Who doesn’t like Mario? Well, my wife for one, who thinks it’s creepy that a middle aged man would dress up in a bee outfit, and Michel Ancel — the creator of Rayman and Beyond Good And Evil. Despite being called the ‘French Miyamoto’, apparently Ancel isn’t a fan!
“I think I’m very different from Miyamoto,” he said, speaking to Gamasutra. “And not only because I don’t speak Japanese! In my opinion, he focuses a lot on gameplay, whereas I really like to work with technical tools, too.
“I will tell you something terrible — I don’t really enjoy playing Mario games. I don’t like gliding, I don’t like its inertia, and I don’t like not being able to give some slaps! It’s a fabulous series, and I understand that people love it, but it’s not my cup of tea.
“I used to prefer Ghosts n’ Goblins, Heart of Darkness, Another World — games with a focus on the narrative side. Beyond that, I find Mario’s controls very interesting, but I don’t buy it. I can’t help but seeing the ropes of the game, even if it works. The game is thrilling, obviously.”
There is mutual respect, of course, but according to Ancel, Miyamoto wasn’t exactly the biggest fans of one of his titles either.
“[Miyamoto] even told me he wasn’t fond of BGE! He really liked the cooperation work with Pey’j, but wasn’t satisfied with cameras. He suggested we had a look at what Nintendo did with Super Mario Sunshine.”
The Evolutionary Process Of Building Rayman Origins [Gamasutra]
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