Mario was just a character used by Nintendo in a bunch of their games, but he wasn’t a bona fide company mascot for a long time. No, in the beginning, there wasn’t anything to get attached to. Mario was just our on-screen stand-in who we could make go left, right, up and down ladders, with a dedicated button for jumping. It wasn’t his engaging personality or ability to wield a hammer that won us over, but the excellent gameplay that endeared him to us.
As a mascot, the exact moment Mario won us all over when he said the immortal words, “It’s a-me, Mario!” Yes, by doubling down on Italian stereotypes, Mario endeared himself to all of us, and a corportate synergy between branding and marketing was forever sealed.
All the same, you can disagree and say that it was the moment he was given a name that made him a mascot. Or, the moment that he was given a moustache as a animation shortcut/personality trait—its all debatable. But somewhere in there, Mario hiked up the overalls that he’s been wearing since his first game and presented himself in as engaging a fashion as the gameplay in his videogames.
It’s a bit of the je ne sais quoi, and Miracle Space Race (2003) is having none of it.
Miracle Space Race is a perfectly fine game—if it was released about ten years prior to its release so late in the Playstation One’s life cycle. It’s a game that works in that things happen when you push buttons, and stop if you walk away to get a snack, but it’s not a game that has anything for someone to like. Even the title screen is boring.
The gameplay is perhaps the best part of this game because it’s not the graphics, sound, story or presentation. It’s not tight or rewarding, but then it falls into the category of games that are our version of the proliferation of zombie games: in other words, kart racers.
I suppose I would be much tougher on this game, but then all the drivers of the spaceships are animals with oversized heads. And I suppose I could actually relate to this game if there was any redeeming qualities for me to like them, as we all do with Mario. Like a catch phrase. Or a catchy name. Or a moustache. (On an animal? He’d be able to sway a jury and make it on time for last call at the animal drinking hole)
For many games, the most important part of the videogame is the experience itself, something most important if it is packaged as a kid-friendly kart racer. As an audience, we’d want to be part of a world that is fun and happy, and not just a bunch of animals racing each other in outer space without cause.
And after all, who am I going to get mad at when I’m hit by the Miracle Space Race equivalent of the blue tortoise shell? Jerry the hare? I hardly know the guy enough to hate him.
How far I got in ten minutes: Finished two races. Came dead last in both of them.
The good: I guess this what happens when you send up more than one Sputnik at a time
The bad: I still don’t get the “Miracle” part. I guess these are holy animal? I mean, outer space and all…
Will I play this game again once this year is over: No. Miracle Space Race will be miraculously erased from my brain.
Days so far in the Year of the Play-a-DayStation: 46
Play-a-Daystation 