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Mario

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For the r&b singer, see Mario Winans.
File:FF nintendo 2.jpg
For nearly two decades, Mario has been the official video game mascot for Nintendo.

Mario (full name Mario Mario, Japanese: マリオ), also known as Super Mario, is a video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, named after the Italian landlord, Mario Segali, at Nintendo of America. He is one of Nintendo's best-known characters and considered by many to be the biggest video game character in history, appearing in literally hundreds of games, many of them bestsellers.

Overview

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. There are a few small exceptions; he has appeared in several PC educational titles in the United States, and some very early games for non-Nintendo systems such as the Atari 2600, but these are rare deviations.

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Mario demonstrating his signature jumping attack.

Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong as a nameless protagonist, but later was called Jumpman. 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. game. Shortly thereafter Mario took on role of mascot of Nintendo and has since been extensively merchandized. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in the early 1990s, and the two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterward. In 1996, with the release of the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 marked Mario's 3D debut and made him the very first 2D established video game character to appear in a full 3-D game.

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Mario as seen in his animated TV series.

Mario has appeared on television in several cartoons, in comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins.

Mario's supporting characters include his younger, but taller brother, Luigi, Princess Peach Toadstool, Toad, Yoshi, and King Bowser Koopa, the main villain of the series, among others.

Little is known about Mario's history. Mario games specifically lack overly-complicated plots or too much character development as to not limit Mario's future roles. According to some American manuals and gameplay, Mario and his brother are Italian Americans born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. He is said to be a plumber (though he has held several other blue-collar jobs in his lifetime) and wears a red shirt, cap, and blue overalls. Other games and manuals suggest that he grew up in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-'80s: with a limited number of pixels and colours, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear" if his shirt was a solid colour; they did not have the space to give him a mouth; and they could not animate hair, so Mario got overalls, a moustache, 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.

His surname, also "Mario," first became known in the 1993 feature film Super Mario Bros. (actually, it was already referenced a few times in the live-action segments of the cartoon.) This was to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could both be known as the "Mario brothers" (though Nintendo has never confirmed this). This is also backed up by the title of the game Dr. Mario.

The original Super Mario Bros. series pioneered many concepts in modern video games, such as warp zones, power-ups, end-of-level bosses, and multiple endings. Even to this day, many adventure games operate in the same so-called "hop and bop" style gameplay that was first developed for SMB.

Miyamoto created these 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 came into contact with an enemy. This idea was derived from the "Eat me" and "Drink me" potions in the Lewis Carroll story, Alice in Wonderland. The concept behind warp pipes, colored tubes which sometimes transport Mario to another area, was adopted from Star Trek.

Games

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Mario is the best-known icon of video gaming.

Over the years Mario and his brother, Luigi, have appeared in several popular video games, both their own and others. Here is a brief chronological list of games Mario has appeared in, or games with other Mario characters:

1980s

Year 1981

  • Donkey Kong (Arcade) - The first game to feature Mario, although at this point he is named Jumpman.

Year 1982

  • Donkey Kong (Game & Watch) - The very first game with Mario, who was a carpenter trying to rescue his girlfriend from an evil ape.
  • Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade, Game & Watch) - Mario is the opponent in this one, and it is up to Donkey Kong Jr. to rescue his father.
  • Donkey Kong 2 (Game & Watch)

Year 1983

Year 1985

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The title screen of Super Mario Bros. has gone down in video game history.
  • Super Mario Bros. (Famicom/NES) - First scrolling platformer. 32 KB of program; 8 KB of graphics. According to the Guinness Book of World Records [1], SMB is the best-selling game of all time.
  • Tennis (Famicom/NES) - Mario was the referee.
  • Wrecking Crew (Famicom/NES) - Mario is the protagonist, but gameplay is unrelated to other Mario games. Many NES games featured Mario as a character, even though the game may not have fit the theme of the series.

Year 1986

  • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Famicom) - Released initially in Japan on the Famicom Disk System as "Super Mario Bros. 2", this used a slightly modified version of the original SMB engine with much harder levels. The Lost Levels title was created when this game was brought to the U.S. in Super Mario All-Stars, without the "2". Nintendo did not believe that it would sell well in the US, as the game was voted "too hard" by 94% of a survey of 250 Americans, and the game wasn't seen in America until the SNES release.
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Mario stands next to Toad at the end of a fortress level.
  • Super Mario Bros. Special - A flick-screen version of Super Mario Bros. with all new levels, which was released for the NEC PC88 series.
  • Vs. Super Mario Bros. (Arcade) - A mixture of the original SMB and The Lost Levels that ran on the arcade VS Unisystem. Powerups and solution to mazes (e.g. 4-4) have been moved, and more enemies have been added thanks to new flicker-reduction programming, along with other bugfixes.
  • All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. (Famicom) - Japan only. A version of the original Super Mario Bros. game with graphics changed to feature radio personalities from a popular Japanese radio station.

Year 1987

  • Pinball (Famicom/NES) - Mario appears in the Bonus Stage, where he maneuvers a platform to keep the ball from getting away, and then catch the Princess when she falls from above.
  • Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (Famicom/NES) - Mario is the referee.

Year 1988

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The 3 different types of Mushrooms found in Super Mario Bros. games

Year 1989

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Super Mario Bros. 3 featured a warp zone to jump ahead in the game (NES version is shown).
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Hidden World 9 in the Super Mario All-Stars version Super Mario Bros. 3

1990s

Year 1990

  • Qix (Game Boy) - Mario appeared in cut-scenes.
  • Dr. Mario (NES & Game Boy) - Puzzle game with mechanics similar to Tetris and Columns.
  • F-1 Race (Game Boy)
  • Golf (Game Boy)
  • Super Mario Bros. 3 (Famicom/NES) - Mario gains several new abilities, including the first appearance of his ability to fly. Also of note is that this is the best selling video game that was not bundled with a console. [2]

Year 1991

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In 1991 Super Mario World introduced Yoshi as Mario's companion.

Year 1992

Year 1993

  • Mario Is Missing! (SNES and NES) - Luigi must restore artifacts to landmarks of famous cities around the world and defeat Bowser to save Mario. North America only
  • Mario's Time Machine (SNES and NES) - Mario must restore historical artifacts to their proper time and place (and in the NES version, save Yoshi). North America only
  • Mario and Wario (Super Famicom) - Japan only
  • Super Mario All-Stars (Super Famicom/SNES) (in Japan, Super Mario Collection) - collection of original SMB, SMB: The Lost Levels (SMB2 in Japan), SMB2 (SMB2 USA in Japan), and SMB3, with enhanced graphics and sound.
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Mario and Goomba in Kuribo's Shoe

Year 1994

Year 1995

Year 1996

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Super Mario 64 was a major revolution in 3-D gaming, and Mario's 3-D debut

Year 1997

Year 1998

Year 1999

2000s

Year 2000

  • Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) - Mario's second RPG, this time in true 3D, but with 2D characters.
  • Mario Party 3 (Nintendo 64) - noted for confusion between Mario Party 3's box art and that of the original Mario Party; the original had a die showing a number 3 below the word "PARTY" on the box. Also noted for same initials as MPEG audio layer 3, as the press release points out.

Year 2001

Year 2002

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Mario using his hoverpack, FLUDD, in Super Mario Sunshine.

Year 2003

Year 2004

Year 2005

Spin-off franchises

Here is a list of different Mario series franchises:

In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario is a balanced character (as he is in many games featuring other playable choices). He is said to "reflect the actual skills of the player", according to the Super Smash Bros. Melee "Smash" character trophy description. His trademark move is the fireball. His fireballs are affected by gravity (unlike Luigi's fireballs). Also, Mario's fireballs are red in color, whereas Luigi's are green.

There are ten trophies of him in the game: three Mario ones, three Dr. Mario ones, one as he appeared in Paper Mario, one Racoon Mario, one Metal Mario, and one Baby Mario. In Japan, there is another trophy, showing Mario on Yoshi's back.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, his weapon is the fireball. In Super Mario Kart, the computer controlled Mario has unlimited invincibility. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario is an average jumper and second only to Toad in carrying capacity.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mario.

Super Mario is also a nickname for Mario Monti, Mario Lemieux, and Mario Basler.

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