Did Video Game Cartoons Really Worked?

I'd really like it if there was a Super Mario Bros. anime... probably based on New Super Mario Bros. Wii or something like that.

Of course, those original Mario Bros. cartoons had their hilarious moments, some of which are popular Internet memes, such as:

"That's Mama Luigi to you, Mario!"
 
I think everyone needs to take a step back and think about the cultural impact many of these cartoons have had.

When you talk about being true to the game lore, most of the series just didn't do a good job at conveying the story.

However, when you look at cultural references, I think many of these cartoons had a very lasting impact. I tend to believe that these cartoons solidified series like Super Mario and Zelda into our culture. Regardless if you have played any of these games, the cartoons made it impossible to not know who these characters were.

BTW for clarification All the Marios, Zelda, Captain N, all the 90's Sonics, Double Dragon were the only animated series done by DiC. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were done by Threshold Entertainment. I'm unsure who did Power Team.
 
Before I address the individual posts, I'll say this: What makes a good video game cartoon? The same thing that makes a good unlicensed cartoon. Fidelity to the source material is meaningless.

Having said that, I liked Zelda as an action-adventure comedy; Earthworm Jim as a freewheeling comedy; Wing Commander Academy as an ExoSquad redo with better animation. That's pretty much the entire list :-)
 
Power Team was DIC as well. They and Ruby-Spears were basically the "go to" studios in the late 80's and early 90's for video game cartoons.

You know, the thing about it was back in those days the type embellishing of the game continuities was totally acceptable given how vague the actual canon of the games were. For those of use who think the anime versions fared better I gotta say the Mario anime movie was just as strange as the TV cartoon and the only real advantage it had over the TV show was that Bowser and the Princess were drawn closer to their proper promotional artwork.

Even though Super Show really was more a "parody of the day" with the Mario characters I think it totally worked for the show, of course the best episodes were the ones that actually focused on the game events (which off hand I think was 3 or 4 episodes).

The Sonic animations were even more ambitious by taking loose concepts from the games and turning them into a compelling plot driven series (of course I mean SatAM) and given the fact that the still running comic book used this as its basis (that and the games) just goes to show how its longevity. Its actually kind of amazing how the same animation company handled the two (at the time) rival's series with very distinct styles.

Even Mega Man came out better than the anime version (I mean the "Wish Upon a Star" DVD not the EXE series). While the designs were "buffed up" and they totally misinterpreted Protoman's character. The series was the first piece of animation that properly animated Rock's origin story and probably introduced fans to Roll's presence.

In present day, I think Pokemon serves as the ultimate example on how to make a long running video game cartoon by sticking to a theme and variation of the same formula over 4 different series.

But I think these days with all the games becoming miniature feature film and/or having expanded story arcs I think the imagination and creativity that video game cartoons offered are no longer necessary. Video game characters have established personalities and voices so its pretty difficult to make a full series around that when it works so well within the games themselves.


O-chan
 
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