Could Super Mario appeal to casual gamers with a “T” rating?

The Super Mario series has been around since the mid 80’s and since then it has become arguably the greatest video game franchise of all-time. It seems like the Super Mario series aged gracefully with time seeing how almost every main installment gets better with each passing generation. For the most part the Super Mario Bros series has always been designed to appeal to a children along with a family-friendly audience. Its very impressive how Nintendo has managed to keep the Super Mario Bros franchise as fresh and entertaining for over the past 40 years with “E” games not to mention all of the spin-off titles within the Mario Kart, Mario Party and Mario Sports series. There are some who wonder whether or not the Mario series could possibly thrive with a “T” rating and how it would change the public’s perception of the legendary Italian plumber. A “T” rated Mario game sounds cool in theory and could have possibly of worked back in the 90’s but in day and age players have way too many options in relation to video games. The creativity that Nintendo brings to the table with “E” rated Mario games is what makes the franchise unique as the corporation is constantly forced to reinvent the Mario character while trying new things to keep casuals emotionally invested into the series. When it comes down to video games ratings they really do not matter as long as the series is entertaining and the developers can create titles that appeal to the masses. If anything Nintendo had missed a huge opportunity to go down the rated “T” route with the Wario series back in the day considering the fact that he is more of an anti-hero. Super Mario as a character is way better off being a heroic figure that targets children while appealing to the casual audience of gamers since its something that been working for Nintendo since the 80’s.