Unless the public school system has failed me, I'm under the impression that there's nothing beyond outer space. So where on not-Earth can Mario go after Super Mario Galaxy? For those of you taking the SATs sometime this year, here's a (completely un-) helpful analogy: Super Mario Galaxy is to Super Mario 64 as Super Mario Bros. 3 is to Super Mario Bros. To clarify, Mario 3 took the excellent basics of the original and refined the controls, added incredible enhancements, and pumped the imagination up so high that it will be ingrained in the minds of children and adults alike for a lifetime. While Galaxy likely won't have the sales that Mario 3 had, it is an undeniable high water mark in the Mario series. And once you've outdone yourself, an ominous stress settles in: how do I outdo myself again? It seems to go against the laws of nature that you can continuously top yourself forever.
Such thoughts must be filling the head of series creator and gaming genius Shigeru Miyamoto. Perhaps there's room for a Super Mario World-esque additional refinement. It's not impossible to foresee adding another coat of paint to the controls, graphics, and physics-based platforming gravy of Galaxy. Yet this won't keep the series afloat throughout the end of eternity.
Though the tone of this column may sound pessimistic, it doesn't have to be. Allow the uncertainty of the great unknown to set your imaginations ablaze. Take a note from Miyamoto and look for inspiration in your daily lives. The man steps on a bathroom scale and a gigantic blockbuster is begotten. Who knows; maybe you'll be the one who gives these franchises the innovation they need. Stranger things have happened.
