Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

He’s got a valid point that the game might not be as successful without Mario at the front, but the fact is that it does have Mario. I don’t accept the danger he sees in this. Mario has its reputation for a reason, and is every bit as valid as a scoring boost as anything else. It’s not an excuse for overlooking problems in the game (assuming he finds any if he goes after any of the other 119 stars in the game) but if your avatar in a game makes you feel good about your gaming experience, so much the better.

Also, intentionally giving it a score simply to influence the game’s overall average, in either direction, is not only irresponsible, it completely undermines his credibility as a games reviewer.

There are several things that can assist in making a game good. The gameplay, graphics, sound, etc are all obvious. One thing that people forget about is user comfort and understanding. This can make or break a video game, and because of that a Mario game has just as much disadvantage as it does advantage. The advantage for a game like Galaxy is that the player has an immediate understanding of the universe, the characters and the enemies. This is a huge advantage simply because you can spend developer effort on the initial game hooks while not worring about educating players as much as if it were a new franchise. HOWEVER, this is a potential disadvantage because you have gamer expectations that must be met, such that if they are not met, even if its still a good game, you will receive lower scores. The point is, if Mario weren’t in it, it may have gotten lower scores simply because it wouldn’t have been able to be as good because the game would have to spend more energy educating the gamer on the games universe.

Also, I don’t understand the “spoiler review” concept. MANY great games have no spoiler review (i.e. no abnormally low score). Games like Orange Box, Bioshock, Oblvion, CoD4, Gears of War, RE4, etc etc etc.