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created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the
title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
of the ''
Mario is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...
'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom, his adventures generally center on rescuing Princess Peach from the
Koopa Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, King of the Koopas, the Koopaling ...
villain Bowser. Mario has access to a variety of
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chose ...
s that give him different abilities. Mario's
fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
brother is Luigi. Mario first appeared as the player character of '' Donkey Kong'' (1981), a platform game. Miyamoto wanted to use Popeye as the protagonist, but when he could not achieve the licensing rights, he created Mario instead. Miyamoto expected the character to be unpopular and planned to use him for
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s; originally called "Mr. Video", he was renamed to Mario after Mario Segale. Mario's clothing and characteristics were themed after the setting of ''Donkey Kong''. He then began to star in the ''
Super Mario (also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every major Nintendo vide ...
'' series of platform games, beginning with the critically acclaimed '' Super Mario Bros.'' in 1985. Since 1992, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet. After ''Super Mario Bros.'', Mario began to branch off to different genres. These include puzzle games such as ''
Dr. Mario ''Dr. Mario'' is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokaz ...
'', role-playing games such as '' Paper Mario'' and '' Mario & Luigi'', and
sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the spor ...
s such as '' Mario Kart'' and ''
Mario Tennis ''Mario Tennis'' is a 2000 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Following '' Mario's Tennis'', it is the second game in the ''Mario Tennis'' series. The game is known for bein ...
''. He has appeared in other Nintendo properties, such as in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series of
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
fighting games. Mario has also appeared in various animations, including three series produced by DIC Entertainment (voiced by Lou Albano and later Walker Boone), and was portrayed by
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
in the 1993 '' Super Mario Bros.'' film. He will be voiced by
Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series '' Everwood'' (2002–2006) ...
in the upcoming 2023 film adaptation. Mario is near-unanimously considered to be the most famous character in the video game industry and an established pop culture icon. Mario's likeness has appeared in a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectible items, and people and places have been nicknamed after him. He has also inspired a considerable amount of unofficial media. With more than 750 million units sold worldwide, the overall ''Mario'' franchise is the bestselling video game franchise of all time.


Concept and creation

Shigeru Miyamoto created Mario while developing '' Donkey Kong'' in an attempt to produce a best-selling video game for Nintendo; previous games, such as ''
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
,'' had not achieved the success of games such as
Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
's ''
Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
''. Originally, Miyamoto wanted to create a game that used the characters Popeye,
Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Bluto made his fi ...
, and Olive Oyl. At the time, however, as Miyamoto was unable to acquire a
license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to use the characters (and would not until 1982 with '' Popeye''), he would end up creating an unnamed player character, along with Donkey Kong, and
Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inf ...
(later known as Pauline). In the early stages of ''Donkey Kong'', the focus of the game was to escape a maze, while Mario did not have the ability to jump. However, Miyamoto soon introduced jumping capabilities for the player character, reasoning that " you had a barrel rolling towards you, what would you do?"


Name

Though the protagonist was unnamed in the Japanese release of ''Donkey Kong'', he was named "Jumpman" in the game's English instructions and "little Mario" in the sales brochure. Miyamoto envisioned a character to be used in every game developed by Miyamoto; a "go-to" character who could be placed into any game if needed, albeit in
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s as Miyamoto did not, at the time, expect the character to become singularly popular. To this end, he originally named the character "Mr. Video", comparing what he intended for the character's appearances in later games to the cameos that
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
had done within his films. In retrospect, Miyamoto commented that if he had named Mario "Mr. Video", Mario likely would have "disappeared off the face of the Earth." According to a widely circulated story, during the localization of ''Donkey Kong'' for American audiences, Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord Mario Segale confronted then-president Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent. Following a heated argument in which the Nintendo employees eventually convinced Segale he would be paid, they opted to name the character in the game Mario after him. While it is implied by the title of the ''Mario Bros.'' series, in a 1989 interview his full name was stated not to be "Mario Mario". The first notable use of "Mario Mario" was in the 1993 live-action film adaptation of the ''Super Mario'' series, and was further used in Prima's official video game strategy guides, in 2000 for '' Mario Party 2'' and in 2003 for '' Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga''. In 2012, after Charles Martinet voiced Mario declaring himself "Mario Mario" at the
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
, the next month, Nintendo CEO
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the app ...
said he had no last name, with which Miyamoto agreed the month after. Two months after Iwata's death in July 2015, Miyamoto changed his stance, asserting at the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival that Mario's full name was indeed "Mario Mario".


Appearance and profession

By Miyamoto's own account, Mario's profession was chosen to fit with the game design: since ''Donkey Kong'' takes place on a construction site, Mario was made into a carpenter; and when he appeared again in '' Mario Bros.'', it was decided that he should be a plumber, because a lot of the game is situated in underground settings. Mario's character design, particularly his large nose, draws on western influences; once he became a plumber, Miyamoto decided to "put him in New York" and make him Italian, lightheartedly attributing Mario's nationality to his mustache. Other sources have Mario's profession chosen to be carpenter in an effort to depict the character as an ordinary hard worker, making it easier for players to identify with him. Arakawa, Minoru, ed. 1991. "The Man Behind Mario." Pp
30
–32 in
Mario Mania
''. Redmond, WA: Nintendo. .
After a colleague suggested that Mario more closely resembled a plumber, Miyamoto changed Mario's profession accordingly and developed ''Mario Bros.'', featuring the character in the sewers of New York City. Due to the graphical limitations of
arcade hardware Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
at the time, Miyamoto clothed the character in red
overalls Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
and a blue shirt to contrast against each other and the background, making the movements of his arms easily perceptible. A red cap was added to let Miyamoto avoid drawing the character's hairstyle, forehead, and eyebrows, as well as to circumvent the issue of animating his hair as he jumped. To give distinctly human facial features with the limited graphical abilities, Miyamoto drew a large nose and a mustache, which avoided the need to draw a mouth and facial expressions.Rao, Anjali (February 15, 2007)
Sigeru Miyamao Talk Asia interview
. CNN. Retrieved February 28, 2009
Omitting a mouth circumvented the problem of clearly separating the nose from the mouth with a limited number of pixels available. Over time, Mario's appearance has become more defined; blue eyes, white gloves, brown shoes, a red "M" in a white circle on the front of his hat and gold buttons on his overalls have been added. The colors of his shirt and overalls were also reversed from a blue shirt with red overalls to a red shirt with blue overalls. Miyamoto attributed this process to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology.


Voice acting

Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet since 1992. When he crashed the audition, the directors were preparing to close for the night, already packing up when he arrived. He was prompted with "an Italian plumber from
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
"; when he heard the phrase, he immediately thought of a stereotypical Italian American with a voice similar to that of a mobster. He then assumed the voice would be too harsh for children, so he planned on using a voice of an older figure. However, according to Martinet, the audition for Mario was the only time where his thoughts crashed and he spoke complete nonsense. After he was prompted the character, he babbled the following in a soft and friendly voice instead: The voice he chose was derived from another voice role he used to play the character Gremio from
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...
''. Martinet kept speaking with the voice until the audition tape ran out; the clip was the only tape sent back to Nintendo, and when the director called the company he said he "found our Mario". For the following years he would use the voice for an attraction at
trade shows A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...
: small tracking sensors were glued onto his face, and he would voice a 3D model of Mario's head on a television while he remained hidden behind a curtain. When attendees would approach the screen, they could talk and interact with Mario. The attraction was successful and would be used for five years until he was called by Miyamoto, requesting that he use the voice for a video game. His first official video game voice role would be '' Mario's Game Gallery'' in 1995, although in an interview he confirmed he used the voice for a ''Super Mario Bros.'' pinball game in 1992, but he was neither paid nor credited. His first major voice acting role was '' Super Mario 64''. He received instructions on the types of sound clips needed from Miyamoto, and Martinet appreciated the fun tone of the game and called Miyamoto a genius. He has since also continued to voice other various ''Mario'' characters, such as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. His time in the studio recording voice clips consist of "45 takes of every sound ecan think of", according to Martinet at a Q&A in Canada. What time he gives vocals for the game varies, and according to him has ranged from three years before a game's release to one week. The amound of clips varies as well, ranging from one hour of audio to 20 Martinet was recognized by the ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' for the most roles performed with the same character, at the time one hundred, and is the most of any video game voice actor. As of January 2022, he has voiced Mario in over 150 games and has recorded 5 million audio files with the voice. In an interview, Martinet said he wants to continue voicing the character until he "drops dead", or until he can no longer perform the voice accurately.


Characteristics

Mario is depicted as a portly plumber who lives in the fictional land of the Mushroom Kingdom with Luigi, his younger, taller brother. The television series and film depict Mario and Luigi as originating from
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York. Mario's infancy, in which he was transported by a stork to the Mushroom Kingdom, was first depicted in '' Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island''. In a 2005 interview, Miyamoto stated that Mario's physical age was about 24–25 years old, and ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' stated that his birthday is October 11. He wears a long-sleeved red shirt, a pair of blue overalls with yellow buttons, brown shoes, white gloves, and a red cap with a red "M" printed on a white circle. In '' Donkey Kong'', he wore a pair of red overalls, and a blue shirt. In '' Super Mario Bros.'', he wore a brown shirt with red overalls. He has blue eyes, and, like Luigi, has brown hair, and a dark brown or black mustache. This consistent difference in color is attributed to being a relic from designing the characters for their original platforms, wherein certain features were actively distinguished while others had to be curtailed due to technical limitations.


Occupation and hobbies

Mario's occupation is plumbing, though in the original '' Donkey Kong'' games he is a carpenter. Mario has also assumed several other occupations: in the ''
Dr. Mario ''Dr. Mario'' is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokaz ...
'' series of puzzle games, which debuted in 1990, Mario is portrayed as a medical physician named "Dr. Mario"; in the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
game '' Mario's Picross'', Mario is an
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
; in '' Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis'', Mario is the president of a profitable toy-making company. Mario is an athlete in ''Mario'' sports games in games such as
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
and
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
, as well as a
kart racer Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ful ...
in the '' Mario Kart'' series. In September 2017, Nintendo confirmed on their official Japanese profile for the character that Mario was no longer considered a plumber, but the statement was changed in March 2018.


Relationships

Mario usually saves Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom and purges antagonists, such as Bowser, from various areas; since his first game, Mario has usually had the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in '' Donkey Kong'' from Donkey Kong. Pauline was soon replaced by Princess Peach in '' Super Mario Bros.'', although Pauline has reappeared in the '' Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' series and is considered "Mario's friend" instead. Mario reprises his role of saving Peach in the ''Super Mario'' series, but Mario himself was rescued by Peach in
role-reversal Role reversal is a psychotherapeutic technique in psychodrama that demonstrates a protagonist's intrapersonal conflicts deeply and explicitly on the stage. This technique is perhaps the single most important and effective technique in psychodrama.G ...
in '' Super Princess Peach''. Mario rescued
Princess Daisy is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' series of video games. She debuted in 1989's ''Super Mario Land'' as the ruler of Sarasaland. Described as a tomboy, she used to be rumored to be Luigi's love interest, similarly to Princess Peach ...
of Sarasaland in ''
Super Mario Land ''Super Mario Land'' is a 1989 side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch game for its Game Boy handheld game console. It is the first ''Mario'' platform game to have been released for a handheld cons ...
'', but Luigi has since been more linked to her; in ''
Super Smash Bros. Melee ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is a 2001 crossover fighting video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. It features characters from Nintendo ...
'', the text explaining Daisy states that "after her appearance in '' Mario Golf'', gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach." Luigi is Mario's younger fraternal twin brother. He is a companion in the ''Mario'' games, and the character whom the second player controls in two-player sessions of many of the video games. Luigi has also occasionally rescued Mario as seen in '' Mario Is Missing!'' and the ''
Luigi's Mansion is a 2001 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo. The game was a launch title for the GameCube and was the first game in the ''Mario'' franchise to be released for the console; it was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, ...
'' series. '' Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's greedy counterpart, who sometimes assumes the role of Mario's antagonist or an antihero. The dinosaur character Yoshi serves as Mario's steed in games such as '' Super Mario World''.


Abilities

During the development of '' Donkey Kong'', Mario was known as . Jumping—both to access places and as an offensive move—is a common gameplay element in ''Mario'' games, especially the ''Super Mario'' series. By the time '' Super Mario RPG'' was released, jumping became such a signature act of Mario that the player was often tasked with jumping to prove to
non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
s that he was Mario. Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies, first used in '' Super Mario Bros.'' This jump-stomp move may entirely crush smaller enemies on the stage, and usually deals damage to larger ones, sometimes causing secondary effects. This attack often enables Mario to knock the turtle-like
Koopa Troopa Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, King of the Koopas, the Koopaling ...
s into or out of their shells, which can be used as weapons. Subsequent games have elaborated on Mario's jumping-related abilities. '' Super Mario World'' added the ability to spin-jump, which allows Mario to break blocks beneath him. The
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
version of '' Donkey Kong'' allows Mario to jump higher with consecutive jumps, and perform a back-flip. In '' Super Mario 64'', Mario gains new jumping abilities such as a sideways somersault; a ground pound, which is a high-impact downward thrusting motion; and the "Wall Kick", which propels him upwards by kicking off walls.


Power-ups

Mario uses items, which give him various powers, and differ between the games he is in. The first power-up Mario used was the Hammer in '' Donkey Kong''. '' Super Mario Bros.'' introduced the basic three power-ups that have become staples for the series, especially the 2D games — the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger and be able to survive getting hit once; the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...
balls; and the Starman (later named Super Star), which gives Mario temporary invincibility. These powers have appeared regularly throughout the series. Throughout the series' history, there have been several kinds of Mushroom power-ups, including the 1-up Mushroom, which gives Mario an extra life; the Poison Mushroom, which causes Mario to take damage; the Mega Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very large and become invincible for a short period of time; and the Mini Mushroom, which causes Mario to shrink, and in some games, climb up walls. A reoccurring power-up throughout the series is an item that gives Mario the ability of flight. The first of this type was introduced in ''
Super Mario Bros. 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...
'': the first of which, the Super Leaf, gives Mario a raccoon (a transliteration of tanuki) tail and ears, and lets Mario swing his tail as an attack, float gently to the ground, and temporarily fly. There is an alternate version of this power-up in the same game, the Raccoon Suit (or tanuki suit) and grants Mario the same abilities as the Super Leaf, but with the addition of being able to temporarily turn into a statue, granting him invincibility. There is also a P-Wing that he can use which makes him look like he has a Super Leaf, but gives him unlimited flight until he gets hit or finishes the level. In '' Super Mario World'', an item called the Cape Feather was introduced that gave Mario a cape, and in addition to being able to fly, let Mario spin and swing his cape as an attack. In '' Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'', a carrot was available that gave Mario rabbit ears that allowed him to glide, and in '' Super Mario 64'', Mario could acquire an item called the Wing Cap, which only let him fly temporarily, before disappearing. '' Super Mario Sunshine'' introduces a pump-water spraying device named "F.L.U.D.D.", which abilities included spraying water and hovering. '' Super Mario Galaxy'' introduced new power-ups, including the Bee Mushroom, which turned Mario into a bee and allowed him to fly temporarily; the Boo Mushroom, which turned Mario into a Boo, allowing him to float and pass through some walls; the Spring Mushroom, which encased Mario in a spring, allowing him to jump higher; and the Ice Flower, which allowed the player to temporarily walk or skate on water and lava without sinking or taking damage. '' Super Mario Galaxy 2'' introduced more power-ups, including the Cloud Flower which allows Mario to create platforms in midair, and Rock Mario, which transforms Mario into a boulder that could be used to break through barriers. '' New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' updated the Ice Flower, which allows Mario to shoot ice balls that temporally freeze enemies; and introduced the Propeller Mushroom, which allows him to fly; as well as the Penguin Suit, which allows Mario to easily traverse ice and swim through the water in addition to shooting ice balls. '' Super Mario 3D Land'' introduced the Boomerang Flower, which allows Mario to throw boomerangs at nearby enemies; and the Statue Leaf, which allows Mario to turn into a statue. In '' New Super Mario Bros. U'', the Super Acorn makes its debut. This transforms Mario into his new flying squirrel form where he can glide and stick on walls. '' Super Mario 3D World'' introduced the Super Bell, which transforms Mario into his cat form, as well as a Double Cherry to make multiple copies of himself.


Appearances and evolution


''Super Mario'' series

Mario is the protagonist and title character of the ''Super Mario'' series. Each game varies in its plot, but most of them have the ultimate goal of Mario rescuing Princess Peach after being kidnapped by Bowser. Mario explores a variety of locations, titled "worlds", and along the way, he can collect items and defeat enemies. Most levels have an end goal, such as stars or flagpoles, that he needs to reach in order to move on to the next. The series is divided by fans into two general sets of games: the 2D side-scrolling ''Super Mario'' games and the 3D ''Super Mario'' games.


2D games

The ''Super Mario'' series had Mario starring in platform games, beginning with '' Super Mario Bros.'' on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. In these games, Mario traverses worlds that contain a set number of levels for Mario to complete. In them, he traverses them from moving left to right, the screen scrolling in the direction he moves. Mario has the goal of reaching the end of the level to move onto the next, typically marked with a flagpole. These games are less focused on plot and more on platforming; most commonly, Bowser kidnaps Peach, and Mario, with the help of Luigi and other characters, sets out to rescue her. Most worlds have mini boss battles which typically involve fighting Bowser Jr. or one of several
Koopalings The (also known as in Japan and Europe or in Japan) are a fictional group of seven childlike characters in the ''Mario'' video game franchise by Nintendo. Their individual names are Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, ...
. The final level is a fight against Bowser. His first appearance in the 2D variant of the series was ''Super Mario Bros.'' in 1985, which began with a 16x32 pixel rectangle prototype as the character; Takashi Tezuka suggested the character to be Mario after the success of one of his role prior, '' Mario Bros.'' Certain other gameplay concepts were cut as well, such as how Mario could fly in a rocket ship and fire bullets. Originally designed with a small Mario in mind with the intention of increasing his size further in development, the developers implemented the feature of his size changes via power-ups as they considered it a fun addition. The concept was influenced by Japanese folktales. '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' was originally not going to be a sequel to ''Super Mario Bros.'', and was originally going to be a game called ''Doki Doki Panic''; the game directed by
Kensuke Tanabe is a Japanese video game producer and designer working for Nintendo, where he currently is Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD. After he had graduated from the Visual Concept Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts, he decided to enter the ...
. After unsuccessful gameplay, development was shelved until he was requested to implement mascots from the Yume Kōjō festival. The game was redesigned with the help of Miyamoto and released exclusively in Japan in 1987. Minoru Arakawa, however, requested the game to be changed to a ''Mario'' game for its international release. Much of the original gameplay concepts were retained, with mainly graphical changes being made. One of the changes included the retexturing of the four main playable characters of ''Doki Doki Panic'', and since they varied in height it was the first instance where Mario was noticeably shorter than Luigi. ''
Super Mario Bros. 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...
'' experimented with Mario's looks with different power-ups that represented different creatures. An example included the raccoon tail, which was chosen over a power-up that represented a centaur. The levels were created after power-ups were chosen, and were designed to take advantage of his varying abilities. The raccoon tail power-up became a staple in the ''Mario'' franchise, being used as an ability in a variety of ''Mario'' games that even stretched outside of the ''Super Mario'' series such as ''
Mario Kart 7 ''Mario Kart 7'' is a kart racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD in cooperation with Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. As with the previous games in the ''Mario Kart'' series, players participate ...
''. The game's success led to an animated television series, ''
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 ''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'' is an animated television series. It premiered on September 8, 1990, on NBC. It is the second animated series to be based on Nintendo's ''Mario'' video game series and is loosely based on the video game ' ...
'', with Mario being portrayed by Walker Boone. Hiroshi Yamauchi wanted a launch title for the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
that prominently featured Mario, as he believed in the statement "fun games sold consoles". ''
Super Mario Land ''Super Mario Land'' is a 1989 side-scrolling platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch game for its Game Boy handheld game console. It is the first ''Mario'' platform game to have been released for a handheld cons ...
'' was designed without the help of Miyamoto, a first for the series. The game uses completely different elements to pair with the small screen due to the Game Boy's portability. For example, instead of rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario is instead rescuing
Princess Daisy is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' series of video games. She debuted in 1989's ''Super Mario Land'' as the ruler of Sarasaland. Described as a tomboy, she used to be rumored to be Luigi's love interest, similarly to Princess Peach ...
from
Tatanga The Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise is a video game series by Nintendo. While Nintendo is usually the Video game developer, developer and publisher of games in the franchise, various series are developed by third-party companies, such a ...
in Sarassaland. Mario was designed with line art. '' Super Mario World'' was the first video game to feature Yoshi as a companion to Mario. Miyamoto had always wanted a dinosaur-like companion ever since the original ''Super Mario Bros.'', but the concept was never achievable due to limited hardware. Since ''Super Mario World'' took place in a land of dinosaurs, Takashi Tezuka requested
Shigefumi Hino Shigefumi Hino (日野 重文 ''Hino Shigefumi'', born 1963) is a Japanese graphics designer, game director and planner from Nintendo. He is the creator of Yoshi from the ''Yoshi'' franchise. Hino later served as the director of the ''Pikmin'' ...
to draw a character based on Miyamoto's concepts and sketches which he drew during development of ''Super Mario Bros. 3''. Yoshi's rideability was inspired by Miyamoto's love for horseback riding. ''Super Mario World'' released during a
console war In the video game industry, a console war describes the competition between two or more video game console manufacturers in trying to achieve better consumer sales through more advanced console technology, an improved selection of video games, and ...
between Nintendo and
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
; Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, was considered a "cooler" alternative to Mario, to which Miyamoto apologized for. The plot for '' Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' has Mario pursue something for his own benefit rather than for someone else, his goal trying to reclaim ownership of his island, Mario Land, from Wario. The game was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1); the company was unmotivated by the ''Super Mario'' series, and when they were tasked with creating a ''Super Mario'' game without Miyamoto they created Wario to emphasize the frustration of working with a character they did not make. The name "Wario" is
word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...
of "Mario" and "Warui", the latter meaning "bad" in Japanese to mean "bad Mario". The character's models and backgrounds in '' New Super Mario Bros.'' were 3D, but still only allowed for left and right movement and is considered 2.5D. With the 2D series of ''Super Mario'' games being absent for 14 years, the previous installment being released in 1992, game mechanics improved drastically. Since the characters were no longer sprites and the backdrops were not tile-based, the developers were nearly restrictionless; new game mechanics, such as Mario teetering off of trees and swinging on ropes, were implemented. ''New Super Mario Bros.'' was the first 2D ''Super Mario'' game to use voice acting, with Charles Martinet voicing Mario and Luigi. It was followed by three games similar to ''New Super Mario Bros.'', namely '' New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', ''
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a 2D side-scrolling platform video game in the ''New Super Mario Bros.'' series developed by Nintendo EAD Group No. 4 and published by Nintendo for its Nintendo 3DS handheld video game console, being released first in Japan on July 28, 201 ...
'', and '' New Super Mario Bros. U'', the latter of which being the first game to feature Mario in high-definition graphics (HD).


3D games

Most ''Super Mario'' games in 3D feature open world gameplay; instead of being confined to only allow moving left and right, Mario can move in any direction and the player can complete the level how they please. The player chooses from one of the multiple objectives before entering a level, and Mario is tasked with completing that goal which ultimately ends with an obtainable item such as a star. These games feature a more complex narrative, but most still have Mario rescuing a kidnapped Princess Peach from Bowser. Early into most of the games, Mario befriends an ally which helps Mario on his journey and gives him a unique ability to obtain his goal. Mario's debut 3D role was '' Super Mario 64''; since the concept of 3D video games was still new at the time, the developers knew they were helping to pave the way for future games, and they were not restricted on what the standard game was like. However, when Yoshiaki Koizumi had to create a 3D model and animation of Mario, he had no frame of reference and struggled with the task. Koizumi stated how the whole concept was "arguably tough", but was overtaken by the enjoyment of innovating in a new field. Mario's movement was among the top priority in the game's development, with his animation being tested long before the basic layout of the game's locations were in place. ''Super Mario 64'' was one of the first games voiced by Charles Martinet, and Mario's character model was made with the N-World toolkit. '' Super Mario Sunshine'' was the first Nintendo game after
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the app ...
became the CEO of Nintendo, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi. The game's original concept did not feature Mario, as the developers believed the role was too out of the ordinary for such a character. Later on, when they used a generic man for the role instead, they believed having a realistic person alongside a character like Mario would cause "incongruity", and it was ultimately changed to Mario instead. Mario's ally, F.L.U.D.D., was one of ten design options but was chosen because it fit the game's theme, although it was not their favorite option in looks. '' Super Mario Galaxy'' had Mario exploring a number of spherical planets, which the developers at the time knew simply jumping on enemies would be difficult to perform. They instead took advantage of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk having motion controls, and gave Mario a "spin" attack where he knocks over the enemies via spinning. To also balance the game's difficulty, Mario was given less hitpoints. With the amount of creative freedom the space-themed setting gave, many power-ups and transformations were implemented based on the worker's suggestions. In order to create a sense of familiarity for '' Super Mario Odyssey'', various references to the ''Super Mario'' series were put in the game's environment. For example, Pauline was chosen to be a major aspect of the "Metro Kingdom" due to the kingdom representing the core of the game. Mario was also given a variety of costumes to represent other smaller games, such as the '' Mario's Picross'' series. The development team found the most fun way to use the Joy-Con controllers' motion controls was throwing a hat, and the gameplay was centered around Mario throwing his cap. ''64'', ''Sunshine'', and ''Galaxy'' were re-released on the
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...
in 2020 as part of the 35th anniversary of ''Super Mario Bros.'' in a collection pack titled ''
Super Mario 3D All-Stars ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' is a 2020 compilation of platform games for the Nintendo Switch. It commemorates the 35th anniversary of Nintendo's ''Super Mario'' franchise, with high-definition ports of ''Super Mario 64'' (1996), ''Super Mario ...
''. While the games were kept generally the same as their original counterparts, there were some minor changes. All three of the games were given HD graphics, and there were also a couple of changes to Mario in ''Super Mario 64''; a glitch where Mario could move at super high speeds with a glitch was removed; one of Mario's voice clips in which he says "so long King Bowser", which unintentionally sounded like "so long, gay Bowser", was also replaced.


Other ''Super Mario'' games

There have also been a variety of ''Super Mario'' games starring Mario that do not have standard typical 2D or 3D platforming. The ''Super Mario 3D'' series does have 3D gameplay, but the stages are linear and do not allow for open-world movement. The ''Super Mario Maker'' games are a series of game creation systems where the player can create their own 2D ''Super Mario'' levels and play ones created by others. '' Super Mario Run'' is a 2D platforming mobile game with other unnatural gameplay aspects. The main aspect of '' Super Mario 3D Land'' was bridging the aspects of 2D and 3D ''Super Mario'' games. One of the issues brought up was how Mario looked too small in comparison to the large terrain and the small, portable screen of the Nintendo 3DS, so the game's
camera system In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
needed to be fixed to one position in certain occasions. The game brought with it the "Tanooki tail" power-up, which was originally introduced in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', and its existence was teased by the developers to the fans prior to its official announcement. Concepts for Mario, which included a skater outfit and a power-up that would make Mario grow to a large size, were cut. '' Super Mario 3D World'' on the
Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. ...
included the "Cat Mario" power-up, which was implemented to help newcomers play the game and add new gameplay features such as climbing up walls. Another power-up was the "Double Cherry", which was added accidentally; one of the developers added a second Mario into the game in error, and found it humorous when both Mario's were somehow controllable at the same time. In 2020, also as part of the ''Super Mario Bros.'' 35th anniversary, Nintendo re-released ''Super Mario 3D World'' on the Nintendo Switch with the additional mode titled ''
Bowser's Fury ''Bowser's Fury'' is a 2021 platform game bundled in with the Nintendo Switch release of ''Super Mario 3D World'', titled ''Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury''. The player controls Mario through Lake Lapcat to complete challenges and collect ...
''. The developers of ''Super Mario Run'' were mainly inspired by speedrunners during development, as they took note of how when they would try to beat a 2D ''Super Mario'' game as fast as possible they would never let go of the run button. With this, they made the core gameplay concept revolve around how Mario does not stop moving forward.


Other ''Mario'' games

While the most prominent use of Mario has been directed toward the ''Super Mario'' series, various spinoff series that split into numerous games covering various genres have also been released. This includes genres such as role-playing games (RPGs), puzzle games,
sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the spor ...
s, and even
educational game Educational games are games explicitly designed with educational purposes, or which have incidental or secondary educational value. All types of games may be used in an educational environment, however educational games are games that are desi ...
s in the 1990s.


RPG games

Mario has been the protagonist of various role-playing video games (RPGs), beginning with '' Super Mario RPG'' on the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...
(SNES). The developer of ''Super Mario RPG'', Yoshio Hongo for Square, liked the character Mario and believed he would fit well in an RPG format. He discussed the idea with Miyamoto, and according to him the meeting went well. The game was a critical and commercial success, and led to two other spinoff RPG series starring the character, '' Paper Mario'' and '' Mario & Luigi''. Of the two series, the ''Paper Mario'' is the only one still currently running with '' Paper Mario: The Origami King'' in 2020, as the company behind the ''Mario & Luigi'' series,
AlphaDream was a video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno and Chihiro Fujioka in Tokyo, Japan. In partnership with Nintendo, it produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Swi ...
, went bankrupt in 2019. ''Super Mario RPG'' was originally going to have a sequel, titled ''Super Mario RPG 2'', and was going to release for the Nintendo 64. The original developer, Square, had signed a deal with
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
to release '' Final Fantasy VII'' for the PlayStation, so Nintendo had Intelligent Systems develop the game instead. The new art designer, Naohiko Aoyama, proceeded to change every character to two-dimensional in order to bring out "cuter" graphics compared to low-polygon three-dimensional graphics on the console. In the ''Paper Mario'' games, Mario is often aided by numerous allies who progress the story while Mario remains silent. Unlike ''Paper Mario'', both Mario and Luigi have voices in the '' Mario & Luigi'' series and are voiced by Charles Martinet. According to the developers, the early titles in the series began with character sprites; the developers were generally inexperienced and did not know much about hardware at the time. once the Nintendo 3DS was released, the developers had the chance to switch to 3-dimensional graphics. They decided to change the background and world design but chose to keep the characters as 2D renderings of 3D characters as they believed it made it easier to convey comedic expressions. In 2013, they believed Mario took too much of the spotlight in the ''Mario'' franchise, and they made Luigi the more story-focused character in '' Mario & Luigi: Dream Team''.


Sports games

Nintendo has explored a variety of sports games featuring ''Super Mario'' property, which include
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
,
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
,
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, kart racing, and other miscellaneous. Of which, the only four that were defined to be official series and are still currently running are ''
Mario Tennis ''Mario Tennis'' is a 2000 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Following '' Mario's Tennis'', it is the second game in the ''Mario Tennis'' series. The game is known for bein ...
'', '' Mario Golf'', ''
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is a Fictional crossover, crossover sports game, sports and party game developed by the Sega Sports R&D, Sega Sports R&D Department. It is the first installment on the ''Mario & Sonic'' series. It was published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega ...
'', and '' Mario Kart''. The ''Mario Kart'' series is the most successful, selling over 150 million games in its entirety. In the 1984 video game ''
Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
'', although one of the two playable characters looks similar to that of him, wearing red clothes and black pants, he is never directly referred to be Mario; In 1997, his look was changed in the re-release of the Famicon Disk System to that more like the character, and Nintendo later confirmed the character was Mario in a guide book of the game in 1991, marking his first sports video game appearance. He then directly appeared in '' NES Open Tournament Golf'' in 1991 as one of two playable characters, the other being Luigi with a variety of other ''Mario'' characters with supporting roles. The character sprites were designed by Eiji Aonuma, his first project in graphical art design. After the unsuccessful attempt on the Virtual Boy with ''
Mario's Tennis is a 1995 sports game developed by Nintendo for the Virtual Boy video game console. The game was released at the launch of the Virtual Boy, and later as a pack-in game in North America. Gameplay ''Mario's Tennis'' is a sports game in which t ...
'', the first tennis game featuring Mario, Nintendo gave licensing rights to
Camelot Software Planning (doing business as Camelot Software Planning) is a Japanese video game developer established in 1990 under the name Sega CD4, but quickly renamed to Sonic! Software Planning. Named after Sonic the Hedgehog, they were closely involved with Se ...
to develop a second ''Mario''-themed tennis game for the Nintendo 64. Each character had a unique ability, with Mario having an all-around average set of skills to pair with his type of character. This ideology was later continued into '' Mario Power Tennis''. The '' Mario Kart'' franchise began with ''
Super Mario Kart ''Super Mario Kart'' is a kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The first game in the ''Mario Kart'' series, it was released in Japan and North America in 1992, and in Europe th ...
'' for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...
in 1992; early in development, the game did not have any ''Mario''-themed elements. A few months into the process, the designers were testing how one character would look at another they had just passed. They implemented Mario, simply to see how he would look inside a kart, and the original concept was scrapped entirely after they decided he looked better than the previous non-defined characters. Similar to the ''Mario & Luigi'' series, he appears as a sprite that turns in 16 different angles.


Puzzle games

Mario has also starred in a variety of multiple puzzle games, but sometimes only makes an appearance and is not playable. The first of which to release was '' Wrecking Crew'', designed by
Yoshio Sakamoto (born July 23, 1959) is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. He has worked at Nintendo since 1982. He has directed several games in the '' Metroid'' series. He is one of the most prominent members of Nintendo's former Resea ...
. After which, three main series and a variety of spin-offs were released starring him, including ''
Dr. Mario ''Dr. Mario'' is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokaz ...
'', '' Mario vs. Donkey Kong'', and ''Mario Picross'', the latter of which inactive. The original game in the ''Dr. Mario'' series, also titled ''
Dr. Mario ''Dr. Mario'' is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokaz ...
'', was designed by Takahiro Harada and had Mario assuming the role of a doctor instead of a plumber. His appearance and role has generally remained the same; to celebrate his 30th anniversary in the series an 8-bit rendering of his original appearance was made unlockable in the most recent game, ''
Dr. Mario World was a 2019 match-three mobile game developed and published by Nintendo in collaboration with Line Corporation and NHN Entertainment. Nintendo officially announced on July 28, 2021 that the ''Dr. Mario World'' service would end on November ...
''. ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' is centered around "Mini Marios",
wind-up toy A wind-up toy is an automaton toy powered by a clockwork motor. Background Automata built for the sake of art, amusement, and simulation have been described since antiquity, in cases such as Heron of Alexandria designing clockwork birds durin ...
s that resemble Mario. The '' Mario's Picross'' series was an attempt by Nintendo to capitalize on the popularity of Mario and the success of puzzle games in Japan at the time. Released in 1995, the game was popular and followed by two sequels, '' Super Mario Picross'' and ''Picross 2'', but the first game was only made available to American audiences in 2020. Due to the abandonment of the SNES-CD hardware in the 1990s, a project developed by Nintendo and Phillips, as part of Nintendo's dissolving agreement with
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
they gave the licensing rights to ''Mario'' and ''
The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-relea ...
'' property to release games on the CD-i. Multiple games were developed by the inexperienced Fantasy Factory, which included the puzzle game ''
Hotel Mario ''Hotel Mario'' is a puzzle video game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media for the Philips CD-i in 1994. Players control Mario, who must find Princess Toadstool by going through seven hotels in the Mushroom K ...
'' in 1994. Via
Animation Magic Animation Magic (russian: «Магия анимации», translit=Magiya Animatsii) was a Russian-American animation studio founded in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1991, with offices later added in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a 100%-owned subsidia ...
, ''Hotel Mario'' had various cutscenes of Mario and Luigi which borrowed animation elements from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and J. R. R. Tolkien. Mario was voiced by Marc Graue as the game was released prior to Charles Martinet receiving the role for voicing the character.


Educational games

Due to the popularity of the ''Super Mario'' series, various educational games starring the character were released and appealed to younger audiences. These games had little involvement from Nintendo, with the games releasing for the NES,
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...
(SNES), and
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or te ...
s. The last of which in the genre to release was '' Mario Teaches Typing 2'' in 1997 before the production of such games was discontinued. '' Mario is Missing!'' is one of the only occasions where Mario himself was kidnapped and is rescued by another character. In the game, Mario and Luigi approach Bowser to stop his plans, but Mario is then captured; Luigi traverses real-world locations to follow after him, solving trivia along the way. A similar game was released without the help of Miyamoto, '' Mario's Time Machine'', which starred Mario against Bowser instead. '' Mario's Game Gallery'' has the player competing against various card and board games against Mario. The game was Charles Martinet's first official voice acting role for Mario, one year prior to ''Super Mario 64''. For '' Mario Teaches Typing'', the head of
Interplay Productions Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca Heineman, as well as ...
Brian Fargo saw the success of the typing game ''
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing ''Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing'' is an application software program designed to teach touch typing. History The typing program was initially released in late 1987 by The Software Toolworks and has been published regularly ever since. The firs ...
'', and knew a character like Mario as the teacher would be appealing. Pre-dating ''Mario's Game Gallery'', Martinet did not voice Mario. After release, the concept was so successful, it began a negative relationship between Fargo Les Crane, the creator of ''Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing''. ''Mario Teaches Typing 2'' was released in 1997, which Martinet voiced Mario for. When they were approved of creating ''Mario's Game Gallery'', another Mario-themed education game also released that was of poor quality, so Miyamoto met with Fargo and halted production of any further education games using the character.


Cameos

Apart from his platformer and spin-off game appearances, Mario has made guest appearances in non-''Mario'' games, such as ''
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! originally titled is a 1987 List of boxing video games, boxing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Part of the ''Punch-Out!!'' series, it is an adaptation of the arcade video games ''Punc ...
'' and
Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
where Mario is a referee, in ''
Pac-Man Vs. is a 2003 maze video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Namco for the GameCube. In the game, one player takes control of Pac-Man, who must eat all of the pellets in the maze, while the others control the ghosts to try to catch them. ...
'', he is the in-game announcer. Mario appears as a playable character in ''
NBA Street V3 ''NBA Street V3'' is a basketball video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It is the third installment in the ''NBA Street'' series, Originally released in February 2005 for the GameCube, Pl ...
'' and '' SSX on Tour''. He also appears as a playable character in '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. He makes countless cameo appearances in many forms in many games, such as portraits and statues in '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'', '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'', and '' Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes''. On an ending screen that appears in the NES version of the video game Tetris, Mario appears with Luigi dancing to the music, which is a version from prelude to the opera
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...
. In that screen also appears Peach, Bowser and other Nintendo characters such as Link, Samus, Donkey Kong or Pit.


In other media

The first appearance of Mario in media other than games was ''
Saturday Supercade ''Saturday Supercade'' is an American animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS. Premise Each episode is composed of several shorter segments featuring video game characte ...
'', an animated television series produced by
Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vet ...
in 1983. The 1986
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...
'' Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' features Mario (voiced by
Toru Furuya TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...
) as the protagonist. The animated series '' The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' features a live-action series of skits that stars former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. Mario appeared in a book series, the
Nintendo Adventure Books is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...
. Mario is portrayed by
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
in the 1993 film loosely based on the ''Super Mario'' series, titled '' Super Mario Bros.''. In the film, he is the cynical older brother who takes great pride in being a plumber and is a parental figure to Luigi, portrayed by
John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...
. At first he holds no belief in unusual things happening, but meeting Daisy and a trip to Dinohattan soon changes his mind. Hoskins was ultimately cast to play the character after other choices falling out such as
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
and Danny DeVito. Hoskins had previously done multiple roles in children's films and kept suggesting changes to the script before he agreed to portray the character. According to one of the films' directors,
Annabel Jankel Annabel Jankel (born 1 June 1955), also known as AJ Jankel, is a British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a music video director and the co-creator of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom and as co-director of the film ...
, Hoskins was mainly considered due to his physical appearances. In a 2007 interview, Hoskins considered the role his worst choice in his acting career and admitted to constantly drinking before and during filming. Mario will be voiced by
Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series '' Everwood'' (2002–2006) ...
in the upcoming 2023 film adaptation.


Reception

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is widely considered to be the most famous video game character in history, and has been called an icon of the gaming industry. The ''Mario'' series of video games has sold more than 510 million copies, making it the
best-selling video game franchise This is a list of video game franchises that have sold or shipped at least twenty million copies. Unless otherwise stated, numbers indicate worldwide units sold, ordered alphabetically whenever two or more list the same amount. The exception are ...
. Mario was one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Link and Sonic the Hedgehog. Mario was the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. Mario has also been called the "most recognisable" figure in the gaming industry. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite out of all characters that he has created. ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The ...
'' gave Mario their "Coolest Mascot" award for 1996, calling him "an age-old friend." ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' listed Mario as their favorite hero, citing his defining characteristics as his mustache, red cap, plumbing prowess, and his mushrooms. In a poll conducted in 2008 by
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...
, Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan. GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Mario as an example of this. It stated that in spite of the fact that he should have run out of energy through the first level, he kept going. Mario ranked fourth on GameDaily's top ten ''Smash Bros.'' characters list. Mario was fourth on
UGO Ugo is the Italian form of Hugh, a widely used name of Germanic origin. Its diminutive form is Ugolino. It is also a Nigerian Igbo first name. It may refer to: People * Vgo (stonemason), medieval stonemason * Ugo Bassi, a Roman Catholic pri ...
's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time". They also listed Mario's hat twenty-first on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", stating "there's always somebody at your Halloween party wearing one." ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' ranked him as the second-greatest video game character.
CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
listed him first on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters". He was voted 100th in IGN's Top 100 Villains for his appearance in '' Donkey Kong Junior'', adding "This Mario is a total jerk, holding Donkey Kong Jr.'s dad hostage", and he has also been elected by
GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites '' Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Comput ...
as the 90th "most dastardly ne'er-do-wells" villain in video games in their "top 100".


Legacy

Mario has been established as a pop culture icon, and has appeared on lunch boxes, T-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, board games, and as a plush toy. Mario has inspired unlicensed paintings, performances on
talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...
s such as ''
India's Got Talent India's Got Talent is a televised Indian Hindi language talent show series and is part of the '' Got Talent franchise''. The program is produced and distributed by Fremantle. The show aired on Colors TV till season 8; since season 9 the show is ...
'', and short films, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. The character has been present in a number of works created by third parties other than Nintendo, such as in the iOS and Android video game ''
Platform Panic ''Platform Panic'' is a platform game for iOS and Android. It was developed and published by British studio Nitrome and was released on December 17, 2014. The goal is to navigate throughout the levels, avoiding the various enemies and spikes. Th ...
'', in which one of the purchasable skins is a reference to him. Many people and places have been named or nicknamed after Mario. Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the
Baltic countries The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Euro ...
, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in
Kungsbacka Kungsbacka () (old da, Kongsbakke) is a locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the most affluent parts of Sweden, in part due to its simultaneous proximity to th ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, named after Mario. Many sports stars, including
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
football players Mario Götze and Mario Gómez,
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
player
Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux (; ; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played parts of 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1984 and 2006, and he assumed ownership of the ...
, Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, and Italian cyclist
Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 p ...
have been given the nickname "Super Mario". In a suburb of the Spanish city of
Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...
, streets were named after video games, including "Avenida de Super Mario Bros". Mario's legacy is recognized by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
, who awarded the Nintendo mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, seven world records in the ''Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008''. These records include "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 original games. In 2009, ''Guinness World Records'' listed him as the second most recognizable video game character in the United States, recognized by 93% of the population, second only to
Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...
who was recognized by 94% of the population. In 2011, readers of ''Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition'' voted Mario as the top video game character of all time. Mario appeared in the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony to promote the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
. In a pre-recorded video, the prime minister Shinzō Abe became Mario to use a Warp Pipe planted by
Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and ...
from Shibuya Crossing to Maracanã Stadium. Abe then appeared dressed as Mario in an oversized Warp Pipe in the middle of the stadium. Mario Day (previously known as National Mario Day) is celebrated on March 10, as when that date is presented as Mar 10 it resembles the name MARIO. Since 2016, the day was officially observed by Nintendo, and celebrates this day annually by promoting ''Mario'' games and holding ''Mario''-related events.


Notes


References


External links

* *
Mario
on Super Mario Wiki
Official website for the ''Mario'' series

Mario entry on Nintendo.com
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