybe it’s developers trying too hard to recapture what made many classic platformers great or maybe it’s just that we’re seeing the genre finally winding down after so many games from great to terrible. Either way, it’s looking as if Sanzaru’s upcoming Sly Cooper game will be part of a dying breed unless we start seeing a resurgence in the genre that features new and equally memorable mascots and gameplay that’s worth buying a new console for. Then again, you don’t need a new system to play the best platformers (or mascot games) ever made, right?