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(+2)

That's a good point: execution is essential but- using your example of Super Mario Bros- the amount of creativity and original ideas in that game was incredible. Especially for 1985 or whenever.

On the other hand, there are examples of games that use another game's concept and just make it better. Doom with Wolfenstein springs to mind. So, if someone's struggling with ideas then building on existing ones might be a good approach. Or maybe combine ideas to create something original- Fortnite is more or less PUBG mixed with Minecraft and Overwatch-style graphics.

(+2)

I wholeheartedly agree. Improving upon an already existing idea is a very good approach, and as you mentioned, combining them could end up even better. 

I think there's this stigma that if you take someone's idea and try to improve it, you're ripping them off - but that's just a bad way to think about it. Nothing is perfect and anything can be refined and improved on. The whole "who got the idea first" thing is just a waste of time. Genres start out with an idea, so if you're making a platformer game, you're now ripping Donkey Kong off (or whatever was the first platformer.) Which of course is a silly way to think about it. But I digress.