Mario
Mario (マリオ), also known as Super Mario, is a world renowned video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. As well as being Nintendo's mascot he is one of the most recognized characters in video game history, appearing in hundreds of games, many of them bestsellers. Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong under the generic title of Jumpman (ジャンプマン, Jampuman), and appeared alongside his brother Luigi for the first time in Mario Bros. To date, nearly 200 million games featuring Mario have been sold,[1] making it the best selling video game franchise of all time.
Game History
Mario's first appearance was a prominent role in 1981's Donkey Kong. The game was so successful that he was given a starring role in the first game for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies (pack-in copies included) and overall, Mario games have sold over approximately 152 million copies worldwide, with Super Mario Bros. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, with over seventeen million copies sold. Mario and friends have also appeared in some of the later Game and Watch Gallery games.
Mario games have also been released in genres besides platform games. Mario starred in many educational games by Interplay in the mid-1990s (such as Mario is Missing!, which was Luigi's first starring role in a Mario-themed game), RPGs (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Paper Mario), sports games (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Super Mario Strikers, Mario Superstar Baseball), racing games (Mario Kart), puzzle games (Dr. Mario), paint/animation studios (Mario Paint), party games (Mario Party series), Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and over 100 other games.
Mario is next set to appear in the Nintendo DS title New Super Mario Bros. and the tentatively titled Super Mario 128 on Nintendo Revolution.
Character
Name
Mario's full name is believed to be Mario Mario, due to him and Luigi frequently being referred to as the "Mario Bros." According to creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the licensed film, and the television series, their surname is indeed Mario, but this issue is rarely dealt with in official Nintendo materials.
Mario was named after Mario Segali, the landlord of Nintendo of America's former New York headquarters. (They later moved to their Redmond, Washington facility when large computer companies such as Microsoft began going up.) When a Japanese copy of the new Donkey Kong game arrived, the NOA staff had to translate the story and character names into English. The lead character, known in Japan as "Jumpman," needed an English name. After interrupting a meeting discussing this issue, Segali blasted the president of NOA, Minoru Arakawa, because the firm's rent was overdue. The name Mario appears in the documentation of the home version of the game licensed by Coleco in the U.S. for the ColecoVision, Atari 2600 and Mattel Intellivision. By the time of Donkey Kong Junior's production, Jumpman had officially become Mario (Super Mario).
Biography
Despite his lengthy history, Mario is in many ways an undeveloped character with many details of his accepted biography having been created through a complex lore spawned from the imaginations of comic book artists, cartoon writers, and fans.
Officially, Nintendo producers have stated that Mario's biography is kept simple in order to make the character versatile, and reusable in many different games and situations.
In his first appearance in Donkey Kong, all that was stated was that he was a carpenter who had to save Pauline from Donkey Kong. At this point he was also known as 'Jumpman' having no real name. His third appearance in Mario Bros., not only solidified his name, but changed his profession to plumber, which was more fitting with the pipe theme of that game. Here, Mario and his brother Luigi cleaned out the sewers of Brooklyn. This fact, in addition to both the cartoon series and the movie, led many to believe that Brooklyn was Mario's original home. Newer games and manuals, however, state that he grew up in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom. Some have suggested that the brothers were taken to the "Real World" at an early age, while others disagreed with this because it contradicts the other games and the Super Mario 64 guide which was written after Yoshi's Island.
Over the course of his many games, Mario has rescued a number of women from captivity (including Pauline, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy). and has become regarded as a great hero in the Mushroom Kingdom. There is no definitive timeline for the events in the various games, most of which could be placed in nearly any order.
Personality
Mario is generally a kind hearted man. In Mario vs. Donkey Kong, it is shown that he tends to speak his native Italian tongue when he's angry.
Of the two Mario brothers, Mario is generally considered braver than his little brother. However, in the game Luigi's Mansion, when Mario was captured by ghosts, Luigi was the only one left to take up the vacuum and save him. Mario showed his more aggressive side during the game Super Mario Strikers.
In the animated series, Mario was quite fond of food, particularly Italian delicacies. As Luigi notes in one episode, he never misses lunch unless he's in trouble. Though Nintendo was not directly involved with the cartoons, Mario's appetite is mentioned in Super Mario 64 (whenever he falls asleep) and Super Mario Sunshine (in the introduction video).
Voice
In the games, the current actor who provides the voice for Mario is Charles Martinet. Like other video game protagonists such as Link, Mario speaks minimal dialogue during games. According to Nintendo, this lack of speech allows the player to feel as though they are the character and are speaking in their voice. Mario never seems to speak a full sentence - all that is uttered by the plumber are battle cries, moans and short catch phrases. Mario did speak quite a bit in the game, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, when he's first chosen as an opponent for the Match Games as well as in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, where he would speak a lot while he chased Donkey Kong.
Ronald B. Ruben voiced him in the PC game Mario Teaches Typing. In animation, he has been voiced by Peter Cullen (The Saturday Supercade), Tōru Furuya (Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen), Captain Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show), and Walker Boone (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World). In the 1993 movie, Mario is played by Bob Hoskins.
Occupation and Hobbies
Despite Mario's given occupation as a plumber, he is almost never seen doing any plumbing during the games. The closest Mario came to actually doing any plumbing was clearing pipe levels of enemies in the games Mario Bros., Wrecking Crew and a bit in the Mario and Luigi games. Pipes have, however, remained as a mode of transportation in almost all Mario games.
Mario was often seen plumbing during the animated series. In fact, he often carried around a plumber's wrench which turned out to be handy in many episodes as a weapon and tool. However, most likely due to its loose continuity (especially in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, where movie parodies were common), the animated series is not deemed part of the Mario video game canon.
Mario's only full-time job in the games seems to be saving Princess Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom, and surrounding kingdoms from evil tyrants such as Bowser. As seen through character interactions in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario has achieved a level of fame amongst the kingdom populations due to his heroics.
Mario works so hard at this job apparently that he must often take a vacation - Super Mario World and Super Mario Sunshine detail such events. He is also quite the party animal - the Mario Party game series has already had seven titles.
From the range of Mario sports games available it is evident that Mario is incredibly fond of and skilled at tennis, basketball, soccer, golf, football, baseball and go-karting.
Baby Mario
Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario, although he has appeared alongside his older self in Nintendo sports titles such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. However, it is generally accepted that these games are 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. An alternative solution is saying that the babies were present via time travel, like in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Like the older Mario, he is voiced by Charles Martinet (See Portrayals of Mario).
He first appeared in the Super NES game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where with the help of the Yoshis he saved his brother Luigi from Kamek the Magikoopa. In Yoshi's Island, Baby Mario has a rather passive role, essentially being carried around by different Yoshis for most of the game. However, in some levels, a power-up resembling a star allows him to transform into Super Baby Mario, giving him very high speed, relative invincibility, and the ability to float for short distances. Other than this, Baby Mario is remembered for his boisterous and annoying sobs, which he did whenever Yoshi ran into an enemy. Here, Baby Mario would float within a bubble while bawling loudly, and the player controlling Yoshi would have between 1-30 seconds to recover Baby Mario and hitch him safely on Yoshi's back. If the time ran out, Mario would be kidnapped by Kamek's Toadies and Yoshi would lose a life.
More recently, Baby Mario appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo 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 Super Baby Mario, making him temporarily invincible.
Baby Mario also stars in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time with his brother, his older self, and his brother's older self. His abilities in battle appear to be identical to those of his older self. The game explains the co-existence of the two sets of brothers in this game by saying that Mario and Luigi are sent back in time to a period when they were still babies. 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.
The Japan only game Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa is sometimes referred to as "Mario Baby" due to that name being applied to a ROM hack of the game.
Development
Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong, despite being developed as a concept character before-hand in the mid-1970s. During this time, Mario was thrown about from comic book to comic book, while his debut was pending. The game, however, was surprisingly successful, and when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros. game.
Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-'80s: with a limited number of pixels and colors, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear" if his shirt was a solid color; they did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears; and they could not animate hair, so Mario got overalls, a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto has also stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.
When Mario was first conceived, he looked, more or less, as he does today: a short, plump man with the trademark hat, brown hair, black mustache and overalls. He normally wears blue overalls on top of a red shirt, but such was not always the case. Originally, he wore red overalls on top of a blue shirt — almost exactly opposite what he wears now. The American Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first appearance of his modern outfit (the box had the red overalls-on-blue shirt, but the game itself had a blue overalls-on-red shirt); however, it was Super Mario Bros. 3 that standardized today's blue overalls-on-red shirt outfit. (Incidentally, the original Super Mario Bros. has neither in-game; Mario wears a brown shirt with red overalls).
Mario's outfit rarely changes, though he's known to change it on occasion if the situation calls for it. For example, in Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football in Europe), Mario wears an Association Football (soccer) outfit as opposed to overalls. Also, in some Mario games, Mario can transform into different forms, each with a different costume, such as Tanooki Mario, Fire Mario, Frog Mario, and Hammer Mario. He also flashes different colors when utilizing a star, which gives him temporary invincibility.
Miyamoto created many of the elements in the Mario world from ideas he had seen in other media. One of his most recognizable contributions to his Mario universe is the Super Mushroom, which would enlarge Mario until he got damaged by an enemy. There is also a Poison Mushroom, which is purple in the Japanese Super Mario Brothers 2 and shaded differently in Super Smash Brothers. When Mario eats it (Or whatever he does) he is either returned to small Mario, killed (SMB2J) or becomes smaller and lighter for a short period of time (Super Smash Brothers Melee). These ideas was derived from the "Eat me" cakes and "Drink me" potions in the Lewis Carroll story, Alice in Wonderland, after he was forced to shrink the original sketches of Mario because they were too big.[2] The concept behind warp pipes, colored tubes which sometimes transport Mario to another area, was inspired by Star Trek.
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".
Mario has taken on the role of mascot of Nintendo 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 afterward, until around 2001 when a Sonic game showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry. Fans have wanted the two characters to appear in a game together for so long, the concept has become something of a cliché within the gamer community.
Romances
Mario usually has the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally the plumber had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from the clutches of the giant ape himself. Pauline never lasted long as a character and was soon replaced by new damsel in distress Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros., where she was originally named Princess Toadstool.
Mario has since rescued Peach multiple times, often receiving a kiss, usually on his nose, as a reward. Although the true nature of their relationship is never revealed, it is evident that there is a mutual love between the two characters. It has been revealed that Mario's nemesis Bowser is in love with the Princess, which explains why he constantly steals her away from Mario.
Mario once rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land on the Game Boy, at the end of which Mario received a kiss. A possible romance is not in question, however, considering Daisy's friendship status with Mario and Peach in subsequent games.
Abilities and techniques
Despite his apparently chubby appearance, Mario's most prominent feature is his athletic jumping ability. At first, that was the extent of it — just jumping — but more abilities were built on top of this. When he runs fast, he jumps higher than normal, which, given the right power-up, is required to fly; in such games, he would stick his arms out at his sides when at maximum speed to signify the proper jumping time. Super Mario Bros. 3 secretly gives little Mario (before a Super Mushroom) the ability to jump off of a wall to attain even more height, notably in the sixth world; this could be considered a precursor to the "Wall Kick" technique that he has in most of his recent platformers. Super Mario World added the ability to spin-jump, which allows Mario to break blocks beneath him if he is of sufficient size to do so, without the requirement for another power-up or a Koopa Shell. Later, Game Boy Donkey Kong added the now-reoccuring power to jump higher with consecutive jumps, and back-flip. Super Mario 64 continued the use of these abilities as well as a long jump, a sideways flip (called the Side Somersault), and a ground pound. It also made jumping off of walls much simpler to accomplish, and named it the "Wall Kick." Super Mario Sunshine then re-introduced the spin jump, but changed its function; in Sunshine, the spin-jump makes Mario jump a little bit higher, also falling more slowly than in a normal jump. Super Mario Sunshine also made wall-jumping even easier to perform, so that it could be used even by novice gamers. It's worth noting that Luigi can jump higher when he makes the extra effort, by kicking his legs in the same mannerism that Yoshi does, but Luigi still hasn't displayed if his jumping is as versatile as Mario's version. Also, Luigi's additional jumping height is offset by his lower running speed.
When Mario obtains a Super Mushroom, he becomes Super Mario, which is normally labelled as his standard form. In this form Mario has the ability to break bricks with his fist, at the cost of possibly being unable to maneuver in small gaps. If an enemy hits him, he turns back into normal Mario again. This is one of the most common power-ups in the series; although most of the 3D games have not used them (the remake of Super Mario 64, Super Mario 64 DS, adds this power-up, but it functions much differently).
Mario's secondary technique is the ability to wield the Hammer as a weapon (and occasionally the mightier Super Hammer or Ultra Hammer) in a few games like in his games with Donkey Kong (except Donkey Kong Jr.), the Wrecking Crew games, and the entire Super Mario RPG series. He can whack enemies and switches which are used in puzzles. The Mario Bros. are also seen with the Hammer in a castle end cutscene in Super Mario World, but it is not a power-up. Mario's third-most popular move is a move that most video game characters have - the punch. This is generally a move that Mario has in adventure games with no set battle system and is his weakest move. If Mario punches twice, the third blow will be a kick. This move is not present in many of the original games, however.
Originally, there were few power-ups for Mario to collect. The first game to feature a power-up was the original Donkey Kong arcade game, which has a Hammer (which has lately become his other trademark ability besides Jumping and Fireballs) in certain levels that can be used to hit barrels. The later Super Mario Bros. includes the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower and the Starman. The Fire Flower either transforms regular Mario (doubling his size), or changes Super Mario into Fire Mario. It gives him the ability to throw Fireballs from his hands, and in later games, he is able to throw Fireballs in a circle when he does a Spin Jump.
In Super Mario Land, instead of Fireballs, the manual claims that Mario throws "superballs", which act a bit different in that they bounce off walls. It has since disappeared from the newer games.
In most games, particularly the Super Mario Advance games, Mario in a special form will be transformed into Super Mario instead of shrinking to regular Mario when hit.
The Starman gives Mario invincibility for about ten seconds, also allowing Mario to defeat enemies simply by touching them, although he is still vulnerable to falling off the edge of the screen and running out of time. It has not disappeared from the games entirely. In Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, Mario, with a lot of help from Yoshi in the remake, has to collect enough Power Stars to free the princess. Optional characters Luigi and Wario can also be rescued in the remake, and are required for 100% completion.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels did not introduce many new power-ups, other than the Poison Mushroom (which is the opposite of the Super Mushroom, shrinking or killing Mario), making this the first game to add on to the list of powerups (or in this case, "power-downs").
Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced several new power-ups. It features the classic Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman, and introduces several others, such as the Super Leaf, which gives Mario the ability to fly, and swing a raccoon tail. Other popular powerups are the Tanooki Suit, the Hammer Bros. Suit and the Frog Suit. Super Mario Bros. 3 also featured the rare Kuribo's Shoe, which only appears in one level. The Kuribo's Shoe is later called the Goomba's Shoe in the English NES re-release, however this was changed back to the Kuribo's Shoe in Super Mario All-Stars. This is actually an accurate translation, but they didn't localize it like they should have, it seems. In Super Mario Advance 4, the scene in which Peach mentions in one of her letters changes it back to "Goomba's Shoe".
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins features the Fire Flower and introduced the Power Carrot, which causes bunny ears to appear on Mario's cap. When Mario flaps these ears, he is able to descend after a jump much slower than normal, and float over long distances.
Super Mario 64 eliminated the original power-ups altogether. Mario has three different power-ups to choose from; the Wing Cap, the Vanish Cap and the Metal Cap. The Wing Cap allows Mario to fly, the Vanish Cap makes him transparent and allows him to go through certain walls (as well as passing harmlessly through enemies,) and the Metal Cap makes him sink in water and makes him invulnerable to all enemies along with defeating enemies simply by just touching them. Additionally, this game also lets Mario ride on the shells of defeated Koopa Troopas, allowing him to quickly traverse large levels and defeat minor enemies. Super Mario 64 DS made some changes, making it so that only Mario can use the ability of the Wing Cap (now in Feathers) in the main Courses. All the characters can use the Feather otherwise, but only in the Vs. multiplayer game. New power-ups called "Power Flowers" replaced all the other caps, giving the characters different abilities depending on who they are or which Cap they're wearing (their physical appearance changes if, say, Yoshi had a Red Cap, changing him to look like Mario). Mario, when hitting a box that doesn't contain a Feather, gains the ability to float like the Balloon power-up from Super Mario World, Luigi gained the exclusive ability to use the ability once held by the Vanish Cap, and Wario gained the exclusive ability to use the ability once held by the Metal Cap. Additionally, Yoshi gains heartburn via a Power Flower or swallowing a flame, which can be ignite certain things.
Mario also has the ability to kick shells around to knock over enemies and break bricks. In Super Mario Bros. 2, he had to pick various objects from the ground and toss them at his enemies to defeat them, ranging from vegetables to his enemies themselves. Keys were also present for opening locked doors, but were also handy as a weapon or platform. Super Mario Bros. 3 implemented this act of picking things up, but instead of being on top of them to pick them up, Mario must come at them from the side with the pick-up button held, and release the pick-up button to kick it. Super Mario World extended this ability to include vertical kicking, as well as keys that could be picked up and put into keyholes to open secret levels.
Super Mario World also features Mario's ally, Yoshi, quite prominently. Like Toad, Yoshi is both the name of the individual, and what his species is called. When riding a Yoshi, Mario can clear spiky terrain and stomp foes that he otherwise cannot. Also, Yoshi can eat almost any foe; if he eats a Koopa Shell, he can spit it back out, or (after a few seconds) swallow it for a possible special power. (In the Super Mario Advance 2, Luigi, when controlling Yoshi, has the option of spitting out any opponent that would otherwise be eaten.) Blue shells make Yoshi fly for a short period of time, red shells make Yoshi spit fireballs, yellow shells make Yoshi conjure dust when he touches the ground from jumping, wiping out any close enemies, and a rare flashing shell allows for all of these abilities at once. Yoshi usually comes only in the color green, but in Star Road he can be found in blue, red, and yellow, which, when fully-grown, will have the corresponding special shell effect as a default regardless of which shell is eaten. In some other cases, the food he consumes can turn into eggs which provide various powerups for Mario. Yoshi's basic abilities were expanded upon for Yoshi's Island. Super Mario World introduced two items that have never appeared since: a smiling crescent moon that gives Mario three extra lives, and the magic feather, an item that gives Mario a cape and allows him to fly (similar to the Super Leaf in Super Mario Bros. 3). The Feather was, however, used as an item in the original Super Mario Kart, allowing a character to perform a large jump.
Mario wears the FLUDD in Super Mario Sunshine, which extends his jumping abilities further. Given enough water and the right nozzle, Mario can hover across large gaps (while going upward very slightly), propel himself upward with great force, or propel himself forward at phenomenal speeds. The game in question is centered heavily around this added jumping maneuverability, though it takes away the FLUDD for a few jumping-only segments. Also, a tropical version of Yoshi appears in SMS, as an egg. Mario has to find and carry the fruit that Yoshi wants to the egg, hatching it. When ridden, this Yoshi has jumping abilities, the ability to eat all fruit and all enemies, and spray special juice, which turns enemies into platforms for a limited period. But, Yoshi has to eat fruit now and again, because if his juice tank empties, he will disappear. Also, if Yoshi goes into water that is deep enough for swimming, he will materialize back into the egg. Depending on what fruit he is fed, Yoshi can be pink, purple or orange.
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, as opposed to power-ups, Mario has "curses" placed on him by demons in black chests. These curses are actually helpful, giving him new abilities. The first curse gives the ability to turn into a paper airplane at certain points, allowing Mario to fly through the air. The second curse gives the ability to turn sideways, allowing Mario to go through small passageways. The third gives the ability to roll up into a paper tube in order to get under some obstacles, and with the final ability, Mario can turn into a paper boat at certain points, allowing him to traverse waters.
The prequel to this game, Paper Mario, gives Mario a Hammer that Mario can use to smash on enemies' heads, a power-up re-used in all subsequent Mario RPG titles. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars actually went with the Hammer idea first, but it wasn't a necessary attack like Paper Mario.
In "Super Smash Bros. Melee", Mario gained new abilities (though not closely related to the original games): The cape, with the ability to deflect attacks, the ability to use fire as a close ranged weapon, and the tornado move, closely related to the spin he does in some earlier games. He also has an attack called the Super Jump Punch. This attack makes coins appear in midair when it connects, and it hits multiple times. It also is useful in order to get back onto the edge of the arena.
In Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario could use Fireballs once again. This is similar to the Super Smash Bros. games, where Mario can use a Fireball without a Fire Flower power-up (though it takes longer and isn't instant), except in this game, he kept them in the palm of his hand and simply touched enemies briefly with them. Additionally, Luigi, who had the power of green, straight Fireballs in those games, now has a brand new ability. He can shoot electricity out of his hand. Mario also earned the ability to combine his powers with Luigi's. One move allowed him to jump on Luigi's head. Then Luigi would perform a spin jump, carrying his brother into the air. The duo would turn upside down and smash an enemy with their heads. The Knockback Bros. technique let Luigi smash Mario with his Hammer and then use him as a projectile by hitting him with his Hammer once again.
Finally, in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario could use many abilities with special "Bros." items. Most of the items were reused from previous games (shell kicking, being launched from a cannon, Fire Flowers) but there were a few new abilities, like the Ice Flower, which allows mario to throw ice, the Copy Flower, which allows Mario to clone himself and launch a jumping armada at the enemy, and the Mix Flower, which combines Mario's, Luigi's, Baby Luigi's and Baby Mario's Fireballs into a larger Fireball. Another new move in Partners in Time was the ability for Mario and Luigi to roll into a ball and move around faster.
Mainstream success
Mario has appeared on his own television show, comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins. He has also appeared on lunchboxes, t-shirts, in commercials, in candy form, and as a plush toy. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more identifiable to children than Mickey Mouse. In addition, a monthly comic based on Super Mario World was included as one of Nintendo Power magazine's first regular comic series. 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 is the official video game mascot for Nintendo, and is almost synonymous with the Nintendo brand. Because of this, Mario only appears in Nintendo games on Nintendo systems.
Special cameo appearances
In the earlier days of the NES and Game Boy, Mario did several cameos, usually in the early sports-titles on both systems. Often he was depicted as the referee, such as in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! or Tennis, but was also the playable character in both versions of Nintendo's early Golf-title. However some of his other cameos were more bizarre, such as the one in the Breakout-clone Alleyway which featured Mario on the game's box-art and also at the beginning of each stage where Mario jumps "in to" the paddle. He was also featured on the Game Over screen for the Game Boy version of Qix dressed in Mexican clothes, playing a guitar in the desert next to a cactus with a vulture perched on it.
Mario made brief appearances in three games from Nintendo's other popular franchise, the Legend of Zelda series. In A Link to the Past, his picture hangs on the wall of a house in Kakariko Village. In Ocarina of Time, a picture of him (Along with Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Bowser) is visible through a window in the castle courtyard where Link meets Zelda. In Majora's Mask, one of the masks on the Happy Mask Salesman's pack depicted Mario's face.
In 1999, Mario was included in the cast for Nintendo's popular fighting game, Super Smash Bros., for the Nintendo 64. He returned with the cast from the original in the 2001 GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is considered a well-balanced character and is easy for most players to use. His brother Luigi appears in both games as a secret character.
In Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, he has also appeared on Otacon's desk next to a Yoshi figurine. When players shoot the Mario figure, they regain HP.
In the GameCube version of NBA Street V3, Mario makes a cameo alongside Luigi and Peach as their own playable basketball team, along with their own exclusive Nintendo themed court. SSX On Tour also features the three and an exclusive Nintendo themed track.
Mario has also made a cameo appearance in the Nintendo DS game Nintendogs. In this game, his hat can be unlocked, as well as a toy Mario in a radio-controlled kart. The latter is only unlockable on the Dachshund & Friends version.
In the game "Animal Crossing: Wild World" you can buy Mario's hat in the clothes store owned by the Mable Sisters. In the game, the hat is called "Big Bro's Hat". You can also buy an accesory in the game that resembles a fake mustache and nose called the "Big Bro's Stache".
Mario's popularity has been parodied and/or referenced in many television shows other than his own. For example, he appears in two episodes of The Simpsons: in "Marge Be Not Proud", he, along with Luigi and Sonic, tries to convince Bart to steal a video game; and in "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", Mario is an Italian tourist who, when visiting Homer (famous after an embarrassing video on the Internet), gets trash cans thrown at him - just like Donkey Kong. He is also parodied in the Futurama episode "Anthology of Interest II", when Fry asks the What-If Machine what would life be like as a video game. In the sequence that follows, Mario is the Italian ambassador at the United Nations.
In a crossover spoof on Attack of the Show, Mario and Luigi are potrayed in a The Sopranos-type story. Action figures of Mario, Luigi, and Wario are also shown taking part in a Fast and the Furious parody on an early episode of Robot Chicken.
In the cartoon "Megas XLR," episode 18 "Thanksgiving Throwdown," parodies of Mario and Luigi appear known as "The Super Fabio Brothers." The Fabio brothers attack using wrenches and their famed jumping ability.
Appearances on non-Nintendo platforms
Even though Nintendo holds the copyright to Mario in many nations, and they have almost invariably retained these rights for their own use to achieve competitive advantage, there are a few small exceptions. Mario appeared in several educational PC titles in the United States such as Mario Teaches Typing and in some very early games for non-Nintendo systems such as the Atari 2600 and the Philips CD-i. Philips made several games, such as Hotel Mario, featuring Nintendo characters for their Philips CD-i which was the result of a compromise with Nintendo over failing to release a joint CD-ROM product.
There are many PC Mario games distributed over the Internet. These have been produced by fans of the Mario series, not by Nintendo. They vary from clones of the original games to more novel games that merely incorporate the Mario characters. These games, which include Mario Forever and Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX [3], are available to download for free. Similarly, fans have produced and distributed simple games incorporating Mario on graphing calculators such as the TI-83. There have also been a number of fanmade games using the Super Mario World engine. [4]
Notes and references
- ^ David (2005). "Nintendo reveal sales figures". Australia's PAL Gaming Network. Retrieved February 12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ O’Connell, Patricia (November 7, 2005). "Meet Mario's Papa". BusinessWeek. Retrieved February 12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
- Sheef, David. Game Over, Nintendo's Battle to Dominate the Game Industry. Hodder and Stoughton LTD, UK 1999. ISBN 0340751932.
- Super Mario Wiki
- Template:GameFAQs
- Bizarre, Crazy, Silly, Unknown Holidays & Observances
- Holidays on the Net
See also
- List of Mario series characters
- List of Nintendo characters
- Hot Mario Bros
- Mario Forever
- Luigi
- Princess Peach
- Bowser
External links
- Mario's World (Nintendo of America Official Site)
- Mario's Megasite (Nintendo of Europe Official Site)
- Super Mario Wiki, a wiki dedicated to everything Mario
- The Mushroom Kingdom
- Super Mario Bros. Headquarters
- The Evolution of Mario History of Mario Sprites
- Mario: The Unauthorized Biography
- Video game parodies with Mario on Newgrounds
- Super Mario Monsters Compendium
- Mario Licensees at MobyGames
- The Mario Opera
| Game series |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other games | |||||||||||
| Cancelled games | |||||||||||
| Universe |
| ||||||||||
| Other media |
| ||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||
| Related |
| ||||||||||
| Game series |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other games | |||||||||||
| Cancelled games | |||||||||||
| Universe |
| ||||||||||
| Other media |
| ||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||
| Related |
| ||||||||||