Established Video Game Characters, Franchises and Gimmicks #1

The problems video game franchises encounter in their lifespan, more often than not, is a bad sequel(s).
Sometimes franchises end, even a great run of titles, after a while - whether because the designers and developers wanted to end the series on a high and solidify this batch of video games as justified and complete, or simply because they're not generating good financial comeback.
There's a lot of great franchises, characters, solo video games that often struggle to find mainstream success, yet receive critical acclaim and cult fan bases. These sometimes rise up from the underground to become a new standout IP, and then develop into sequels and merchandise to reek the benefits of their currently acclaimed position - resulting in either continued acclaim, or comparison-based biased critiques from original players.

This doesn't just happen within video games of course; with films and music finding popularity in a film or an artist/group and milking them to death with work that barely reflects any of the original pro's that made them so successful in the first place.
With video games, an established character can triumph into further and continuously successful outings, while others can provide a mere shell of their former 'glory' with overused gimmicks, genre and design-style changes.

Some video games reflect this, yet, benefit more from the change. Yeah, Nintendo; you old dog. Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon.. are all prime examples of 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it', and suggestively add to the next video game with perfectly intricate design and combat-enthused choices that provide a whole new design and approach to an old franchise, rather than mere additional 'gimmicks'; of which most could argue that these could appear to be, on the face of it.

Super Mario Bros is a video game franchise that spans the 2D and 3D platforming universe, and thus has both 2D and 3D-based counter-parts/releases. The 2D games have always based their designs from the franchise's earliest outings on the Nintendo Entertainment System; with the basis being emphasized on the games design and level design. The 3D versions are very similar; in which they incorporate both style and substance. These Mario games have been going since the franchise successfully transitioned from 2D to 3D with the release of the Nintendo 64.
With this, and indeed many over cross-genre releases - sport-related titles mainly - Super Mario is an example of a franchise that can, and has survived multiple genres and yearly transitions, still being ridiculously popular and critically acclaimed - Mario is a franchise that has been replicated, and rarely rivaled, far surpassing many video game mascots, yet still maintaining the charm, gameplay and FUN it's consistently renown for.

Super Mario Bros. released 1985 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) birthed the Platformer genre, and has served as a STILL perfectly paced placeholder for future release and third party imitations.

With the evolution of games consoles, the Super Nintendo (SNES) provided further potential, based on the many NES Mario titles proceeding it, with radical graphical updates and the addition of long-lasting powerups and characters; namely Yoshi the dinosaur.

One of the latest releases in the Super Mario franchise; Super Mario Bros U for the Nintendo Wii U continued to embrace the nostalgia and charm of the previous releases with further design choices and updates - alternate level themes, more multiplayer-based level designs and mini games, to provide players with more reason to play solo or with friends.

To me, a bad gimmick is something that's just etched into a game, rather than a good gimmick; something that is used throughout a game and used to radically change the potential design and feel of the game; ultimately giving a new spin, on an old idea.
Using the original Nintendo DS's microphone to blow into within some games, for example, gives a new way of play, and makes it more interactive, but this doesn't necessarily mean it's a good mechanic as it can hinder performance, pacing and often come across as tacky and kitsch. Whereas the potential of dual screens, of which one has touch screen capabilities, gave whole new design and gameplay to Nintendo and potential third party developers.