Nintendo is one of the most celebrated video game companies on the planet, and a large reason for their acclaim is the number of iconic IPs under their belt. There's Mario, Pokemon, Metroid, and many more names, but just like the consoles we play them on, every series has changed between generations, with some in far more drastic ways than others.

Don’t dust off your Super Nintendo for these legendary SNES titles. They may be iconic, but they are a struggle to get through today.

Obvious innovations like graphics make sense, yet in a lot of cases, even the most foundational elements of these franchises can undergo major revisions, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. The jump from console to console is always a welcome leap, but it is often in the games that we see the real impact, especially with the bigger names that drive the industry.

Mario today looks like a completely different franchise when compared to the original games. However, the most dramatic reinvention came when Nintendo moved from the 2D side-scrolling platforming of the NES and SNES to the Nintendo 64. This was where Super Mario 64 introduced analog movement, a free camera, and 3D hub worlds that leveled up the entire experience.

From there, the evolution never really stopped. Several other mainline entries, like Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, continued to flip conventions on their head. All of that innovation ignores the dozens of spin-offs, from party games to fan favourite kart racers.

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