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.
Overview
Mario is the official mascot of the Nintendo Corporation, 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 in which he has appeared on PC educational titles in the United States, but these are rare deviations.
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. In 1996, with the release of the Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 marked Mario's 3-D debut and made him the very first 2-D established video game character to appear in a full 3-D game.
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-80's: 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. 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 Caroll story, Alice in Wonderland. He also incorporated the idea of the "Beam me up, Scotty" phrase from Star Trek with warp pipes, usually green pipes that sometimes warped Mario to another area.
Games
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:
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.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Famicom) - Released initially in Japan on the Famicom Disk System, 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". Originally, this game was going to be Super Mario Bros. 2, but Nintendo did not believe that it would sell well, as the game was voted "too hard" by 94% of a survey of 250 Americans.
Super Mario Bros. Special - A flick-screen version of Super Mario Brothers 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.
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.
Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Bros. USA (NES) - Released at first in markets outside of Japan, this is a modified version of a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic with some of the graphics replaced by Mario-themed graphics. This game tends to be overlooked by some Mario fans as being the runt; some of the characters unique to this game have now become staples of the Mario world, including Bob-ombs, Snifits, and Shyguys.
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 of all time.
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
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.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Super Famicom/SNES) - The player plays this game as Yoshi rather than Mario (as in most of the series), and carries Baby Mario around on his back.
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) - First Mario platform game for the Nintendo 64. Also Mario's first appearance in true 3D. In addition to characters it featured 3D items for the first time, such as the Metal Box.
Paper Mario (2000, Nintendo 64) - Mario's 2nd RPG, this time in true 3D, but with 2D characters.
Mario Party 3 (2000, 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.
Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance) - pixel-perfect port of Super Mario Bros. 2 from Super Mario All-Stars, plus an upgrade of the original Mario Bros.
Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island (Game Boy Advance) - Slight update of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the Game Boy Advance, with voice added in for Yoshi and extra levels.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube) New features include 2-drivers system, and the support of 16 players playing at the same time, using GameCube's LAN feature.
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.
