Nintendo’s mascot, Link, has evolved over the years and is considered the face of the company. However, if Mario were never created, it would leave people wondering who could be Nintendo’s mascot. The company has created mascots like Super Mario, Princess Zelda, and Donkey Kong, which have earned billions for Nintendo.
Mario, the protagonist of the video game franchise The Legend of Zelda, was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He was introduced as the hero of the series and has since become one of the most recognisable characters in popular culture. However, if Mario was never created, it would leave people wondering who could be Nintendo’s mascot.
Nintendo brought Link’s Awakening to the Switch five years ago, as a reimagining of the original character. Despite creating mascots like Super Mario, Princess Zelda, and Donkey Kong, Miyamoto dressed like a humble salaryman and was supposed to be the main character even if he was the villain.
A thread on Reddit suggests that if Link were Nintendo’s mascot instead of Mario, it would be a toss-up between Pikachu and Link. The company announced that its female experiment would continue, revealing an “original character” named Linkle for the 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors Legends.
In conclusion, Mario remains the only mascot for Nintendo, and if the entire Mario series is gone, it would likely be Link as the new mascot.
📹 Nintendo 64 – What if Mario and Link Swapped? | SwankyBox
Special thanks to GlitterBerri for translating the Zelda timeline, and for x7razorback7x for sprucing it up with graphics!
Does Nintendo support Israel?
Nintendo has inaugurated a commercial establishment in Israel, thereby affirming its dedication to bolstering the console’s presence in the country. This represents the second global storefront opening, and it precedes the Tokyo-based location scheduled to commence operations this fall.
What is Luigi’s last name?
Daisy is rumored to be Luigi’s romantic interest, as seen in Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Luigi was not initially given a surname, but in 2015, Nintendo confirmed that Mario’s full name was Mario Mario. He first appeared in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player, and later appeared in Super Mario Bros. for the NES, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World.
Luigi has been associated with the more difficult second acts of multiple Super Mario games, such as The Lost Levels, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Luigi U, and the new game plus in Super Mario 3D Land. These games offer more challenging elaborations on their predecessors and allow players to use Luigi as the main character, with reduced friction and higher jumping. Luigi became playable in the Nintendo DS game New Super Mario Bros. as a hidden character, and as a hidden character in the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy. In its sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the player can switch out for Luigi throughout the game.
Luigi also appears as a playable character in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where four players can play cooperatively as Mario, Luigi, and two Toads. He also appears in Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U, with a DLC mode where he is the main character called New Super Luigi U. The DLC is available as a standalone retail version. Luigi also appeared in Super Mario 3D World along with his brother, Peach, Rosalina, and Toad.
Who is Mario’s girlfriend?
Princess Peach, the protagonist of Mario’s first video game, Donkey Kong, was introduced as a damsel in distress in 1981. Nintendo’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, initially wanted to use characters from the Popeye cartoon as main characters but failed to obtain the license. Instead, he transformed them into Jumpman (Mario), Donkey Kong, and Pauline. Pauline’s role was established as the female character who is rescued by Mario and appears as the damsel in distress in subsequent games.
With the arrival of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros., Pauline was replaced by Princess Peach. Nintendo did not consider making a character playable by girls, as Donkey Kong was designed for arcades. Princess Peach’s characteristics were introduced in the 1996 role-playing game Super Mario RPG, including her use of a parasol as a weapon and a sleep spell ability that inspired her Final Smash in the Super Smash Bros. series.
After Waluigi’s debut in Mario Tennis, an evil version of Peach named “Walupeach” was pitched, but was rejected by Miyamoto. The design was also pitched for the 2004 video game Mario Power Tennis but was rejected by Nintendo.
Miyamoto said that Nintendo wanted to develop Peach into a more powerful princess in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as her role evolved from a princess to one who fights for Toad. After the film’s release in 2023, Peach’s appearance was updated to make her more angry and determined.
Is Nintendo 100 years old?
Nintendo, founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, was a Japanese company that produced and marketed handmade hanafuda playing cards. The name “Nintendo” is often thought to mean “leave luck to heaven”, but no historical records confirm this. The handmade cards gained popularity, leading Yamauchi to hire assistants to mass-produce them. In 1929, Yamauchi retired and allowed his son-in-law, Sekiryo Kaneda, to take over as president. In 1933, Kaneda established a joint venture with another company, renaming it Yamauchi Nintendo and Co., following the tradition of mukoyōshi.
Is Link gender neutral?
Nintendo has confirmed that Link is a male character, but the creator’s intention was to create a character with whom users could identify. Speculation has emerged that Link may in fact be a female character, with the suggestion that users may relate to her in a similar way. Fox Business has reached out to Nintendo for further comment.
What is the last name of Nintendo’s mascot Mario?
Mario Miyamoto confirmed that Mario and Luigi both have the last name “Mario” at the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival in 2015. He later mentioned that Link, the main protagonist in The Legend of Zelda, also has the last name “Link”. During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was given working names like “Mr. Video Game” or “Mr. Video”, but was named “Jumpman” in the final game. In Yoshi’s New Island, adult Mario is disguised as a Warp Pipe, and “Pipe” could be taken seriously as another last name.
Who was Nintendo’s mascot?
Mario Mario is a character created by Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese game designer. He is the star of the Mario franchise, a recurring character in the Donkey Kong franchise, and the mascot of Nintendo. Other notable actors who have portrayed Mario include Peter Cullen, Lou Albano, Walker Boone, Charles Martinet, Ronald B. Ruben, Stevie Coyle, Chris Pratt, Kevin Afghani, Tōru Furuya, Hiroshi Otake, Kōsei Tomita, Mamoru Miyano, Lou Albano, and Bob Hoskins. Some notable film stars who have portrayed Mario include Peter Cullen, Lou Albano, Walker Boone, Charles Martinet, Ronald B.
What is Peach’s last name?
Princess Peach Toadstool, also known as Princess Peach or Princess Toadstool, is a main character in the Mario franchise and the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, she is often portrayed as the love interest of Mario and Bowser, with some attempts to kidnap her being attempts to marry her and make her queen consort of a combined Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom. Peach’s gentle nature and role as the damsel are often represented with her heart abilities and princess emblems.
Peach has appeared in installments related to the Mario game series for over three decades, occasionally as a supporting character in mainstream games and almost always playable in spin-off installments. Her most prominent appearance to date is as the heroine of Super Princess Peach.
Before Yoichi Kotabe conceived Peach’s finalized character design, prototype designs were created for the character. One design depicts her with a long-sleeved dress, no gloves, strawberry-blonde hair, and crown jewels without distinct colorations. Another prototype, seen in the 1987 Japanese strategy guide How to Win at Super Mario Bros., portrays her as a Toad rather than a human, having a mushroom cap instead of natural hair, plus a simple tiara and a gown reminiscent of Aurora from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
Peach has always been depicted as a blonde in video game artwork, although her hair was originally of a darker, more strawberry-blonde shade. Due to graphical limitations of the NES’s Picture Processing Unit, her on-screen sprite in earlier Mario games displayed her with red or brown hair. The first game to depict Peach with proper blonde hair was her cameo appearance in the official Nintendo version of Tetris for the NES.
Why doesn’t Link talk?
The narrative of the game incorporates the character of Link’s silence, which serves to create the impression that he is someone else, thereby heightening the sense of excitement and anticipation.
Is Link a mascot?
Link has become a symbol of quality in games, analogous to the Beatles songs in The Legend of Zelda. Even the less accomplished aspects of the game are of a markedly superior quality to the majority of other projects in the industry, thereby establishing him as a much-loved mascot of the Zelda franchise.
What was Nintendo’s first name?
Nintendo, founded in 1889, is a Japanese multinational company that has produced numerous successful video game consoles, including the Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo DS, Wii, and Nintendo Switch. The company has created or published numerous major franchises, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Star Fox, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Splatoon.
The company has sold more than 5. 592 billion video games and over 836 million hardware units globally as of March 2023. Nintendo has multiple subsidiaries in Japan and abroad, as well as business partners like HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company. The company has received numerous awards, including Emmy Awards for Technology and Engineering, Game Awards, Game Developers Choice Awards, and British Academy Games Awards. As of March 2023, Nintendo is one of the wealthiest and most valuable companies in the Japanese market.
📹 If Nintendo Owned Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog started his existence strong, but in the past decade or so, he’s fallen on hard times as a character, mostly due …
Mario can’t wield the master sword and the master sword is the only weapon capable of beating gannondorf… so he’d have to beat ganondorf the same way he beats bowser. Grab him by the cape, and throw him. Do it again and again, until he’s in the temple of time. Throw him into the handle of the master sword and hope it works.
They’d both tend to struggle in each other’s environments (though they might still succeed anyways). The big issue is that Link and Mario are actually pretty fine-tuned to their respective adventures. This means that if they swapped roles then they have a lot of abilities that are, essentially, solutions in search of a problem. For example, Link would probably be really good at combat compared to Mario, and most likely would pretty much cut through Bowser’s army like butter. The problem is that the enemies in Super Mario 64 are pretty weak (which means Link’s ability to kill them even faster is kind of trivial), and most of the challenge of the game comes from traversing the level via platforming and the like (which Link is far worse at than Mario).
Why would Link start with his end-of-game capabilities? If he simply switched games with Mario, then none of his powerups should exist in Super Mario 64, meaning he’d have to complete the game with three hearts and no hookshot. Mario, meanwhile, would find Link’s items while exploring, leaving him with only a one-heart disadvantage compared to Link and his superior mobility. Although he’d start off as Baby Mario… who is still pretty tough, according to Partners in Time.
Well you forgot Mario has his CAPS to help him! using the invisible cap can make him past doors without even solving the puzzle! Not to mention he can also fly, giving him a very big edge. Link could use Cuccos and his Teleportation but it will only teleport him to the start of the level overall both heroes can and will save each princess but link would struggle more than Mario but Mario will struggle a bit in the water areas without rupees. the fire temples however are a breeze as metal Mario
I would totally read a fanfic about this!!! It’s so hilarious. I’m sure Mario and Link would both have their problems, but they might use some unorthodox manners to go through the puzzles. Like Mario uses his flying cap to ambush Ganondorf and throw the man in the lava. Link may burn everything with Din’s fire and go immediately to Bowser. Princess would be homeless for a while, but at least she’d be saved. XD
As Steampunk Papercut said, why you assume Link can hold all his items that you found during the game and Mario doesn’t? If we want to be fair, we can give Mario the metal cap (one of the items he has access in the game, which makes him invulnerable to almost anything, he doesn’t even needs to breath!) and with it can defeat Ganondorf even before he tries to steal the triforce. Furthermore, we know Mario is way much faster than Link, so we know he can chase Ganondorf easily. Also, somebody says Mario wouldn’t be able to hold the master sword because he doesn’t have the triforce of courage. Isn’t enough courage that he battles a 3 times bigger, fire breathing dragon that can produce electrical waves? I guess the godness of courage will allow him to wield it. As somebody said in another article: Zelda: Link has saved like 7 kingdoms, how many had yout plumber saved, only 1? Peach:’Excuse me princess, but I don’t know how many kingdoms are in the galaxy… For that, I think he could, hypothetically, wield the master sword if necessary.
All these people are like “Mario wouldn’t be able to defeat ganon because no master sword”. Which, I’m not denying that they’re right, but they’re forgetting something… We’d never find out, because Mario would never make it there in the first place because he’d need to have and use the Ocarina of Time in the Temple of Time, and then draw the Master Sword and use that to time travel to the future. But he wouldn’t even make it that far, because you need the slingshot to beat the very first boss in the game. Basically, Mario wouldn’t even make it out of Kokiri Forest.
+SwankyBox Ok, after seeing this, there’s something similar I’d like to see you tackle. They’re both PlayStation/PC games with a top-down perspective, the first 3D installment in both their franchises, and their licenses are even owned by Konami. Frogger (He’s Back!) and Metal Gear Solid (Tactical Espionage Action). I would really like to see what would happen if these two were to switch places? Can Solid Snake hop around through these strange environments to rescue the “frog babies”? (He could actually kill the enemies in the game!) How well would Frogger fare on Shadow Moses Island? (He’s no stranger to stealth since traveling through Honey Bee Hollow!)
Iron Knuckles would be a cake walk for Metal Mario. Hmm, if Mario and Link could use items found within their respective games (such as Link using the Metal Cap, or Mario using Ocarina of Time) that would be pretty interesting. Mario could probably use the Megaton Hammer as he’s an old pro with Hammers (been using them since his Jumpman days) and Metal Link would be awesome!
Link would instanly die in lava levels, sure he takes half damage from fire but not half damage from lava, it’s pretty much insta-kill (since it’s clear mario doesn’t have puddle deep lava on his levels, I mean an entire volcano is hidden below some flat looking lava and multiple elements rise and hide under lava, meanwhile links just walks on a hot floor), also in levels that have object able to crush him also I’m not sure if I agree with how you compared Mario’s and Link health, one get’s inta-killed when crushed, the other survives while being able to get crushed 2 more times so I think you can just compare them in situations, if a boss fight in mario takes 3 hits then what tells you it’s not because he hits stupidly strong and takes all of the health Link would take with 20 hits
The way I picture this is Mario and Link having a drink at a bar where all the article game characters hang out, they chat, then it somehow turns into an argument on who has the harder life, to which they both say “I’D LIKE YOU TO SEE DO MY JOB!” and then, they switch places, but can use each other’s abilities, meaning Link can jump super high, use powerups and stuff like that, Mario can use all weapons and the Master Sword and stuff like that. I’d like to see that.
Mario simply couldn’t beat the water temple, and wouldn’t be able to draw the master sword in the first place due to him not having the heroes spirit. Plus link could get every item Mario gets, as we know anybody can grab them from blocks. Links only problem would be that he can’t jump as high or far.
If we give Mario access to the temporary caps through cap blocks (which seems only fair because naturally Peach’s Castle doesn’t have any of Link’s items, nor does link start with any of them), he’d be much more capable, and might be in with a shot of clearing Ganon’s Castle, with Wing Cap that allows him to fly, Metal Cap that lets him walk underwater and makes him almost invincible, and lastly Vanish Cap with intangibility to enemy attacks and the ability to phase through certain solid objects all together.
Coming back to this article after a while I noticed a huge error. “But his fire tunic would half the damage he would take from the fire perils”… not how the Goron Tunic works. Its effects are threefold: A. Removes the death timer that shows up in superheated areas (the time limit is equal to 2 seconds per quarter heart Link has left upon entering the area, or 8 seconds per heart), B. Dramatically extends the time between damage he takes from crossing lava (and other damaging floors, including the poison water in the Royal Family’s Tomb and the spikes in the Water Temple, curiously enough. Also standing on the torches in the entry hall of Ganon’s Castle does this kind of damage as well). This is much more than a factor of two — without the tunic on, he suffers a hit of damage about every second or so, but with the Goron Tunic it’s closer to about a hit every six seconds, which can even give a chance to aim and fire a ranged weapon if you’re quick enough. It’s an alternate way of getting to the hidden grotto in Goron City as you can stroll across the lava, wait till you take damage, whip out your hookshot, quickly aim up, and latch onto the targets up above before you take another hit. And finally C. Instantly extinguishes you if you get set on fire, preventing ongoing/continued damage although usually moving around or attacking puts you out as well so it’s not really a major factor for anything. Though if you literally just stand still and let yourself burn without touching the controls you can take up to a heart and a half of extra damage from the burning effect if you’re hit by Anubis.
Assuming Link starts with nothing, he probably would fail. No sword or shield, just jumping and grabbing really. But then again he needed the bracelet or gauntlets to pick heavy objects up. Knowing all this I’m not even sure he could collect enough stars to finish the game let alone get past the first few levels. Mario would easily meet his end in the water temple though. No way he could survive that. Plus aren’t there underwater switches that require iron boots? They both fail.
i have thought about this, like a fanfic where Mario and Link argue about who has the harder job, and to prove it to each other, they switch places for one adventure. But in doing so, they would COMPLETELY switch places. As in, Link would have to forfeit ALL of his equipment to Mario, and will have to utilize jumping, throwing, punching, kicking, and the powerup caps 😛
There are a lot of physics concerns to take place of. I find it interesting how many people pose ‘instant death’ concerns about deathtraps in Mario, or the fact that Mario has markedly less health than Link does. There’s another gameplay mechanic for Mario that needs to be taken into account, and that’s lives. At minimum, Mario starts with four extra lives, and losing one causes him to get kicked out of the current area, into the previous one. In a Bowser boss fight he gets kicked back to the Bowser course’s entrance to the fight. In any course, he gets kicked back into the relevant room of the Castle. Anywhere on the Castle’s premises, he gets kicked out to the Castle’s front grounds. “Instant death” effects like quicksand, falling off the world, or getting eaten by the fish in Tiny Huge Island doesn’t cause instant game over — just loss of a life. A similar hazard for Link — falling off the world — results in losing a heart and respawning at the start of the room. Depending on whose world’s physics take precedent, it could be very irritating to one of the two. Mario might need to start an entire dungeon ALL OVER if he dies once. Or Link has to deal with restarting an ENTIRE COURSE because his acrobatic skills fail on him, and drop him into the abyss… despite the fact it only does one stinkin’ heart of damage. Anyway, much of how this goes depends on a few factors. Namely how many resources are available to the heroes (do they start in initial conditions, or endgame conditions?
Just looking at the scale differences in enemy toughness, like the fact that Ganondorf can’t even really be hurt except by the master sword because of the triforce of power, Mario would be pretty screwed unless he had access to Zelda items. An invincibility star might be its equivalent, but there are none of those in super Mario 64. The closest thing it has to invulnerability in that game is probably the metal or shadow/ ghost cap, and those are only temporary bonuses. Even with a way to recur the items infinitely and access them at will, Mario’s arsenal is nothing like Link’s — Link has his own invulnerability in the form of Nayru’s love besides, so that’s nothing new. Even if Mario got through everything else fine and used ridiculous glitch jump skips (think TAS speedruns) his power level doesn’t even come close to dealing with Ganondorf. … So! Most of the article is made invalid if we give each hero the items they would ordinarily have — hey, Link can bomb hover for those tricky jumps if he has access to his trusty bombs, right? On the other hand! Say we switched items as well as worlds, and gave Mario the opportunity to use bombs and hookshot and master sword. Mario with Zelda items would be insanely OP and beat the speedruns by a ridiculous margin. This would limit Link to using the caps. If Link can then wing cap every level, he might still have a chance. Otherwise… actually, no, even with the caps, link’s still screwed. Not only would he not jump, he couldn’t lift anything bigger than a goomba.
Well, the thing is, the items are found within the game itself, so wouldn’t Mario get access to those items? I’m also guessing the fairy abilities can be given to more than one person, so it may be possible for Mario to get those abilities. At the same time, since Mario can jump, he has a better chance at dodging attacks.
There are a few dungeons where there’s a block on a ledge you can’t reach, having to go though a series of rooms to get up there. Mario could easily bypass most of these with his crazy mobility. There’s also the fact that no matter how hard he got hit, he’ll only take 1 point of damage. And then, since link can bring his equipment to Mushroom kingdom, we can assume Mario can bring his caps to Hyrule. Metal Mario can probably punch his way through those torch doors, the invis cap can easily sneak past the guards, and the wing cap, well, literal flight has all kinds of applications.
Just realized; since Mario’s already an adult, he wouldn’t be forced into slumber like Link was upon pulling out the master sword. This means he’d be able to fight Ganondorf before he can get his hands on the triforce. And that’s assuming Mario doesn’t just defeat him when he confronts him on the bridge since unlike young Link, Mario already has experience fighting sorcerers, and would see that telegraphed magic blast coming a mile away.
Any chance of getting a modern followup to this with Odyssey and Breath of the Wild? Anyways, I think some of Mario’s fire issues could be alleviated by using Deku Sticks that would still be dropped by the Deku Babas. For the sake of fairness, give him his caps at needed places, like the metal cap in the water temple or the vanish cap to get through doors he wouldn’t be able to unlock.
This is a good article, but I found a hole in this; would Mario and Link really have their own items? Given that both found their items while on their own adventure, it would seen as if Mario would go thru Hyrule with Links items and vice versa, probably making the outcomes different than what’s shown.
Perhaps say we make it a bit more fair for out plumber and allow him to have some items hes seen using in other games like his hammer/mallet from the rpg series As well as allow the ability to use the power up storage feature from smw,then he’d have a chance. Though if hes purely limited to sm64….unless his various caps get scattered around the world and temples….more than likely not
I wonder. Would Link get the metal, invisible, and flying cap? Or would Mario still have access to them? And if Link got to use the caps in the game, would he just collect them all and use them where ever, when ever, and how ever long he wanted? Because if so, since you can put on more than one cap at a time, he would be unstoppable. He wouldn’t take damage, would be able to fly, would be able to walk through certain walls, and not be seen by enemies, AND still have all of his equipment on top of all that!! The whole game would be a breeze after getting all the hats.
Well Mario could make it through the dungeons easier since he can just jump his way through most of then without having to worry about needing items, etc. But he’d eventually get stuck. Especially on pretty much every boss because they typically require some sort of special weapon to beat them. Link cant really jump so he probably wouldnt make it very far but he could kill enemies easily.
Assuming they both had the appropriate skills and tools at their disposal, each could have the opportunity to complete each others’ quests. Assuming they both DIDN’T, then they’re both screwed. Better to assume they have the normal tools at their disposal, no point in swapping them if they can’t break through a dragon’s thick skull, or if they can’t climb up impossibly high ledges in Tick Tock Clock.
If they swap games, Link would fare better than Mario. Remember, Super Mario 64 is a non-linear game. You can collect any stars you want in any order, you simply need a certain number of stars to open certain doors. Link could simply focus on stars he could get, and ones he can’t get (that involve jumping, wall kicking, vanishing, or flying) could be ignored. On the other hand, Ocarina of Time IS a linear game. You have to go to every dungeon and reach the end of all of them. Mario would be completely stumped in areas where he’d be underwater for too long, that require arrows, the hookshot, or any of Links weapons for that matter. If Mario and Link can’t use items featured in the other’s games, it would be impossible for Mario to save Zelda.
Link would have to have his items to make it through Mario’s quest, while Mario would have to have his caps to make it through links quest. Mario would definitely struggle with water based levels without the metal cap and link would struggle on Mario worlds that required wall kicks or long jumps without his hookshot. I would like to play each ones games as the other character though. I think it would be fun, and would add a new challenge to two of my favorite games.
If Toad or Lakitu gave Link something like boots that let him jump like Mario or a special grappling hook that can dig into any non-peach’s castle material to let him scale slopes and pull him into paintings then Link could make huge progress in a few blinks of an eye. Mario would need to be spoiled with benefits on the other hand and to name one that sums up the water puzzles is an oxygen tank he can replenish by surfacing.
Link can jump and grab onto ledges, jump off platforms. Just because it’s an AUTO-JUMP doesn’t mean he cant jump. Tho some ledges might be too high for Link to get onto. Putting wooden crates or those target symbols for link to hookshot onto could work. Perhaps Link would start at 3 hearts and get a new heart every 8 stars he collects. And getting a heart container after the boss fights. You’d have to get all 120 stars and beat the 1st and 2nd Bowser fights to get 20 hearts. Just an idea.
For Link, perhaps the longshots does/would latch onto just about anything presumably in Mario 64, but he will likely need to use it in every world on every mission. That way, he can probably still get more than 70 stars before going to bowser. I think that Mario on the other hand won’t even be able rescue Zelda at all because he cannot even advance to the point of Zelda getting trapped in the crystal to begin with.
While not a huge fan of Crash Bandicoot/Spyro they made a set of crossover games in the early 2000s where each character went into the others game environments and I had the Spyro one and thought the concept was very interesting. I always wondered why Nintendo never did this with various franchises like these two.
I’d guess that Link could rescue Peach because he doesn’t need to get all stars to do that. I don’t think Link would be able to get all stars though. Mario on the other hand need to clear every temple. And if he can’t even enter the Shadow temple he’s screwed. And then he also need the master sword. Maybe he could throw Ganon of the cliff? And if anyone of them should have a chance they both need to bring all their power-ups and items with them I think. So if Link can bring shit things, Mario should be able to activate his flying hat and other stuff too.
Mario: lets a Go! 😀 Scarecrow: what? Mario: platforming! Scarecrow: no, this is puzzle solving Mario: …wut? Scarecrow: oh, well, at least you have a sword Mario: … Scarecrow: you dont have a sword… Mario: coins? Scarecrow: tell me you have a hookshot Mario: i have-a hookshot Scarecrow: nice!, Where is it then? Mario: idk, you told-a me to say that Scarecrow: you are pretty bad at this, im pretty sure link is doing better than you MEANWHILE Link: wait, am i meant to jump?! Bob-omb: yup Link:
really, games are designed in a way that the characters can interact with them, the hero’s perspective. When placed in another world, that character sees ways that his skill set can be used to interact with the world. This obviously doesn’t happen in game without a redesign, but I like to think that how we interact with a game is just a heroes perspective and other heroes could find their own way.
Meanwhile, I think link’s hookshot would just be enough to make up for his short jump height, and since he has his own bombs, he should be able to defeat Bowser unless he’s already used them all, in which case he’ll struggle since while he’d physically be capable of tossing Bowser, it is unlikely he would think to do so, and his sword and arrows would struggle to get past Bowser’s thick shell.
well there a possibility to get in the shadow temple without the fire, either he has to glitch his way in like Mario did in the enleess staircase or he can try to fly the way up there because Mario can rip a few coocoo wings put them and fly to ganon’s castle without needing the shadow meallion or the spirit medallion
I think you’d be giving Mario too big of a disadvantage if Link is allowed to use his full arsenal but Mario has nothing. Maybe you could at least let Mario use the powerups from his game. Then the question becomes: Should he be allowed to use them at will, or would they be sprawled throughout Hyrule? Great article and interesting concept. 🙂
I’d say Mario would need to bring the fire flower with him, but his performance in various RPGs shows he is just as capable as Link is at using equipment so he can probably defeat Ganon with some effort. Link would need to bring his hookshot and at a minimum a sword and shield of some kind, but otherwise should not have too much difficulty in Mario’s universe relative to his hit points.
All mario has to do is BLJ against the side of the deku tree’s root and he can rocket into the inner area of the Temple of time, there he is granted the master sword (because why wouldn’t it be there if mario starts from the very beginning of his adventure?) then he just needs to BLJ over to Ganon’s Castle, and then he just needs to grab Ganon by the tail, he spins him around and then throws him, this can stun ganon by having him hit the magic fire, then, since mario can’t use the sword properly, he can do a punch-punch-kick combo on the weak point (just like he can damage Eyerock this way) then he can do this consecutively, his increased mobility can help him avoid ganon’s attacks, and then, he can defeat ganon, and thus, the Hero shade can teach Link to U-Turn Flip, and Ground Pound, and probably a few other tricks….. like the BLJ? or maybe not the BLJ…
Main problem I have is the health argument. Who’s to say that one slice of Mario’s health bar equals a quarter of a Zelda heart? Those 8 slices could equal a hundred hearts as far as we know, or they could be even less. That aside,,why would Link start with all his equipment and all his hearts? Since he never starts out at full power and the items and heart containers don’t exist in Mario 64 doesn’t that mean that he’d only ever have 3 hearts and no items? And if we’re getting really picky about it, since there’s no Temple of Time or Master Sword in Mario 64 he’d only be a child the whole time which means he wouldn’t even be able to grab hold to most ledges to pull himself up, and since he can’t move up vertically it wouldn’t be possible for him to get through
Someone should make a romhack of both games, where you switch out the characters. Mario gets to jump, and you could switch items as well. The metal cap replaces the iron boots y’know? Link doesn’t get to jump freely, but gets the hookshot. He gets temporary versions of his items that best fit the things Mario has to do as well, like iron boots for the metal cap etc… things like that. I’m thinking of a close 1-1 switch. But if one character has things that the other doesn’t have an equivalent to, they don’t get it. Mario doesn’t have anything like the heart pieces, so naturally, Link doesn’t either. They both have ways of refilling health, and a currency so they both get that etc… unless it’s something absolutely required by the game to progress like the Ocarina of Time. Mario could still get the shield and swords, but not use them I guess lol
So basically if they both get acces to the OoT items (link at the start, Mario throughout his journey, like he’s supposed to) they can both beat the game, if they don’t because link didn’t went on his journey because they switched places and mario decides to leave all items he finds they can’t beat it
We’re letting Link use every item he gets during OoT, but Mario is still stuck with 2 hearts? If Mario can’t use the items from OoT, then he can’t do anything, since he doesn’t have the Ocarina. Link can’t fly at all in OoT, so he would fail at the levels that involve the winged cap. They both need to start with their base equipment, and get to take advantage of everything within their new environments for it to be a fair comparison. At best, Link should be able to use the child’s equipment + Mario’s hats, since he could in theory have assembled most of this equipment before they switched places. As soon as Mario gets his hands on the Megaton Hammer, it’s game over, Ganon.
What if Mario had a beard? What if Link had a beard? If Donkey Kong, Fox, Marth, Roy or Mewtwo played instead of Mario or Link, that would be interesting. DK could destroy most enemies approaching him with his earthquake move. With a giant punch, he could kill bosses. With a coconut gun, he could reach distant targets of course. He could climb what mere men couldn’t. If Fox were in Zelda’s world, he could use his tank to destroy everything, and his Arwing to go straight to the top of Ganon’s castle. His agility would be too much for Ganon. If Roy were in Link’s place, his counter could destroy pretty much any close attacker. His charged swing could kill any approaching enemy. He stinks at jumping though. Yes, I still live in the age of Melee, the greatest game ever (after Age of Empires 2).
It really does come down to what items are available to each character. Technically Mario can’t kill off Ganon without the master sword or light arrows right? … Though with BLJs he can glitch through a bunch and piss off Ganon a bit. But then that raises the question of what Link gets if Mario has the master sword. Nothing? … Well Mario doesn’t need the gauntlets or anything because he’s much stronger on his own, but otherwise… So those are the 2 possibilities. Either Link has his stuff in the Mario world and he gets along okay and Mario gets stuck at Ganon because he doesn’t have the ultimate evil-slaying destiny weapon, or Mario has access to Link items and utterly destroys Ganon while Link cries into a pillow utterly helpless in the mushroom kingdom. …I am a bigger fan of the Zelda series than I am of the Mario franchise, but tit for tat I think Mario ultimately has the better exchange here. Worst case scenario for Link is much wise than worst case scenario for Mario.
Mario would likely have his powerups, with them disabled until he unlocks magic (because unlike most of Link’s equipment, I don’t think a Great Fairy would have issues granting magic more than once). Then they’d just drain his Magic Meter (and sure, Master Sword is gone, but Light Arrows are still made via magic. Plus… OoT goes to shit because of the time travel so really…) Assuming they START each other’s adventures but are fully geared up, then it gets even easier – Mario would still get all the same equipment and have an even easier time, plus he can avoid allowing Ganondorf’s rise to power by… Well, being an adult bodyguard and close friend of royalty. I’d imagine the king would be more willing to listen to a man who regularly fights off dragon turtles and saves royalty than they would to their daughter and some random kid from the forest Link meanwhile… Can the star doors stand up to a Megaton Hammer? What about the magical songs? Even if they can, it’s not like any of Mario’s enemies are that much harder for him Plus if we all recall, Link’s Awakening had Link deal with Mario enemies in parts. It may have been a dream, but it still shows that Link can at least in theory deal with Mario enemies
And no, the timeline doesn’t work like that… when Ganon is sealed away, and the land is flooded to keep him sealed, he eventually breaks out and Wind Waker happens… also when Ganon is sealed and Link/Mario goes back in time, that’s when it branches off into Twilight Princess era… But if Link/Mario fail… then Ganon gets the Triforce and that creates the older games timeline instead where Ganon is the big pig wizard with full Triforce powers
Ya know. The more I stop to think about where Link would struggle in Mario 64, the more I realize, there…really isn’t that much platforming in Mario 64, there’s so few sections that warrant platforming that Link could at the very least probably get through Mario 64 with the minimal amount of stars in the game. Mario in OOT though, if Mario would be going through OOT chances are, he would have to come across the game’s weapons and items at some point otherwise, that man is stuck in the Great Deku Tree because he can’t use a Deku Stick to light the floor of web that drops him in front of the boss room with the three Deku scrubs.
But how does Mario even pull the Master Sword out from the Pedestal of Time? He doesn’t have the Triforce of Courage. Even if he could, he wouldn’t go through the 7 year time skip because he’s already old, making him unable to finish Spirit Temple, get the Lens of Truth, finish Shadow Temple, learn the Song of Storms and the warp songs cuz Sheik doesn’t exist
simple they are both the hero on a quest. one in an adventure/fantasy setting the other in a cartoon-like setting, however, both are the hero and so both would find a way around the problems the other world would give them. Mario will get help from the people of Hyrule and access to the same powers and abilities Link would have, just with his normal abilities as a bonus. Link would get the same in Mario’s world. in stories like these the hero will always find a way.
all points at link having all hes equipment with him… without it only navi could help him on water levels…(glitch) again maybe not imposible but very hard… for fire well i think he can grab deku sticks for the solve of some puzzles,if he can have one with him (viewing the point of he dont having inventory) like a grab item(box,some enemies,etc). (sorry the bad english)
I don’t know who would, But… Mario would have a very struggling time with his HP (2 Hearts) he would die alot… Gladly, He has no AUTO JUMP so he can skip parts, like the guy (I forgot his name.) guarding the Entrance, but without his Fire ability on Fire puzzles he’s done for, and Mario has no Shield so he’ll be dying ALOT… but I’m not sure about the ReDeads, Mario could either Tip Toe so the ReDeads Cant tell if Mario is there… Or He can die many times, But Mario would also have to pull out the Master Sword to defeat Ganon. Time to move onto Link. Link has Auto Jump, meaning everywhere he goes too that needs Jumping Means Link is screwed, But with his HookShot he can get to places, and defeat Bosses easily, 20 Hearts, and the 1-UP Mushrooms could either be like a Fairy. So Basicly, Link and Mario wouldn’t survive, they either would make it, Or die.
2:11 problem here, why are we assuming link would have any of his heart containers completed from his quest- if mario is the one doing the quest in his place then he would be the one collecting them – items as well – this leaves link in peaches castle with no items- his young form and three hearts.. likewise mario would have none of the connections that link was able to make as the hero of time such as the great deku tree imposing this quest on him in the first place – or his place in zelda’s childhood dream of a boy in green with a fairy ect…One the whole i think your idea here is interesting- i just think you need to consider this line of thought… remake article maby?? you have my consent to use this comment.
I feel like the fire flower and the super mushroom should have been in mario 64, maybe nintendo should have added an item inventory where mario can use the fire flower and the super mushroom in every world but only once and if you use up both of them your only option to get them back is if you exit out the levels and come back to them and then you can use them again so use them well and wisely. However, you can’t use those power ups if you are fighting any bosses. With the fire flower mario would shoot fireballs of you press A but he can’t pick up stuff like he originally can in his base form. The super mushroom would be just like the one in super mario 64 ds which has a time limit. Both power ups would have a time limit so just like I said use them well and use them wisely.
Majora’s Mask Link would be a bit overpowered fighting Bowser. Too many masks, especially Fierce Deity, that could help him. Goron Link could probably just pick up Bowser and toss him right away. Every time. I think he’s immune to fire, as well, considering you can walk through lava. So… Bowser would be nearly defenseless.
As much as I love Mario I have to admit, Mario would not last in Links games. Link could manage to beat Marios game Super Mario 64 by making it to the final boss however I don’t think he would manage to collect all 121 stars. 150 if it’s ds version. Also I don’t see Mario beating Ganondorf not to mention Nintendo has even stated that nobody in the nintendo universe can beat Ganon except for Link. As for Link against Bowser… Well considering the fact Link has faced multiple times more dangerous bosses than Bowser I don’t see it being a problem for Link to beat Bowser. Plus Mario needs to grab bowser to throw bowser into bombs while Link carries supplies of bombs and can easily throw bombs at Bowser. I agree with this article and I loved it.
Technically, it should go by the rules that they enter each others world the same default way that they enter their own. Meaning Link would have 3 hearts, no tunics and no equipment bar his sword and shield (and thats being nice to him because technically he doesnt start the game with any sword and shield).