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Mini-Game Revolution or Long-Time Tool?

An analysis of the Nintendo mini-game controversy


With the launch of both the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii, there manifested something glaringly disrespectful towards the core gamer market throughout the respective systems' launch line-ups, tons and tons and tons of mini-game compiliations. Now, some have argued that these mini-game collections are simply a means of developers testing out new hardware to see what the new technology is truely capable of. Some argue these games are a result of the shortening attention span of the average human. And some still argue this is simply the next step for evil corporations in making maximum profits from minimal input. But has anyone ever stopped and reflected on past video games and considered, maybe this didn't just start happening?

When I offer this thought, I don't simply mean this past generation, with games like Warioware coming to light. Think back, as early as the NES generation and possibly earlier. The biggest game during the NES' lifetime was hands-down Super Mario Bros. 3. It displayed some of the cleanest, most colorful graphics seen on any 8-bit system, featured the catchiest video game music of the era, and offered pitch-perfect platforming gameplay that anyone could pick up and play. But there was something else, wasn't there? Amidst the grand fun available in the platforming levels were simple matching games available in between. Now, some may say these were simply a distraction meant to magnify the fun to be had from the main levels. However, I know there to be a strong following of SMB3 players, my mother one of them, who actually kept track of the card memorizing game through charts that could tell you each cards picture based on the top two corners of the board. I believe this to be a root of the mini-game obsession sweeping the industry today.



And it was not just Mario games doing this at the time. Rare, in 1989, produced a title for the NES called Taboo: The Sixth Sense, a tarat card reading game that, in effect, was simply one mini-game played over and over again to guess lottery ticket numbers. Arcade extravaganza Donkey Kong was just three mini-games that players played over and over again at increasing speeds and difficulties. Dragon's Lair, a game famed for its brilliant, innovative cartoon visuals, was just one long timed button pressing mini-game.

As we move on to the 16-bit era, there are further games partaking in mini-game merriment. All three Sonic games for the SEGA Genesis featured bonus stages that were mini-games used to collect more power-ups and coins. Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island, following in the footsteps of Mario's latest NES efforts, featured mini-games used to gain more lives. Numerous other wanna-be games followed Sonic and Mario into mini-game oblivion with special stages because, generally, players liked them. On the portable side, Picross for the GameBoy was one of the first non-Tetris puzzle games to really hit a wide audience, but its focus was on tons of scenarios to apply its gameplay mechanics to, a.k.a. mini-games. The original Pokemon games featured casinos in which to gamble money and fishing contests to win.



Zoom forward to modern day, and we do see a great deal of games with mini-games in them. Test Drive Overdrive for the PS2 featured Pong as its loading screen, saving the game from total mediocrity. Gears of War for the Xbox 360 features a timed button pressing mini-game for reloading a weapon. Numerous games like Shenmue, Indigo Prophecy, Resident Evil 4, and Heavenly Sword feature cut-scenes that require timed button presses to give the games a more interactive feel during story moments. The critically acclaimed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic had a card game in it for crying out loud.

Now granted, none of these games are entirely mini-game based like Nintendo's Warioware series, Brain Age series, Picross series, or Wii series, but can Nintendo be pegged with sole responsibility for this current mini-game craze? Not by any means. This is simply a natural evolution of the industry to include more people in the mix. There may be more mini-game collections out on the market than how many there were five years ago, but that does not mean hardcore games are going anywhere. The simple truth is, mini-game collections and hardcore titles are both essential aspects in today's video game industry and even if one company were to blame for the current mini-game epidemic, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing...

Yeah. That's my only problem.

Like, Mario Party...

I played/owned most of them, and I think they're fun.... but recently, it just feels exhausted. It seems like they concentrate in the beginning, having 20 or 30 fun games, but then the other 40+ of them are fillers/"Let's get this s**t on store shelves quick" type of games.

I also dislike how certain modes are tied down to the boards. Why can't I play all modes on all boards/maps?

Mini-game-games are fun if you have 4+ people hanging out with you all the time... but in all seriousness, I'd rather have a 4-player regular game.

Well, not all the games I mentioned above are good games, like Taboo and Test Drive Overdrive.

However, I agree, there are some very poor mini-game cash-ins out on the market right now. I think the key to offering a mini-game collection is to offer something original. Warioware was the first title to be based on micro-games, which gave it an entirely different feel from games like Mario Party. Wii Sports was the first sports title to utilize Wii controls. Carnival Games was the first game to offer the carnival theme. And Rayman Raving Rabbids offered the Rabbids. It's when games like Game Party and the Party-mode in Sonic and the Secret Rings comes out that you see unoriginal crap that are just there to be there.