Wario-related randomness

ShyGuyXXL said:
That's not what I was trying to say at all. S^^ Of course there is room for bizarre designs, in fact, I LIKE bizarre designs. :STongue:

But the Mario characters aren't supposed to look bizarre, they are supposed to look clean, friendly and appealing. They have very smooth, simplified and symmetrical models, so it makes no sense to add an excessive amount of detail (especially if you do it in some areas and not others).
If bizarreness was what they had been going for in the first place then it wouldn't be too out of place, but no, Mario is the paragon of a happy, friendly 3D cartoon character. :STongue3:
In other cases bizarre designs can totally work.
Just look at Wario Land 4!
Catbat_WL4.png

Why does this grotesqueness work? Because that's the first impression. It's supposed to be weird and scary, that's the point!
But with Mario & Co your first impression isn't weird or scary. It's friendly and pleasant, so the details (or lack thereof) should reflect that.
If they made a big, HD 3D model of Catbat then such details wouldn't feel out of place.

Now, I haven't watched Rubbery Figures (only a few clips just now, to see what it's about) but from what I've seen it's obvious that they were going for the abstract carricature look. Like a political carricature come to life. Your first impression is gonna be "Look at those weird faces!" so it totally fits.
But besides all that, it also makes a difference whether you have a 3D model or a real life puppet. In real life it's gonna have a different effect. Not sure how to explain it.
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Ahah, that makes total sense. I think I jumped to conclusions, because it seems so fashionable now for people to have phobias and express distaste for bizarre or ugly aesthetics. I reckon the reason we don't see much of it today is due to the advent of clean, cheap, easy-to-make CGI, so folks are no longer accustom to raw, imaginative designs like Rubbery Figures, or the creepy practical effects used in old horror flicks.

If Wario Land ever resurfaces, I hope Nintendo will bear in mind the contrasts between his franchise and the cleaner world of Mario's. Freakishly brilliant monsters (like Catbat) are something you just wouldn't see in Mario's world. Speaking of which, those are some nifty character designs you've cooked up for your RPG. (As you can tell, I'm a fan of wild, gritty, bizarre, twisted, grotesque, etc. designs. Heheh.) Cheers!
 
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Angler of Lake Asparagus said:
Does that mean you disagree artistically with certain classic design styles not seen much today? Things that have unusual aesthetics like stop-motion figures, puppets, animatronics, etc. The classic Australian show Rubbery Figures is a perfect example of what you described, and I'd love to think there's still room in the world for this kind of surreal and bizarre design. Not everything has to look clean and pretty.

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I'm not sure if it's just me but when it comes to like puppets and stop-motion I consider them somewhat distinct from other forms of animation. This is due to the props used and that it has like a more physical aspect. You expect textures from these props. It's also sort of why I prefer animatronics over CGI in some ways but I digress...
 
Magma said:
I'm not sure if it's just me but when it comes to like puppets and stop-motion I consider them somewhat distinct from other forms of animation. This is due to the props used and that it has like a more physical aspect. You expect textures from these props. It's also sort of why I prefer animatronics over CGI in some ways but I digress...
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Not to steer off the topic, but I have to agree. I'm still impressed by the outstanding detail and realism on the dinosaur animatronics of the original Jurassic Park.

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