Mario

Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAR : Mario

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For other uses of this name, see Mario (disambiguation).

is a  video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. As well as being Nintendo's mascot, he is  the most recognizable character in video game history, appearing in over a hundred games, many of them best-sellers. Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in video games in many different genres, including the Mario Kart series, many of Nintendo's arcade sports games (such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series), and Nintendo's series of Mario role playing games (RPGs) (including ', Paper Mario, ', ', and its sequel, ').

Mario is a plumber motivated by a sense of justice, though at times he has been depicted as a doctor and numerous other professions. His distinctive appearance was defined somewhat by the limitations of early video game hardware. Though he began with the ability to jump high, in subsequent games, he received additional powers such as pyrokinesis and flight, and additional playable versions, including Baby Mario, Tanooki suit Mario, and Metal Mario, through the use of power-ups. In adventure games, Mario has used varying techniques for defeating enemies and solving puzzles in his games, both by using his own abilities and the properties of items or abilities of allies he encountered.

The character has also appeared in mass media, and has spawned a line of licensed merchandise. He has also had a number of cameo appearances in other video games, and his likeness has been licensed to software publishers for educational titles. Fans have also created a number of unauthorized works depicting Mario.

Game history

To date, nearly 275 million copies of games featuring Mario have been sold, making it by far the best-selling video game franchise of all time.

Mario's first role was as the hero in 1981's Donkey Kong. The game was so successful that he carried over into an arcade spin-off, Mario Bros., which boasted a simultaneous two-player mode and introduced his brother Luigi. In Donkey Kong Junior, he was the villain, and in the ending cinematic, he is knocked out (although obviously he is not dead because he is in future games). His next appearance would be in the very first game for Nintendo's wildly successful Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the console credited with reviving the home video game market. Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies (pack-in copies included) making it the best-selling video game of all time and has been ported to numerous Nintendo consoles since.

Overall, Mario games have sold approximately 275 million copies worldwide, with Super Mario Bros. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, with over 18 million copies sold. Mario and his friends also appeared in some of the later Game & Watch games.

Mario has explored just about every genre of video game. Aside from action platformers, the plucky plumber has also starred in puzzle games, racing games, sports games, fighting games, role-playing games, educational games, etc.

Future Mario titles include Mario Hoops 3-on-3 on the Nintendo DS, and Super Paper Mario on the Nintendo GameCube. In addition, Mario will be included once again as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. His newest game is New Super Mario Bros. featuring exclusive items such as the Mega Mushroom and the Mini Mushroom, either making him grow to huge proportions or shrink to a minuscule size, as well as a Blue Koopa Shell, giving him semi-invulnerability if crouched and the same shell-sliding as a Koopa while dashing.

Character

Biography

Mario is in many ways an undeveloped character, with numerous details of his accepted biography having been created through a complex lore spawned from the imaginations of comic book artists and cartoon writers. During the process of designing the character, Miyamoto initially defined the character as simply "a middle aged man with a strong sense of justice who is not handsome". Demaria, R: "High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games", page 238. McGraw Hill-Osbourne, 2002

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Officially, Nintendo producers have stated that Mario's biography is kept simple in order to make the character versatile, and reusable in many different games and situations.

In his first appearance in Donkey Kong, all that was stated was that he was a carpenter whose duty it was to save Pauline from Donkey Kong. Furthermore, before the game was widely released in America, the hero was simply labeled Jumpman, having not yet acquired his Italian moniker. He was dubbed "Mario" in homage to his physical similarities with Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo's warehouse at the time in Redmond, Washington Retro Gamer Magazine, vol. 2, issue 2. His second appearance in Donkey Kong Jr. solidified the character's name. It was in his third appearance in Mario Bros. where he changed his profession to plumber, which was more fitting with the long-running pipe theme established in that game. Here, Mario and his brother Luigi fought monsters in the sewers of Brooklyn.

Because of this, and the American made cartoon series and the movie, it led many to believe that Brooklyn was Mario and Luigi's original home. However, the games (starting with Yoshi's Island) indicate that Mario and Luigi were delivered to the Mushroom Kingdom. The game, , also shows that Mario and Luigi were living in the Mushroom Kingdom while they were still babies.

Over the course of his many games, Mario has rescued a number of women from captivity (including Pauline, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy) and has become regarded as the great hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. His main nemesis is the king of the Koopas, Bowser, who constantly attempts to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping Princess Peach but is thwarted by Mario at every turn. Bowser isn't Mario's only foe, however. He has rescued Princess Peach and saved the Mushroom Kingdom from a number of different villains such as Wart in Super Mario Brothers 2, Cackletta in , and the X-Nauts in .

Personality

Mario is always portrayed as being a kind-hearted and brave hero. He helps those in need without any hesitation. Despite his status as a great hero, Mario is very humble. His cheerful personality and love of life make him a very approachable video game character. He also has a love of pasta and pizza, as the stereotypical Italian does. This was first started in the cartoons, but soon afterward, Nintendo supported the idea by having Mario dream of pasta. On his trip to Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine, he daydreams about the food. Also, in Super Mario 64, if the player does not press any buttons for long enough Mario will take a nap and mutter the names of various pastas in his sleep. Not much else is known about Mario's personality, as much of it remains hidden due to the fact that the character never openly converses in the games.

Occupation and hobbies

Despite Mario's given occupation as a plumber, he is almost never seen doing any plumbing during the games. The closest Mario came to actually doing any plumbing was clearing pipe levels of enemies in Mario Bros. and fixing some pipes in the Mario and Luigi games. Pipes have, however, remained a mode of transportation in almost all Mario games. Mario was most often seen plumbing during the animated series, where he often carried around a plumber's wrench which turned out to be handy in many episodes as a weapon and tool.

Beginning with the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games which first debuted in 1990, Mario has been occasionally depicted as medical physician as well. As a doctor, Mario fights various germs by throwing pills into an infected jar that would match the color of the specific germ. When a certain number of color matching pills hit the germ, it is destroyed. In 2001, Mario appeared in doctor form as a secret character in the Nintendo GameCube hit, Super Smash Bros. Melee. Mario's most recent appearance as a doctor was in 2005 on the Game Boy Advance.

Mario's only full-time job in the games seems to be saving Princess Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom, and surrounding kingdoms from evil tyrants such as Bowser. As seen through character interactions in his role-playing games, Mario has achieved a level of fame amongst the kingdoms' populations due to his heroics.

Apparently, Mario works so hard at this job that he must often take a vacation – Super Mario World and Super Mario Sunshine detail such events. He is also quite the party animal; the Mario Party game series has already numbered seven titles, plus Mario Party Advance and Mario Party-e.

Mario and his friends are highly skilled in a variety of sports. The Mario franchise has spun off into games involving go-karting, soccer, baseball, tennis, golfing, basketball and dancing. In most of these games where different characters may have varying levels of skill, Mario is typically the most balanced character in classes such as weight, speed, power, or other abilities.

Mario has also demonstrated himself as being a great and powerful fighter in the very popular Nintendo all-star fighting series, Super Smash Bros.. He is the most balanced fighter, and his weight is the standard which all the other playable characters are based on.

Baby Mario

Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario. Although he has paradoxically appeared alongside his older self in Nintendo sports titles such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball and ', it is generally accepted that these games are outside the continuity of the main Mario series, and therefore do not suggest that Mario and Baby Mario are separate characters in the main storyline. An alternative solution is that the babies were present via time travel, as was the case in '. Like the older Mario, he is voiced by Charles Martinet.

Baby Mario first appeared in the Super NES game where the Yoshis saved his brother Luigi from Kamek the Magikoopa. In Yoshi's Island, Baby Mario has a rather passive role, essentially being carried around by different Yoshis for most of the game. However, in some levels, a power-up resembling a star allows him to transform into Super Baby Mario, giving him very high speed, relative invincibility, and the ability to float for short distances. Other than this, Baby Mario is remembered for his boisterous and annoying sobs whenever Yoshi ran into an enemy. When Yoshi took a hit, Baby Mario would float within a bubble while bawling loudly, and the player controlling Yoshi would have between 1-30 seconds to recover Baby Mario and hitch him safely on Yoshi's back. If the time ran out, Mario would be kidnapped by Kamek's Toadies and Yoshi would lose a life.

More recently, Baby Mario appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go and for the Nintendo DS. In Yoshi Touch & Go he reclaims the role he held in Yoshi's Island; Baby Mario falls from the sky, this time held up by balloons, as the player guides him by drawing clouds down to the ground where Yoshi waits to catch him. He then rides on Yoshi's back for the rest of that level of the game. In some game modes, Baby Mario can again find the power-up that turns him into Super Baby Mario, making him temporarily invincible. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he appears alongside his adult counterpart, along with both respective versions of Luigi. The pair of brothers team up in order to save Princess Peach (the grown-up version) from a group of alien invaders known as the Shroobs.

The Japan only game Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa is sometimes referred to as "Mario Baby" due to that name being applied to a ROM hack of the game.

According to the information revealed about Yoshi's Island 2 at E3 2006, Baby Mario was preschooled on Yoshi's Island. When a mysterious island appeared and kidnapped most of his schoolmates, he teams up with Yoshi, Baby Peach, and even Baby Donkey Kong to save them. Baby Mario made an unexpected cameo alongside Baby Luigi in the first picture of the opening and ending intro of Mario Power Tennis.

Development

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Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong. 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.

Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-'80s; with a limited number of pixels and colors, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear" if his shirt was a solid color; they did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears; and they could not animate hair, so Mario got overalls, a mustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto has also stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.

When Mario was first conceived, he looked, more or less, as he does today; a short, stubby man with the trademark hat, brown hair, black mustache, and overalls. He normally wears blue overalls on top of a red shirt, but such was not always the case. Originally, he wore red overalls on top of a blue shirt — exactly opposite what he wears now. The American Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first appearance of his modern outfit (the box had the red overalls-on-blue shirt, but the game itself had a blue overalls-on-red shirt); however, it was Super Mario Bros. 3 that standardized today's blue overalls-on-red shirt outfit. Incidentally, the original Super Mario Bros. has neither in-game; Mario wears a brown shirt with red overalls. In the animated series, Mario was always depicted as having red overalls and a blue shirt.

Mario's outfit rarely changes, though he's known to change it on occasion if the situation calls for it. For example, in Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football in Europe), Mario wears an Association Football (soccer) outfit as opposed to overalls. Also, in some Mario games, Mario can transform into different forms, each with a different costume, such as Tanooki Mario, which allows him to fly and turn into a statue to hide from enemies, Fire Mario where, after collecting the Fire Flower, he will wear white overalls, and can throw fireballs. He can put on the frog suit to become Frog Mario, where his jumping and swimming sbilities are greatly enhanced. And collecting a Hammer turns him into Hammer Mario, an almost exact clone of the Hammer Bros, and in New Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo DS, Shell Mario, where he can skid across the level as if he kicked a Koopa Shell. He also flashes different colors when utilizing a star, which gives him temporary invincibility. Also many items could enhance him or his abilities, such as the "leaf" in Super Mario Bros. 3 which turned him into Raccoon Mario, allowing him to fly. He could also fly in Super Mario World by obtaining a feather which would give him a cape. A Power Wing in Super Mario Bros. 3 gave him a Racoon Tail and unlimited full charge, allowing him to take off at any given time (though this ability is lost after one level.)

Miyamoto created many of the elements in the Mario world from ideas he had seen in other media. One of his most recognizable contributions to his Mario universe is the Super Mushroom, which enlarges Mario until he is damaged by an enemy. There is also a Poison Mushroom, which is darker than the Super Mushroom in the original Super Mario Brothers 2 (although colored purple in the Super Mario All-Stars version of the game), and shaded differently in Super Smash Brothers. When Mario takes it, he is either returned to small Mario, killed (Lost Levels), or becomes smaller and lighter for a short period of time (Super Smash Bros. Melee). These ideas were derived from the "Eat me" cakes and "Drink me" potions in the Lewis Carroll story, Alice in Wonderland, after Miyamoto was forced to shrink the original sketches of Mario because they were too big. The concept behind warp pipes, colored tubes which sometimes transport Mario to another area, was inspired by Star Trek.

The surname "Mario" (which would make his full name Mario Mario) was first used in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then in the 1993 feature film Super Mario Bros. This was meant to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could be known as the "Mario brothers". This surname theory has never been employed in any official Nintendo games or media, however, and it is broadly accepted that Mario and Luigi are collectively called the Mario Bros. simply because Mario is the headliner of the pair.

Mario has taken on the role of mascot of Nintendo and has since been extensively merchandised. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in the early 1990s; the two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterward, until around 2001 when a Sonic game showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry. Fans have wanted the two characters to appear in a game together for so long, the concept has become something of a cliché within the gaming community.

Romances

Mario usually has the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from the clutches of the giant ape himself. Pauline didn't last long as a character and was soon replaced by new damsel in distress Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros., (she was initially referred to as Princess Toadstool in the US. Peach is the princess's Japanese name; there, the character has always been referred to as Princess Peach). Pauline is recently returning in , although whether or not she still has a relationship with Mario is unknown at this point, especially since the Mario Toy Company has expanded its toy line to include Mini-Peach toys, among others.

Mario has rescued Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros., often receiving a kiss as a reward. Although the true nature of their relationship is never revealed, it is evident that there is a mutual affection between the two characters. It has been revealed that Mario's nemesis Bowser is in love with the Princess, which explains why he constantly steals her away from Mario.

Mario once rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land on the Game Boy, at the end of which Mario received a kiss. Additionally, the Japanese-only album Super Mario Compact Disco mentions Daisy as Mario's number-one girl (Peach does get a mention, but only once during the song "Super Mario USA"). In sports titles, though, Daisy hangs out with Luigi more often, leading to fan speculation that she may be romantically involved with Luigi rather than Mario. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text on Princess Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips started portraying her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach," this quote provides some confirmation and evidence that there is a romantic connection between Mario and Princess Peach.

In the Game Cube game , it is revealed that Mario is quite popular with many of the female characters. After Mario rescues Goombella from Lord Crump and his X-Naut soldiers at the beginning of the game, she rewards him with a kiss and at the end of the game in Goombella's e-mail it seems she has had a crush on him as well. Also when Mario and his companions return Flurrie's neckalace to her, she forcibly gives him a kiss. Another recurring character, Ms. Mowz (who is also an optional partner) is instantly smitten by Mario when she first meets him and his companions and continuously flirts with him and gives him a kiss before she leaves every time she runs into them, much to the dismay of Goombella. Finally, another character who seemed to have a crush on Mario is Vivian, one of the Three Shadow Sirens. When Mario's name and body are stolen and is turned into a shadow of himself, he helps her search for a bomb she needed and is touched by his kindness even though she becomes aware that he has worse problems than her. At the end of the game, just as Mario is about to board the boat back to the Mushroom Kingdom with Princess Peach and Toadsworth, Vivian sounds like she is about to reveal her feelings for Mario but stops and says that he and Peach would make a great couple.

It should also be noted that during the scene in where Mario crashes Booster's wedding, Mario recieves a kiss from Peach if he recovers her accessories from the aisles quickly. However, if he takes too much time, Peach tricks Bowser and Booster into kissing Mario!

Abilities and techniques

During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was known simply as "Jumpman", named for his keen ability to jump exceptional heights. This ability is still described as Mario's greatest talent in most forms of media in which he is portrayed, and jumping -- both to access different areas of a level and as an offensive move -- remains a core element of gameplay in most Mario games, especially in the Super Mario Bros. series.

Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies, first employed in Mario Bros. but better known from the later Super Mario Bros. game and its sequels. This jump-stomp move may entirely crush smaller enemies on the stage, and usually deals damage to larger ones, sometimes causing secondary effects as well. Most notably, this attack often enables Mario to knock the turtle-like Koopa Troopas back into their shells, which may slide across the stage, damaging other enemies, or Mario. Mario can also kick or toss these shells at enemies or barriers in many games.

Beyond this core mechanic, many 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. Later, the Gameboy remake of Donkey Kong allowed Mario to jump higher with consecutive jumps, and perform a back-flip. Super Mario 64 continued the use of these abilities as well as a long jump, a sideways flip called a Side Somersault, and a ground pound. It also made jumping off of walls much simpler to accomplish, and named it the "Wall Kick." Super Mario Sunshine then re-introduced the spin jump, but changed its function; in Sunshine, the spin-jump makes Mario jump a little bit higher, also falling more slowly than in a normal jump.

Mario also makes use of a wide array of items in most games in which he appears. The most prominent and best known of these is the Super Mushroom, which allows Mario to grow to twice his size. In this form he is usually labeled "Super Mario", and receives an additional hit-point; sustaining damage from most enemies will only cause Super Mario to shrink back down to "regular Mario" size. Mario is apparently stronger in his Super form, too, having the ability to break bricks with his fist. Additionally, in many games collecting a Fire Flower enables Mario to throw fireballs at enemies, and a Starman renders Mario temporarily impervious to harm. Beginning with Super Mario Bros. 3, leaves or feathers have been used as items that give Mario the ability to fly for short distances as well. Super Mario World introduced Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi to the game series, whom Mario can ride. When riding Yoshi, Mario can clear spiky terrain and stomp foes that he otherwise cannot.

Although Mario is not usually portrayed to using weapons in games, one exception is the use of hammers as a weapons in some games, including Super Mario 3, as well as the Donkey Kong and Super Mario RPG series. In the Wrecking Crew series, Mario also wields a hammer to break bricks, but not offensively. Similarly, in the Super Mario RPG series, Mario uses his hammer to hit switches and solve puzzles as well as to hit enemies.

In Mario sports games, including the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, Mario is usually the most well-rounded playable character in his abilites, balancing power with speed or finesse. In the Mario Kart franchise, he's normally considered a middleweight or heavy middleweight character, with a slightly a better top speed than most light and middleweights. In the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Mario also gains fighting abilites not closely related to those depicted in the platformer series. Among these are the use of a spinning attack called the Mario Tornado, and the ability to use fireballs without an item.

In the upcoming Mario game on the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario seems to gain special "Astronomical" abilities like blasting to other planets and grabbing things using the "Wii-Mote". Nintendo says that Mario might also have some other special abilities in this 3D platformer. In Nintendo's E3 press conference it was stated that you could use the controller "to bat away objects" and game footage seemed to show a spinning jump that reflected attacks.

Metal Mario

Metal Mario started as a powerup for Mario in Super Mario 64. In Hazy Maze Cave, there was a pool of swirling metal which held a new area. Once the switch in that area was pushed, Metal caps were available. Metal Mario was completely invulnerable. Similar to Sega's Super Sonic, Metal Mario could harm enemies by simply running into them. The ability was limited to a time limit. When Metal Mario was hit, he would sometimes flinch, but would be completely invincible and not lose health. Along with this, Metal Mario would not have to breathe, which allowed him to walk in noxious gas and water. His heavy weight would allow him to be able to sink in water, helping in some missions. Metal Mario would also lose the ability to speak (which wasn't important, just a side note to show he truly became metal). In Super Smash Bros, Metal Mario would come back as a sub-boss. he would deliver nasty damage to opponents and took double damage to be knocked off the stage. Metal Mario's strategy would be the movement of which he would walk back and forth delivering loud thuds on easier difficulties he would merely hit the player if the character got in the way. The higher the difficulty, the more aggressive to the point where Metal Mario would be using extremely furious Smash attacks with devastating combos. Additonally, it took double damage to knock him as far since he weighed double that of a normal character. The arena would be set in that of a metallic mine to give an interesting atmosphere to the fight.

In Super Smash Bros Melee, Metal Mario would return a little more aggressive than before; however, after unlocking Luigi, it would not be just Metal Mario the player would have to deal with. Metal Mario would not only be aided by Metal Luigi, but both characters would be monstrously difficult at the higher difficulties due to the increase in attacks and combos from the last game. Other Metal characters could appear as enemies in classic mode, although Metal Mario (and Metal Luigi if Luigi was unlocked) would be a battle every time played in Adventure Mode. The Metal Box was a power up (looked like the green ! box in Mario 64) and could turn any character metal.

For some odd reason, Metal Mario appeared as a secret unlockable character in Mario Golf. He was very strong, having an even longer drive than the super-powerful Bowser!

Mainstream success

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Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon having starred in three television shows (produced by Nintendo with DIC, between 1989 and 1991), comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins. Nintendo of Japan also produced a 60-minute anime feature starring Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released in the United States. He has also appeared on lunchboxes, t-shirts, in magazines, in commercials, in candy form, and as a plush toy. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. In addition, Mario made history in 2003 by becoming the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts.

Mario is the official video game mascot for Nintendo, and is synonymous with the Nintendo brand. Because of this, Mario only appears in Nintendo games on Nintendo systems.

Special cameo appearances

In the earlier days of the NES and Game Boy, Mario did several cameos, usually in the early sports titles on both systems. Often he was depicted as the referee, such as in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! or Tennis, but was also the playable character in both versions of Nintendo's early Golf-title. However some of his other cameos were more bizarre, such as the one in the Breakout-clone Alleyway which featured Mario on the game's box-art and also at the beginning of each stage where Mario jumps "into" the paddle. He was also featured on the Game Over screen for the Game Boy version of Qix dressed in Mexican clothes, playing a guitar in the desert next to a cactus with a vulture perched on it.

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Mario made brief appearances in three games from Nintendo's other popular franchise, the Legend of Zelda series. In ', his picture hangs on the walls of certain village houses. In ', a picture of him (along with Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser) is visible through a window in the castle courtyard where Link meets Zelda. In , one of the masks on the Happy Mask Salesman's pack depicted Mario's face.

In 1999, Mario was included in the cast for Nintendo's popular fighting game, Super Smash Bros., for the Nintendo 64. He returned with the cast from the original in the 2001 GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and will also appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, an upcoming game for the Wii. In the recent Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer, Mario was seen picking up a Smash Bros. emblem (as an item), then he threw out a large fire wave at his opponents. In this series, he is considered a well-balanced character and is easy for most players to use.

In , he appears on Otacon's desk next to a Yoshi figurine. When players shoot the Mario figure, they regain HP.

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In the GameCube version of NBA Street V3, Mario makes a cameo alongside Luigi and Peach as their own playable basketball team, along with their own exclusive Nintendo themed court. SSX On Tour also features the three and an exclusive Nintendo themed track.

Mario has also made a cameo appearance in the Nintendo DS game Nintendogs. In this game, his hat can be unlocked, as well as a toy Mario in a radio-controlled kart. The latter is only unlockable on the Dachshund & Friends version.

In the game "" you can buy Mario's hat in the clothes store owned by the Able Sisters. In the game, the hat is called "Big Bro's Hat". You can also buy an accessory in the game that resembles a fake mustache and nose called the "Big Bro's Stache".

In 1080 Avalanche, Mario appeared on the bottom of a snowboard and as an ice sculpture.

In the game Pilotwings 64, Mario's face can be seen with those of the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore, if his face is shot, it turns into Wario's face.

Cultural references

• Mario's popularity has been parodied and/or referenced in many television shows other than his own. For example, he appears in two episodes of The Simpsons: in "Marge Be Not Proud", he, along with Luigi, Sonic, and Donkey Kong try to convince Bart to steal a video game; and in "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", Mario is an Italian tourist who, when visiting Homer (famous after an embarrassing video on the Internet), gets trash cans thrown at him - just like Donkey Kong, but is defeated by Homer when he gets a hammer from the treehouse. He is also parodied in the Futurama episode "Anthology of Interest II", when Fry asks the What-If Machine what would life be like as a video game. In the sequence that follows, Mario is the Italian ambassador at the United Nations.

• In a crossover spoof on Attack of the Show, Mario and Luigi are portrayed in a The Sopranos-type story.

• Action figures of Mario, Luigi, and Wario are also shown taking part in a Fast and the Furious-meets-Cannonball Run parody on an early episode of Robot Chicken.

• In an episode of The Sopranos, A.J. is seen playing Mario Kart 64.

• In the cartoon Megas XLR, episode 18 "Thanksgiving Throwdown", parodies of Mario and Luigi appear, known as "The Super Fabio Brothers". The Fabio brothers attack using wrenches and their famed jumping ability.

• The King of Town, a character from the popular Homestar Runner series, dressed up as Mario during a Halloween Special. There was even a fake game that can be played through an Easter Egg called "Super Kingio Bros." The game, however, is unwinnable because the KoT is too fat to jump over the first enemy encountered.

Trivia

• Mario's theme music in Super Mario Bros., composed by Koji Kondo, is highly recognizable. [Sample].
• Former NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux was given the nickname "Super Mario" by the media during his illustrious career. Mario Williams, the #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, was also given the nickname "Super Mario".
• He has a Neapolitan accent.

Appearances on non-Nintendo platforms

Nintendo holds the copyright to Mario in many nations and retained these rights for their own use with few exceptions. Mario appeared in quite a few educational PC titles in the United States such as Mario Teaches Typing and in some very early games for non-Nintendo systems such as the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision. Philips made several games, such as Hotel Mario, featuring Nintendo characters for their Philips CD-i which was the result of a compromise with Nintendo over failing to release a joint CD-ROM product. Mario Is Missing!, another PC game, was later ported to the NES and SNES much like its sequel Mario's Time Machine.

There are many free fan-made games such as Mario Forever and [link], and mini-movies using the Mario likeness available on the Internet such as the violent Rise of the Mushroom Kingdom cartoon series. Fan-made games vary from clones of the original games to more novel games that merely incorporate the Mario characters. Fans have produced and distributed simple games incorporating Mario on graphing calculators such as the TI-83. There have also been a number of fan-made games using the Super Mario World engine. [link]

See also

• List of Mario games
• List of best-selling computer and video games
• List of Mario series characters
• List of Nintendo characters
• List of Nintendo games created by Shigeru Miyamoto
• List of video games developed by Nintendo
• Shigeru Miyamoto
• Luigi
• Princess Peach
• Princess Daisy
• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Toad
• Yoshi
• Wario
• Waluigi

Notes and references

External links

• [Mario's World] (Nintendo of America Official Site, currently replaced by New Super Mario Bros. info)
• [Mario's Megasite] (Nintendo of Europe Official Site)
• [Super Mario Wiki], a wiki dedicated to everything Mario
• [The Mushroom Kingdom]
• [Super Mario Bros. Headquarters]
• [The Evolution of Mario] History of Mario Sprites
• [Mario: The Unauthorized Biography]
• [Video game parodies with Mario on Newgrounds]
• [Mario Licensees at MobyGames]
• [Mario Monsters] List of Monsters from Mario Games
• [Mario at Answers.com]

 

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