Length isn't everything

This past weekend the hype of Super Mario Galaxy hit me like a ton of bricks. I had always anticipated the game, but with just two weeks left to go the realization of the next installment in platform perfection left me excited. I have long been a fan of the Mario games, with Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 being three of the most amazing games I have ever played.

With literally a mountain of work that needed to be done, I did what any Nintendo fanboy would do: Download Super Mario 64 from the Wii's Virtual Console. I grinned ear-to-ear as the trademark "It's a me! Mario!" filled the room. I had planned to atleast play the game again before the release of Galaxy, but knew I would not have the time to fully complete the game.

Boy was I wrong.

It took me just over 13 hours to go through the game, which is extremely short compared to how I remembered. Obviously I had played through before and knew where everything was with little trouble, but 13 hours is still very short for what is one of the greatest games of all time.

This got me thinking. Does a games length define just how good that game is?

Two recent releases of fantastic games met critcism due to length. Bioshock and Heavenly Sword are two of the best titles released this year, and the major problem that many reviewers had were length related. Some of these reviewers also neglected to hold these games in the high standing they deserve due to this.

I actually read on many forums about gamers skipping these two blockbusters because they were "short".

I'm here to tell you that game length DOES NOT MATTER.

I have played through Bioshock two times, and the games length is fine. If the game was any longer it would wear thin.

The answer is for developers to find that perfect balance. It sounds simple enough does it not?

Games like Super Mario 64 and Bioshock both represent the perfect length for their respective genres. A platformer or shooter over 20 hours is bound to become repetitive in a hurry.

Don't get me wrong, I love my RPGs to be 40+ hours. They are designed to be that long, however, and the story is usually deep enough to carry the game the distance.

The moral of this post is to never ever skip a game based on length. Some of the best games ever made can be beaten on a weekend. Rentals work fine as well. Just don't miss out!