I’ve been thinking a little about attempting a fanfic reimagining of CAPTAIN N, where actual research goes into it, unlike the original. That got me thinking about the mechanics of universes shared by numerous games: the original series, WRECK-IT RALPH, SUPER SMASH BROS., etc.
Let’s say there’s a universe where there’s relatively no overarching story (the PUNCH-OUT!! and PAPERBOY series and early arcade games) there’s no difficulty there.
The question comes when you hit major franchises like MARIO, ZELDA, CASTLEVANIA, MEGA MAN, SONIC, and others.
1. In regard to ZELDA, timelines branch out after OCARINA OF TIME, depending on the outcome of the battle with Ganondorf, and at least one game that was all a dream.
2. In addition to having two different timelines, CASTLEVANIA has the addition of games occurring over the course of centuries. CAPTAIN N was able to get away with having Simon Belmont as a main character because there were only four games at the time (CV THE ADVENTURE didn’t clearly define who the hero was and CV 3 was already established as a prequel). Would time travel have to be employed in order to bring in other Belmonts?
3. The MARIO, DONKEY KONG, and YOSHI series are all in the same universe, yet even still that raises questions about how stuff works. Are they all one continuous history, or is each sequel/spin-off a separate world? In WRECK-IT RALPH, video game characters are just actors, but I don’t want to go that route.
4. Licensed games. There’s been games based on preexisting properties, how would they be handled? Kind of funny to read “Meanwhile, in the world of SESAME STREET: COUNTDOWN for the NES” if these counted. I know characters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees were used in the MORTAL KOMBAT games, but they we just unlockable content, rather than part of the story.
5. Continuity. In tandem with the numerous Belmonts’ anti-Dracula expeditions, there’s also the factor of continuity between games in a series. The METROID games featured the planets Zebes and SR 388, which were the settings of METROID and METROID II, respectively, and destroyed in SUPER METROID and METROID FUSION, respectively. I’m not an expert on the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise, but that series seemed to limit its universe to the Disney filmography while ignoring sequels (like acknowledging the original ALADDIN, but not THE RETURN OF JAFAR and THE KING OF THIEVES). Seems a little more tricky when it comes to games, which might be addressed (if not perfectly) if each game were its own world.
I’ve been thinking a little about attempting a fanfic reimagining of CAPTAIN N, where actual research goes into it, unlike the original. That got me thinking about the mechanics of universes shared by numerous games: the original series, WRECK-IT RALPH, SUPER SMASH BROS., etc.
Let’s say there’s a universe where there’s relatively no overarching story (the PUNCH-OUT!! and PAPERBOY series and early arcade games) there’s no difficulty there.
The question comes when you hit major franchises like MARIO, ZELDA, CASTLEVANIA, MEGA MAN, SONIC, and others.
1. In regard to ZELDA, timelines branch out after OCARINA OF TIME, depending on the outcome of the battle with Ganondorf, and at least one game that was all a dream.
2. In addition to having two different timelines, CASTLEVANIA has the addition of games occurring over the course of centuries. CAPTAIN N was able to get away with having Simon Belmont as a main character because there were only four games at the time (CV THE ADVENTURE didn’t clearly define who the hero was and CV 3 was already established as a prequel). Would time travel have to be employed in order to bring in other Belmonts?
3. The MARIO, DONKEY KONG, and YOSHI series are all in the same universe, yet even still that raises questions about how stuff works. Are they all one continuous history, or is each sequel/spin-off a separate world? In WRECK-IT RALPH, video game characters are just actors, but I don’t want to go that route.
4. Licensed games. There’s been games based on preexisting properties, how would they be handled? Kind of funny to read “Meanwhile, in the world of SESAME STREET: COUNTDOWN for the NES” if these counted. I know characters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees were used in the MORTAL KOMBAT games, but they we just unlockable content, rather than part of the story.
5. Continuity. In tandem with the numerous Belmonts’ anti-Dracula expeditions, there’s also the factor of continuity between games in a series. The METROID games featured the planets Zebes and SR 388, which were the settings of METROID and METROID II, respectively, and destroyed in SUPER METROID and METROID FUSION, respectively. I’m not an expert on the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise, but that series seemed to limit its universe to the Disney filmography while ignoring sequels (like acknowledging the original ALADDIN, but not THE RETURN OF JAFAR and THE KING OF THIEVES). Seems a little more tricky when it comes to games, which might be addressed (if not perfectly) if each game were its own world.
Any thoughts on this?