SW VOTE: What is the greatest game franchise of all time?

1.Zelda

2.Mario Platformers

3.Metal Gear Solid

1-Da Witcher

2-Mass Effect

3-Baldur's Gate

1. The Legend of Zelda

2. The Elder Scrolls

3. Super Mario

As much as I'd love to vote for Zelda, I unfortunately lost interest in the series quite some time ago, so my three votes are:

1. Super Mario

2. Final Fantasy (but up until 12 I guess.)

3. Pokemon (have to say with the exception of black2/white2 though.)

1. Mario

2.GTA

3. Sonic

Wow. I am legitimately surprised Mass Effect had received that many votes.

Not surprised by Zelda though. The series has not missed a beat.

Well, it had Skyward Sword, but yeah.

The Legend of Zelda

Super Mario (Main Series)

Metroid

@charizard1605: You wrote Pikmin two times on the leaderboard.

@charizard1605 so which franchise is currently wining? and what are the top 3 franchises last time u tally the score?

Why? Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Worlds.

All of the above are incredible games.

GTA

Halo

The Legend of Zelda

@ghostwarrior786: The last tally was a little over 20 minutes ago. Zelda is still leading. The top three are Zelda, Mario, and GTA in that order.

@93BlackHawk93: Fixed that, thanks for catching it!

well ok my top 3 franchises are...actually i dont have any.

1. Zelda
2. Metroid
3. Counter Strike

1. Pokemon
2. BioShock
3. Mario

1. Zelda

2. Mario

3. Metal Gear Solid

@charizard1605: Well, it may have been divisive, but it is still critically acclaimed and loved by many. It is a good entry in that regard for the series. I thought it was fantastic. Doesn't mean I want another Zelda in the same vein, though.

Maybe to you, but not in my book.

I already know mario or LOZ will win. Its like when they do character battles on gamefaqs. The same people always win.

There might be a reason for that, if you think about it.

Man.. Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate, Bioshock, Crysis, Max Payne and STALKER really deserve better imo...:/

I'm surprised that Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate are at the bottom.

1. Mass effect

2. Resident evil

3. Final Fantasy

1. Sid Meier's Civilization

2. Metroid

3. Zelda

1.The Legend of Zelda

2. Super Mario

3. Resident Evil

1.final fantasy

2.suikoden

3.metal gear solid

1. The Legend of Zelda.
2. Wizardry (Though, I am probably more biased than usual, since I am playing Wizardry 7 atm)
3. Ultima

Because those franchises are classics, and are well recieved on most sites and gaming communities. For Zelda and Mario this is even more so the case considering how exceptional the last entires in both franchises were.

eh idk. I mean do you feel cloud,link or sephiroth are the best characters in gaming history? Those are the 3 usally on the top of character battles.

1.- Well...yeah, The Legend of Zelda, that series has such a huge impact to me, i mean i love this industry thanks in part to The Legend of Zelda, so this is a no brainer for me.

2.- Super Mario, because, damn, is Super Mario, so many quality games, so many great ideas, so many landmarks over the decades, you can't go against Super Mario.

3.- This is kind of hard, there are many franchises i would love to mention, but i think i'm going to have to go with...Metal Gear Solid, as much as i dislike the franchise after Guns of Patriots, i can't deny the importance it had on me nor the importance that still has today.

Still...an arguably ok game.

Halo

Fallout

Crash bandicoot

1. TLOZ

2. SSB

3. Star FOX

So you will lose faith in humanity if Mario wins and your argument is because in YOUR book those games aren't the incredible. Makes very little sense given the fact that most of the videogame industry considers Super Mario not only iconic but a consistently incredible videogame series.

Perhaps instead of saying you'll faith in humanity you should have chosen your words a little more carefully.

I mean, I might not agree with them, but most people do, which is the point. Generally, when something breaks through to a majority consistently- as Zelda and Mario have been doing for nearly 30 years now, I wish to remind you- it's generally safe to say that they are pretty damn good at what they are doing on a macro level, regardless of personal or individualistic preferences.

Oh you mean the same people who criticize games like CoD and other series for being the same, yet oddly Mario gets a free pass cause nostalgia blinds fanboys.

Exactly, that's why people love Super Mario, because is not the same ;)

de·ni·al

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denial

He's right tho.

Mario 64 is a exploration-based platformer w/ more freedom whereas Galaxy is far more linear and puts more emphasis on platforming. Sunshine has the whole water pack deal. Actually, Galaxy 2 is the only 3D entry that doesn't really change things up, and that doesn't matter since it's the pinnacle of its genre.

You could make the "samey" argument for the New Super Mario Bros. series, but definitely not 3D Mario. 3D Mario has changed as much as is reasonable while still retaining what people like about the series.

The nostalgia argument is cheap.

Super Mario Bros: Play through 8 worlds consisting of 4 levels each, each level is tackled in an individual order.
Super Mario Bros 3: Still a 2d platformer, but there are occational branching paths, and level design is different enough from SMB, a lot more verticality for instance.
Super Mario 64: Game is in 3D, game is no longer as heavily oriented towards power ups, Mario's health is now how many slices of "cake" he has left, as opposed to his size, gameplay became objective oriented as opposed to go from point A to point B, exploration has taken a much bigger role, multiple of the objectives can be tackled in multiple ways, progression is a lot less linear, and determined by how many stars Mario has.
Super Mario Sunshine: Similar in concept to 64, but watering is in, much more story oriented. A few more lesser inclusions, but I am getting bored.
Super Mario Galaxy: Another big jump. Levels went back to being the more linear affair, gravity and multiple planets are in, the game became a lot more structured and varied and platforming was key again rather than exploration. Unlike the semirealistically placed levels of Sunshine, levels went back to being the obstacle courses they were in early Mario games. Progression was still primarily determined on how many stars you got.

Very well said. The assertion that Mario is comparable to COD in terms of sameyness is incredibly ignorant.

The only incredibly ignorant argument is, people actually try to show the "changes" in Super Mario games while they totally ignore what stays the same. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser haven't changed at all (this is why I love the LoZ franchise, Link always changes in look and art style). You have the same concept in every Mario game (except sunshine and 64) since Super Mario which is going from a linear path, collect stars/powers, defeat the bosses and bam end of the game. So again people trying to justify Super Mario games "are never the same" are clueless, ignorant, blinded by fanboysm and in denial.

Hell even my favorite franchises, to name a few LoZ, FF, ME and ES show similarities to previous installments and I'll admit that sometimes it can be a good thing or a bad thing.

Just updated the tallies.

Your votes can't count unless you nominate three franchises, my friend.

Nobody denies that there are some common elements in Mario games (this is true of any franchise), but you haven't refuted any of the arguments that have been put forth showing Mario's evolution (actually, you're not even bothering to take any of them on). Yes, the aesthetics have remained largely the same (pointing to samey aesthetics is pretty superficial BTW), but the actual gameplay and level design philosophy has changed more than most franchises. Super Mario Galaxy represented a huge change from Mario 64 and Sunshine, which is part of the reason it got such high scores. Its level design was fresh enough to keep the franchise relevant and vital, which is pointed out in many of the reviews.

You have been shown repeatedly how the series has evolved, so until you actually engage those arguments and give some indication that you know how the various games in the series actually play, you really have no room to be throwing around words like clueless, ignorant, denial, etc.

You're kidding right? Link has almost always worn the green outfit and cap, and had blond hair. While there are different art styles, from the more cartoon-ish Link to the 3D style, more mature version from TP, these style are also re-used. And what about the games being almost always about saving Zelda from a new enemy?

Besides, while the main Mario series don't have the biggest differences, the insane amount of spin-offs makes the SERIES completly different. After all, Mario's popularity allowed it to grow beyond just that. And Galaxy plays completly different from standart 2d marios.

Now i love Zelda more, and do find it changes more overal than mario overall, IMHO, but that's still a bad argument on your part.

Yes, the overall cosmetics of the games are the same. There is no problem with this.

As for the the structure, you narrowed it down to the point you can say that about pretty much any gaming series. But the truth of the matter is, Mario has changed a lot more from game to game than The Legend of Zelda has. In fact, Mario has 3 core designs, which is the 2D mario design, the collectathon and the linear 3D design.

Zelda:
"You have the same concept in every Zelda game since The Legend of Zelda which is going from one dungeon to the next, collect items and mcguffins, defeat the bosses and bam end of the game."

GTA;
"You have the same concept in every GTA game since GTA3 which is going from one mission to the next, shoot people and escape cops and bam end of the game."

Half Life:
"You have the same concept in every Half Life game since Half Life which is going from point A to point B, all while shooting the bad guys, enjoy the story and bam end of the game."

The concept may be similar in these games, but the execution of said concept is different enough each time to make it feel fresh, this also applies to Super Mario. New Super Mario Bros quickly got stale, but the IP as a whole, especially the mainline, manages to keep itself fresh through adding new ideas and giving an old, but functional concept a fresh spin. More fresh than Zelda, that is for sure.

@deadline-zero0: Since you have a hard time reading i'll say it again, "Hell even my favorite franchises, to name a few LoZ, FF, ME and ES show similarities to previous installments and I'll admit that sometimes it can be a good thing or a bad thing."

Also