Mario

This article is about Mario the video game character. For other uses, see Mario (disambiguation).

Mario
Mario series character
Mario appears in the Nintendo GameCube in his typical attire: red shirt, blue overalls, brown work shoes, white gloves, and a red garrison cap with an 'M' emblem on the front. Mario appears in the Nintendo GameCube in his typical attire: red shirt, blue overalls, brown work shoes, white gloves, and a red garrison cap with an 'M' emblem on the front. For over 25 years, Mario has been Nintendo's official mascot.
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto

Mario (マリオ) is a video game character created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and is the official mascot of Nintendo. Mario was originally portrayed with two-dimensional sprites, but in later games he is a three-dimensional, polygonal model. Because of the common reference to him and his brother Luigi as the "Mario Brothers," certain non-game sources, such as comic books, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and the Super Mario Bros. film, as well as Nintendo of Europe's Mario Megasite have suggested his full name is "Mario Mario," However, Nintendo of America stated in the 1980s that Mario and Luigi do not have last names.

Mario and Luigi are both Italian plumbers. According to Mario cartoons by DiC Entertainment and the Super Mario Bros. movie, as well as the Super Mario 64 Players Guide written by Nintendo Power, Mario and Luigi are from Brooklyn,, however, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island indicates that the duo may be from the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario is depicted as a 155 cm (5 ft) portly Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He is well known for constantly thwarting the plans of the evil King Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom, his plucky personality, enthusiasm and spirit in the face of enemies, unexpected physical agility, cooperation with his brother, and close relationship with Princess Peach whom he has repeatedly saved. He has a greedy doppelganger by the name of Wario.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be the most famous character in video game history. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 193 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in video games in different genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, Nintendo's arcade sports games (such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series), and Nintendo's series of Mario role-playing games (including Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Paper Mario series, and the Mario & Luigi series).

Mario was featured in a show entitled The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, live-action movie called Super Mario Bros., the Nintendo Comics System (a series of comics featuring Nintendo characters), and the Nintendo Adventure Books. The show starred Captain Lou Albano as Mario, and the movie starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and made appearances in popular culture. Also, Mario was one of the only four video game characters to be honoured with a star in Walk of Game, alongside Link, Lara Croft and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Conception and creation

Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong. The game was surprisingly successful, and when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros..

"Jumpman", the protagonist of Donkey Kong, was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas. His namesake was Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America, who barged in on a meeting in the company's Redmond, Washington facility to demand an overdue rent payment. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario is given the stage name of "Great Gonzales" during his battles in Glitzville. Before a battle, one of the audience members refers to Mario as "Jumpman," a joke about Mario's first identity. Mario's nickname in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is "The Jumpman", again making reference to his original name. Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, both their baby counterparts, Wario, Waluigi, and other characters such as Donkey Kong.

Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-1980s; with limited pixels and colours, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear". Making his shirt a solid colour fixed this. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears, and they could not animate hair, so Mario got dungarees, a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, has stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.

The surname "Mario" (which would make his full name Mario Mario) was first used in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then in the 1993 feature film Super Mario Bros. This was meant to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could be known as the "Mario brothers". This surname theory has never been employed in official Nintendo games or media, however, and it is broadly accepted that Mario and Luigi are collectively called the Mario Bros. simply because Mario is the head-liner of the pair.

Mario has taken on the role of Nintendo's mascot and has since been extensively merchandised. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in the early 1990s; the two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterwards, until around 2001 when a Sonic game (Sonic Adventure 2: Battle) showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry. Fans have wished that these two characters would appear in an official game together for years, and in 2007, they make history in video gaming, as they will officially appear together in the upcoming crossover sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

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Mario in 1983

Mario's basic appearance has changed little over the years: a short, stubby man with a hat with an 'M' on it, brown hair, black moustache, white gloves, and dungarees. He normally wears blue dungarees on top of a red shirt, but he originally wore red dungarees on top of a blue shirt as in Donkey Kong. He is sometimes described as being overweight, an instance which once was brought up in Super Mario 64.

Mario's outfit can change if the situation calls for it. For example, in Super Mario Strikers, (Mario Smash Football) Mario wears an Association Football outfit as opposed to overalls. In Super Mario Sunshine, a red T-shirt replaces Mario's usual long-sleeved shirt, and he could optionally put on sunglasses and a Hawaiian-style Shine Sprite shirt. In some games, Mario can transform into different forms, each with a different costume.

Abilities and techniques

During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was known simply as "Jumpman", named for his keen ability to jump exceptional heights. Jumping — both to access different areas of a level and as an offensive move — remains a core element of gameplay in most Mario games, especially in the platform games. Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies. Beyond stomping, games have elaborated on Mario's jumping-related abilities. In Super Mario 64 Mario displayed super-human strength, being able to lift, carry, and throw the games first boss, King Bob-Omb, who was much larger than Mario. An even more impressive feat is that during the fights with Bowser, Mario can grab Bowser by the tail, spin him around, and toss him tremendous distances.

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Mario with his Fire Flower ability in Super Mario Bros.

Most of Mario's abilities stem from the collection and usage of items. In the platform genre, the most prominent of these items is the Super Mushroom, which allows Mario to grow to twice his size. In this form he is usually labelled "Super Mario", and receives an additional hit point. Other examples include a Fire Flower, which transforms Mario into Fire Mario (originally called "Fiery Mario") and allows him to throw fireballs at enemies (pyrokinesis), Starman, which renders Mario temporarily impervious to harm, the Raccoon Leaf, which transforms him into Raccoon Mario and allows him to fly for short distances as well as whip his tail, the Cape Feather, which gave Mario a cape (Cape Mario) that he could use to attack and fly. There are also three Special Suits: the Frog Suit, which turns Mario into Frog Mario, increasing his swimming and jumping abilities, however he is slower on land; the Tanooki Suit turns him into Tanooki Mario, whose abilities are the same as those of Raccoon Mario, but he can also become a statue; and the Hammer Bros. Suit turns Mario into Hammer Mario, allowing him to throw hammers and protect himself against fireball attacks. There's also a Blue Shell in New Super Mario Bros. which turns him into Shell Mario and allows him to perform the Shell Dash and protect himself against some enemies. This game features a Mega Mushroom. With it Mario becomes very huge. As Mega Mario, he can destroy everything on his path, including pipes, bricks and even the end flag. Super Mario World introduced Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi to the game series, whom Mario can ride when he finds the egg in which Yoshi is hidden.

In Super Mario 64, Mario will take twice the normal damage if he is attacked without his hat, and in Super Mario Sunshine, Mario will automatically take damage after a few seconds when his hat is stolen. In addition to this, Super Mario 64 features different boxes with hats inside that, when donned by Mario, offer him different abilities; the Wing Cap, for example, allows him to fly for a limited amount of time (Wing Mario), the Metal Cap transforms him into Metal Mario, and the Vanish Cap into Vanish Mario. By collecting the Metal and the Vanish Cap at the same time, Mario transforms into Ultimate Mario, whose abilities are similar to those of Metal Mario and Vanish Mario together.

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Mario in Super Paper Mario.

Metal Mario first appeared in Super Mario 64. He is completely impervious, and can harm enemies by simply running into them. Along with this, he does not have to breathe, which allows him to walk in noxious gas and water. His heavy weight allows him to be able to sink in water, helping in some missions. He loses the ability to speak (which, while not having significant impact on overall story or gameplay, only serves to show that Mario became composed entirely of metal). In the enhanced remake, Super Mario 64 DS, the ability to turn into a metal being is granted to Wario instead. Metal Mario appeared as a secret unlockable character in Dr. Mario 64 and Mario Golf. In Mario Golf he is very strong, having an even longer drive than Bowser. He is also one of the last enemies in Super Smash Bros. He requires damages of about 300% to be knocked off (regular characters usually need about 100%). He reappears in Super Smash Bros. Melee together with Metal Luigi (if Luigi is unlocked) as well as the metal power being an item any character can use. In the Mario Party series, an Orb containing a mushroom called a Metal Mushroom can be used to make the character utilizing it metal to avoid traps placed on the board. In this case, in the event of Mario using this Orb, Mario can transform into Metal Mario.

Although Mario is not usually portrayed using weapons in games, one exception is his use of hammers in certain games. In Super Mario RPG, the Mario & Luigi series, and the Paper Mario series, Mario uses his hammer to hit switches and solve puzzles as well as to hit enemies. In the Wrecking Crew series, Mario wields a hammer to break bricks. The hammer element was first introduced in Donkey Kong.

Mario also has the ability to throw fire or burn objects with fire at will. In older games Mario needed a Fire Flower to turn into Fire Mario, in which form he can throw fireballs. In more recent games, though, he has to learn how to do this, or even has this ability at the beginning. Mario, however, has no immunity to fire in any game (without the help of items such as the Metal Cap or Starman).

Personality

Mario is portrayed in games and other media as being a kind-hearted and brave hero. He helps those in need without hesitation. Despite his status as a great hero, Mario is very humble. He has a love of pasta and pizza, as the stereotypical Italian does. This idea was started in the American cartoons, but soon afterwards, Nintendo supported the idea by having Mario dream of pasta (this may also have been influenced by creator Shigeru Miyamoto's favorite food being pasta), as well as a magical gate advising Mario to "cut down on the Alfredo sauce" in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. He also loves tropical seafood as can be seen in the intro video of Super Mario Sunshine.

Mario's cheerful personality is reflected in his voice. Since Super Mario 64, it has been provided by Charles Martinet. In the games, although he largely speaks in English with a thick Italian accent, he has been known to sporadically break into Italian. In other media portrayals, he has carried a more Brooklyn-styled accent. Mario rarely speaks casually. He usually speaks in short phrases like: "Okey dokey!", "Woohoo!", "Let's a-go!", and more. However, in RPG games (such as the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series) he and his brother Luigi hardly speak at all - instead their words are usually unintelligible with their speech bubbles containing pictures and diagrams which only other characters can understand. However, he is also known to communicate through jumping, miming and even transforming. In the Mario sports titles however, he has full speech capabilities.

Occupation and hobbies

Mario's given occupation is that of being a plumber. With the exceptions of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and the original Mario Bros., he is almost never seen carrying out his occupation in the games. Pipes have, however, remained a mode of transportation. Mario was most often seen plumbing during the animated series. He was very knowledgeable about tools and fixing pipes in the movie.

Beginning with the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games, which first debuted in 1990, Mario has been occasionally depicted as a medical physician as well. In 2001, Mario appeared in Dr. Mario 64, an updated version of the original puzzle game. Mario was in doctor form as a secret character in the Nintendo GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee.

His most time-consuming activity seems to be saving Princess Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom, and surrounding kingdoms from villains such as Bowser. As seen through character interactions in his role-playing games, Mario has achieved a level of fame among the kingdoms' populations due to his heroic deeds, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they are referred to as "superstars", or celebrities.

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Mini Mario, one of the figures produced by Mario's Mario Toy Company.

Mario earns most of his money through the profits from his Mario Toy Company, which produces Mini Mario figures. As of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, the company has expanded to include similar versions of other characters.

The Mario franchise has spun off into games involving Go-kart racing, Football (Soccer), Baseball, Tennis, Golf, Basketball, fighting, construction, and dancing. In most of these games where different characters may have varying levels of skill, Mario is typically the most balanced character in classes such as weight, speed, power, or other abilities.

Relations

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Peach's appearance in Super Mario Bros., in which she is rescued by Mario.

Ever since his first game, Mario usually has the role of saving the damsel-in-distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from the clutches of DK. Pauline did not last long as a character and was soon replaced by new damsel-in-distress, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros. (She was initially referred to as "Princess Toadstool" or simply "the Princess" in North America until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari debuted, even though the name was not widely used until Super Mario 64 was released three years later.) Pauline returned in the Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong in 1994, and later Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in 2006, although the character is now described as "Mario's friend."

Mario has rescued Princess Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros., often receiving a kiss as a reward. Although the true nature of their relationship is never revealed (as is typical of most characters in the Mario series), there is evidently a mutual affection between the two characters.

Mario rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. In sports titles, however, Daisy frequents with Luigi more often. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Princess Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach", although Luigi and Daisy were previously paired as a romantic couple in the live-action Super Mario Bros movie.

In the Nintendo GameCube game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario is quite popular with the female characters. All of his female partners in the game kiss him at some point. Even Beldam of the Shadow Sirens expresses that she finds Mario attractive as well when she and her two sisters are glancing at the sketch of him that was given to them to find Mario and his friends.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's demented and greedy alter ego. Though there is no tangible relationship between the two, Wario was once referred to as Mario's cousin in Nintendo Power. Wario is designed to act, in a way, as an anti-Mario.

Baby Mario

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Baby Mario, as depicted in the Yoshi's Island games

Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario. He first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and has appeared in several titles since. Although he has oddly appeared alongside his older self in Nintendo sports titles such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, these games are generally accepted to be outside the continuity of the main Mario series, and therefore do not suggest that Mario and Baby Mario are separate characters in the main storyline. Like the older Mario, Baby Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet.

Appearances

Interestingly, the earliest appearance of a Baby Mario character was not in a game, but rather in the cartoon series The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In the episode, "Toddler Terrors of Time Travel", Bowser and Ludwig von Koopa (respectively called King Koopa and Kooky von Koopa in this series) attempt to travel to the past to prevent Mario and Luigi from ever coming to the Mushroom Kingdom, but the Mario Bros. and Toad stow away on the Doomship (the Airship's name in the cartoon) in an attempt to stop them. As a result of some turbulence caused by the Koopa King's lack of patience, Kooky's time-travel device ages the bodies of himself, Bowser, Mario, Luigi, and Toad backward into baby bodies (their minds are not affected by the change, as evidenced by the fact that they can still speak). Unlike his later Nintendo design, this version of Baby Mario wears a red bonnet in place of his hat and, in spite of the transformation, still sports a moustache.

A one-page short story in the Nintendo Comics System also showed Mario as a baby, this version depicting him as being "born with full head of hair, and a full face too!" This version of Baby Mario also is drawn with a moustache, albeit a much lighter one, which apparently becomes more like the fully-grown Mario's moustache as the character ages, even in his youth.

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Baby Mario, with Baby Luigi and Baby Toad, on The Adventures of SMB3.

Baby Mario's first official game appearance came in the Super NES game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where the Yoshis saved his brother Luigi from Kamek. In Yoshi's Island, Baby Mario has a rather passive role, essentially being carried around by different kinds of Yoshi for most of the game. However, in some levels, a power-up resembling a starman gives him very high speed, relative invincibility, and the ability to float for short distances.

On the Nintendo DS, Baby Mario has appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and Yoshi's Island DS. In Yoshi Touch & Go he reclaims the role he held in Yoshi's Island; Baby Mario falls from the sky, this time held up by balloons, as the player guides him by drawing clouds down to the ground where Yoshi waits to catch him. He then rides on Yoshi's back for the rest of that level of the game. In some game modes, Baby Mario can again find the power-up that turns him into Superstar Mario, making him temporarily invincible. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he appears alongside his adult counterpart, along with both respective versions of Luigi. The pair of brothers team up in order to save Princess Peach (the grown-up version) from a group of alien invaders known as the Shroobs. In Yoshi's Island DS, a mysterious floating castle is linked to the disappearance of babies around the world (including Baby Luigi), and Baby Mario teams up with Yoshi, Baby Peach, Baby Bowser, Baby Donkey Kong and Baby Wario to save them. Both Baby Mario and Baby Luigi also appear as a playable characters in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Video games

Donkey Kong

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The title screen of Donkey Kong

Upon becoming the developer of a retooled Radar Scope, Miyamoto developed the game Donkey Kong, which tells a story of a carpenter whose girlfriend is kidnapped by a gorilla. For the then-nameless carpenter (although he was referred to in the game's promotional material as "Jumpman"), Miyamoto wanted to sketch a simple character with whom players could easily identify. The result was an early Mario, with a tubular nose, red pair of dungarees, blue shirt, and red cap. The design was strongly affected by the technical limitations of the hardware, which permitted only 16x16 pixels for the main character. The moustache was easier to represent than a mouth, and formed the image of a large nose. The multicoloured clothes provided contrast with the black background, and the overalls served as a distinction between the body and the arms, so that one recognized their movement. Because of the cap, it was not necessary to represent the movement of Mario's hair if he jumped.

The character, named "Jumpman" by Miyamoto, was renamed by Minoru Arakawa due to his physical similarity to Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segale. The character was also identified as Italian. Along with the name change came an occupational change, as a colleague suggested that Mario looked more like a plumber than a carpenter. The colour combination of the shirt and dungarees was modified in later games from a blue shirt and red dungarees to a brown shirt and red dungarees, and finally to Mario's 'standard' appearance, a red shirt and blue dungarees. Despite more efficient video game hardware and the improved possibilities of realistic graphics, Mario has kept his iconic appearance as it remains even today.

Mario Bros.

After his appearance in Donkey Kong Junior, Mario appeared again in 1983 in Mario Bros., Mario's first appearance as the titular hero. In this game, which was originally called Pipe Jump, Mario and his brother Luigi must exterminate Shellcreepers (the origin of Koopa Troopas) and other pests that entered from the underground pipes by jumping up against the platform where the creature was.

Super Mario Bros. series

In Super Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi now live in the Mushroom Kingdom where they must rescue Princess Toadstool from the evil clutches of Bowser, king of the Koopas. By hitting certain blocks, power-ups are released. The Super Mushroom allows Mario to become Super Mario, who is able to destroy certain blocks, but he will shrink back into regular Mario if he is hit by an enemy. In the original SMB, many of Mario's enemies can be defeated only by jumping on top of them, but by collecting the Fire Flower, Mario can throw fireballs, which can be used for the same purpose. The 1-up Mushroom is hidden in diverse locations around the game. If Mario collects this Mushroom he will be granted another life. The Starman makes him temporarily invulnerable.

In Japan, "Mario Boom" developed a strategy guide, which contained exact maps of the game levels and all the hidden extras, quickly became a best-seller. Mario manga and an anime film were produced. In North America, the game helped the Nintendo Entertainment System, the American version of the Famicom, reach a breakthrough in 1986 and resulted in Nintendo mania. This brought the video game crash of 1983 to an end.

Mario later returned in Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario and his companions are out to stop Wart. In Super Mario Bros. 3, he and Luigi track down Bowser and the Koopalings to save seven kingdoms and Princess Peach once again. Various suits are available to Mario, which lend him special abilities. For example, the frog suit improves Mario's jumping and swimming capabilities, and the Tanooki suit, which allows Mario to transform temporarily into a statue to hide from enemies and giving him the ability to fly (note that these two abilities are NOT to be used simultaneously).

In New Super Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi have to save Peach once again from Bowser's youngest child, Bowser Jr.. This reuses elements and power-ups from almost all other platformers in the series, such as the Super Mushroom, while adding new ones like the Mega Mushroom.

Other platformers

Mario reappears in various other platform games. In Super Mario World, Mario and Luigi have to save the princess from Bowser once again with the help of Yoshi, who serves as an dinosaur for Mario and Luigi to ride on. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island shows Mario's beginnings. As a child, he is being brought by a stork to his parents' home, along with Luigi. Kamek, foreseeing that the babies will cause Bowser trouble in the future, tries to kidnap them. He only manages to capture Luigi, forcing the stork to drop Mario towards Yoshi's Island. Mario is found by a group of Yoshi; they keep Mario safe from harm, rescue Luigi from Bowser, and return the two boys home.

In Super Mario Land, Mario has to rescue a different princess named Daisy in Sarasaland from Tatanga the Alien. The sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, introduced Mario's rival Wario, who takes over Mario's castle during the events of Super Mario Land and forces Mario to collect the six golden coins to reclaim his castle.

Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64

A Mario game also accompanied the publication of Nintendo's next home console, the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 advanced the plumber into the third dimension and defined the term "3-D platform game". The game was not as linear as the previous installments, and the new Analog Stick made an extensive repertoire of precise movements in all directions possible. Mario could now not only run, jump, swim, and carry certain objects, but he could also punch, perform a Triple Jump, use a Wing Cap, and more. It is also the first game in the main Super Mario series to feature the voice acting of Charles Martinet for Mario. Mario must once again save Princess Peach from Bowser, and collect up to 120 Power Stars from the paintings and return them to her castle.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario and Peach travel to Isle Delfino for a vacation. However, a Mario doppleganger, having no colour and a slight tranparancy, appears and vandalizes the entire island via some sort of magical paintbrush. With the help of FLUDD (and because Mario was sentenced to an indefinite number of hours of community service), it's up to Mario to clean up the entire island. The gameplay here is identical to that of its predecessor: from Delfino Plaza, Mario enters different worlds, in which he must master different tasks in order to receive a Shine Sprite. The largest innovation in this game is the FLUDD: By using different nozzles, Mario can not only spray water forward, but can also spray downward, rocket up into the air, and receive a boost of speed.

Super Mario Galaxy, the successor to Super Mario Sunshine, is in development for the Wii. In this video game, Mario must once again rescue the kidnapped princess, this time in the reaches of space. Because of the low gravity in space, it is now possible for Mario to jump higher than ever before, experiment with physics and new locations. This and other new movements are executed by the player with the new Wii Remote.

Other gaming styles

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Mario using his fireball attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Mario has appeared in both games of the Super Smash Bros. fighting game series, and will appear in the upcoming installment of the series, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well. Mario is classified as one of the games' most balanced characters. Unlockable characters Luigi and Dr. Mario's moves are based on Mario's in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the second game of the series, especially Dr. Mario. Mainly using small-distanced attacks except his Fireball, Mario uses a move called the Mario Tornado again used by Luigi and Dr. Mario (Albeit under the names Luigi Cyclone and Doctor Tornado). Mario spins around in a circle, deflecting enemies in all directions, for about 2 seconds. His third jump is a quick but powerful punch upwards at an angle and falling down. Lastly, his new move, Cape Counter, gives out 12% damage, swinging his Super Mario World cape at the opponent. It also has the ability to deflect projectiles and to turn the opponent around. All his other attacks are kicks and punches as with other characters in this game.

Apart from his platform-game appearances, Mario has appeared in many other games (usually on Nintendo's systems), and has made guest appearances in non-Mario games, such as in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, where he is a referee. Apart from these guest appearances, Mario has appeared in non-platform games as the protagonist of other successful series. Mario's popularity proved helpful in establishing these games and game series at the market. These games are published by Nintendo, but developed by another company, such as Hudson Soft or Camelot Software Planning. Mario has even appeared as a playable character in NBA Street V3 and SSX On Tour, both from Electronic Arts.

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Later games pay tribute to earlier titles in the Mario series, as seen here in Super Paper Mario.

After the relatively unknown Game & Watch title Mario Bombs Away, Mario's first non-platformer game was released in 1990. Dr. Mario's gameplay was similar to Tetris, which was later ported to nearly all of Nintendo's consoles. Mario later explored other genres. Two examples include the educational game Mario Paint, which appeared in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Mario Pinball Land for the Game Boy Advance. 1996's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System marked Mario's first role-playing game. Since then, five role-playing games have followed: Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo GameCube, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS, and Super Paper Mario (a game with both role playing and platformer elements) for the Wii.

Mario's multiplayer games represent a more important subrange of Mario games. The Mario Kart franchise began with 1992's Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and still continues to be the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise today. Apart from racing, Mario is also active in the Camelot sports game franchises Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. In 1999, the Hudson game Mario Party was released for the Nintendo 64, a set of minigames for up to four players, with the most recent incarnation being Mario Party 8, which was released in May 2007 in the U.S. for the Wii. 2005 saw the release of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix by Konami, the soccer game Super Mario Strikers by Next Level Games, and the baseball game Mario Superstar Baseball by Namco. The basketball game Mario Hoops 3-on-3, published by Square-Enix, was released in 2006. Their multiplayer aspect and gradual learning curve have made each series quite popular. In each game, Mario and other characters play against each other, nearly all of them being playable, including Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Toad, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, and others.

In popular culture

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Mario in Kungsbacka, Sweden

Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon having starred in three television shows, comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins. In 1986 Nintendo of Japan produced Sūpā Mario Burazāzu: Pīchi-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!, a 60-minute anime never released outside of Japan starring Mario and his friends. He has appeared on lunchboxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials, in candy form, on Shampoo bottles, badges, and as a plush toy. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show featured a live-action series of skits starring former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to children in the world than Mickey Mouse. In addition, Mario made history in 2003 by becoming the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts.

Mario also had many guest appearances on the Adult Swim show Robot Chicken, in the first of which Mario was racing in a parody of The Fast and The Furious, in a classic Donkey Kong reenactment with the Halo characters, and where he and Luigi go to Vice City in a spoof of the Grand Theft Auto series.

Various sports figures have been referred to as "Super Mario" by the press or by fans:

• Croatian tennis player Mario Ančić
• Former NHL hockey player Mario Lemieux
• American football player Mario Williams
• Cyclist Mario Cipollini
• Brazilian soccer player Mário Jardel
• Cypriot superstar Mario Koulloupas

See also

• List of Mario games by year
• List of Mario series characters
• List of Nintendo characters
• List of Nintendo games created by Shigeru Miyamoto

External links

Official

• Mario's World (Nintendo of America official site, currently replaced by New Super Mario Bros. info)
• Mario's Megasite (Nintendo of Europe official site)

Unofficial

• Mario: The Unauthorized Biography
• The Mushroom Kingdom
• Super Mario Bros. Headquarters
• Super Mario Legacy