Turning Resident Evil 4 into a Mario game makes it better than ever
How do you go about improving on (near) perfection in video games? While 2005's Resident Evil 4 had already earned itself a place in the history books as one of the defining horror games, few expected 2023's remake to do what it did.
Overhauling the few complaints the first game had, the new-gen remake managed to up the ante in almost every way. Capcom was already onto a winner with its modern remakes that started with 2019's Resident Evil 2 remake, and while we have high hopes for a potential Resident Evil 5 remake, we're not sure it can top the acclaim of RE4.
Resident Evil 4 x Mario makes things even better
Click to enlargeAs pointed out by Destructoid, one Resident Evil superfan is refusing to let sleeping zombie dogs lie. Taking their love of the Mario games, they've headed to an Umbrella lab and spliced the two franchises together like something William Birkin might've cooked up.
Over on Nexus Mods, there's a deluge of Mario mods that turn the Resident Evil 4 remake into a whole new game. Although they're only visual changes, there's something about seeing Mario take over from Leon S. Kennedy and exchange tense stares with Princess Daisy replacing Ada Wong.
The Super Mario Bros mod is SupremeLeader777's best work, but it's just the tip of the undead iceberg. Other mods give us Toad as the Merchant, Princess Peach as Ashley Graham, and Bowser as El Gigante. Seeing Bowser's forces playing the Ganados is a lot of fun, but our personal favourite is the Combat Knife now being a GameCube.
Modders are out of control
Click to enlargeIt's become the norm that whenever a big game releases on PC, modders work their hardest to do exactly what the devs don't want us to. Yes, tweaks to lighting and textures can often deliver what the teams simply don't have time to, but when it comes to Shrek running through the Lands Between, it can be a bit much.
Elden Ring was one of the worst contenders, with claims the 2023 title had been ruined by modders. Mods can also get you in legal trouble, with a Pokemon-themed Palworld mod being stripped from the internet before we got to try it out. Still, at least we've got those Digimon mods.
If devs were wise, they'd embrace the creativity of mods like Bethesda did with Skyrim. Larian Studios teased the potential of mod support on console versions of Baldur's Gate 3, and let's be honest, most mods are just a bit of harmless fun. Capcom and Nintendo might not want Mario to blast undead Koopas in the face, but sorry, that's not going to stop us, we're having too much fun.
