Mario Bros. retrospective
Mario has enjoyed an illustrious career ever since he first rescued a damsel on our gaming screens almost thirty years ago. As Nintendo's leading man, he has appeared in over 200 titles and is responsible for selling over 210 million 'Super Mario' branded game units.
Mario made his first appearance in the 1981 Donkey Kong game, under the alias of 'Jumpman.' Mario was apparently still on the path to his true calling, as according to the lore, he was a carpenter at the time.
The plumber’s distinctive clothing ensemble is a product of the graphical limitations of the time. Designer Shigeru Miyamoto gave Mario blue overalls and a red shirt for contrast, and white gloves to distinguish his arm movements. The hat was a way of working around the problems of designing and animating hair, and the moustache a way to work around drawing a mouth.
Since Mario and his brother Luigi are referred to as the Super Mario Brothers, rumour has it that Mario is the family surname. Nintendo however denies this, but since they won't disclose a full name for the character, the fans have made up their own minds.
Mario Bros.
Mario Mario and Luigi Mario made their first appearance as plumbers in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. in which the duo had to defeat dastardly creatures in the sewers beneath New York City. The game featured platforms upon which a variety of enemies patrolled. The mechanics required the players to bash the creature from below the platform, knocking it on its back. Then, hopping on to the platform, players could dispatch the vulnerable foe. A POW block on each level would knock over all enemies.
Mario Bros was followed by the Japanese release of Super Mario Bros. on the Famicom, as well as Mario's Bombs Away and Mario's Cement mixer.
Super Mario Bros.
Mario made a few appearances before his next major role in late 1985 with Super Mario Bros. which was released to the West on (NES), and rereleased on the Japanese Famicon. The game was the best selling bundled video game of all time, with over 40 million units sold, until it was recently surpassed by Wii Sports in 2009. The game has been extensively ported, recreated and cloned ever since.
For those who have been living under a rock, Super Mario Bros. revolves around rescuing Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom from the clutches of King Bowser. The player has to engage in classic platform jumping and timing action over 32 levels in which various baddies need to be stomped or avoided. Luigi was playable by the second player. All along the way coins are collected for the purposes of a high score.
Mario was however quite a softy and a single collision with an unfriendly Bowser minion would have him drop dead. There were a number of power-ups along the way to help Mario along: the infamous red and white mushrooms which essentially give Mario an extra hit-point; the Fire Flower which gives Mario a fireball attack, and 2 extra hit-points; the Starman, which grants Mario invincibility for a few moments; and finally the green and white '1 Up' mushrooms with give another life.
Super Mario Bros. 2
The direct sequel to the original title was released in Japan in 1986 for the Famicom system. Because of the similarity to the original and the significant increase in difficulty, Nintendo decided to skip a release for the Western market. This version waived the two player mechanic, and implemented a different control dynamic for each of the playable characters, Mario and Luigi.
The Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in 1988 for the NES. The game was vastly different from the Japanese version. It introduced two new playable characters on top of Mario and Luigi - Princess Toadstool and Toad (a humanoid mushroom). Each character had slightly different control dynamics.
The ability to stomp on enemies was removed and instead players had to pluck vegetables or enemies from the ground and use them as a projectile weapon. POW blocks made a reappearance, and killed all on-screen enemies when used. A health system was also introduced. The number of hit-points could be increased by collecting mushrooms, and health replenished with floating hearts collected through the levels.
Coin collection was implemented differently. After having found a potion the player opens a door to a 'sub-space' level in which they have a certain amount of time to collect as many coins as possible. The coins were then used in a slot machine game between levels, in which additional lives could be won.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Released in Japan for the NES in 1988, the American release was delayed until 1990 due to a shortage of the ROM chips used in Nintendo cartridges. During the delay Mario made his first silver screen appearance, as the game was featured in the movie 'The Wizard.'
Europe only officially saw the game in 1991. The title is one of the best selling unbundled console titles of all time, with the last count in 2003 putting it at 18 million units sold.
Mario and Luigi are the playable characters and they have a number of new tricks. Once again on a quest to stop the nefarious King Bowser from carrying out misdeeds, the player has a few 'suits' at their disposal. The suits alter the characters appearance and give new abilities, such as the 'frog suit' which enhances underwater antics, and the 'super leaf' which gives a raccoon tail and the ability to fly.
A number of new platform elements were also implemented, such as the ability to slide down slopes and perform different types of jumps. The game engine itself was rather advanced at the time, allowing for diagonal scrolling, animated tiles, and split screen for the purposes of displaying static information while the game continued. An 'overworld' map was implemented between stages, allowing the player to choose which areas they wished to tackle, each with a unique setting.
Carrying the franchise
Over the years since SMB3, Super Mario Bros. branded games appeared as remakes and ports on the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. The first really new title for the brand appeared on the Nintendo DS, titled New Super Mario Bros. The game was generally well received but was criticised for its simplicity.
Super Mario Galaxy
The 90s saw a slew of Mario games hitting various consoles, including Dr. Mario, Super Mario Land, Mario the Juggler, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Mario & Wario, Super Mario 64 and dozens more. Going into the 2000s, we enjoyed Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy and of course a plethora of less memorable titles on an annual basis.
Mario Kart Wii
New Super Mario Bros has just been released for Wii and has claimed over 1.3 million units sold so far. Once again King Bowser has kidnapped the princess and it's up to Mario, Luigi, and two Toad characters to rescue her. The Super Mario Bros. franchise doesn't show any signs of its age yet, with Super Mario Galaxy scheduled for release in 2010.
New Super Mario Bros
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