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Last year, Koei Tecmo executive vice president Hisashi Koinuma mentioned that he’d love to use Mario in a Musou-type game. That was not a joke – Koinuma was being completely serious.
Koinuma elaborated on his original comment while speaking with Polygon, with the site reporting:
He sees Mario as a character that would need to branch out from hand-to-hand combat but could focus on his distinctive moves. Speaking hypothetically, Koinuma suggests Mario could “blast enemies off the screen or knock them unconscious” with his moveset. “I suppose the game would be balanced so the kids could enjoy it as their first action game experience, whereas the adults could enjoy the game with friends and families as a group,” he says.
Pokemon producer Junichi Masuda also weighed in on Musou. He’d be open to seeing the Pokemon franchise cross over with Koei Tecmo’s IP if it wasn’t too violent. During his discussion with Polygon, Masuda suggested that perhaps players could throw out a lot of Pokeballs. It would also need a new form of gameplay so as to not feel too familiar.