History and Origin of

Super Mario Bros

The Birth Of Super Mario• In 1980, Nintendo of America (NOA) released Radar Scope, an

arcade game they hoped would kick start a long reign of success. It flopped, leaving Nintendo stuck with 2,000 unsold Radar Scope units.

• To stay afloat, NOA desperately needed a smash-hit game—and fast.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the president and CEO of Nintendo Co., Ltd. at the time, asked staff artist Shigeru Miyamoto to design a new game based on his own ideas. The result was a game entitled Donkey Kong, starring "Jump man," a portly carpenter clad in red and blue.

• At first, Miyamoto called him "Mr. Video" because he planned to include the character in every game he made, inspired by the way Alfred Hitchcock appeared in the movies he directed. "Jump man" did not have his name for very long, however. NOA had to prepare the game for American release, which included naming the characters

• As the story goes, they were mulling over what to name Jump man when the landlord, Mario Segale, arrived at the warehouse, demanding the overdue rent payment. When he left, the staff had a new name for Jump man: "Mario."

The Design Of Mario• Mario looks the way he does today due to the immature graphics

technology they had in 1981. They had difficulty trying to make his hair look like it was moving realistically as he runs through the different levels of the game, and Miyamoto couldn’t design good enough hairstyles for the character; one way to fix this problem was to give Mario a hat.

• Mario's moustache is given to make his nose stand out more, which gives a 3D illusion to make the graphics seem more impressive.

• The reason Mario wears overall is to make his body movements more visible. The colour schemes have been chopped and changed a lot over the years for different types of gaming, for example, Mario started out with a blue shirt and red overalls outfit in Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., but the color scheme was switched to a red shirt and blue overalls when Mario Bros. hit the arcades. When Super Mario Bros. came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mario had his original red overalls, but a brownish shirt. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario went back to his second color scheme—red shirt, blue overalls—and has not changed since.

Other Characters Of The Game

• PaulineMario's first damsel in distress was named after Polly James, wife of Nintendo of America employee Don James.

• LuigiThe American team provided the name "Luigi" as something to go along with "Mario." Afterwards, the Japanese team noticed a happy coincidence: Ruigi means "analogous."

• KoopasThe "Koopa" clan comes from "Kuppa," Bowser's Japanese name. In this interview, Miyamoto explained that they were considering naming Bowser either Kuppa (gukbap), Yukke (yukhoe), or Bibinba (bibimbap), all Korean dishes.

• WarioWario's name is a combination of Mario and warui, which means "bad" in Japanese.

• WaluigiNintendo Power magazine Vol. 135 (August 2000 issue) enlightened us with the fact that Waluigi's name "comes from a rearrangement of the word [ijiwaru]—Japanese for 'someone who's bad.'"

• For more info on Japanese names, refer to our Mario in Japan section.

Mario’s Most Memorable Appearances

80-89• 1981: Donkey KongDonkey Kong (Arcade)Mario (or technically, "Jump man") the carpenter battles through crazy construction sites to save Pauline from the clutches of a giant monkey named Donkey Kong.

• 1982: Donkey Kong Jr.Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade)This was Mario's second appearance, and first appearance as an enemy. Mario sics enemies at D.K. Jr., who is trying to free his caged father.

• 1983: Mario Bros.Mario Bros. (Arcade)Mario, now a plumber, teams up with (or fights against) brother Luigi (in 2-Player mode) to kill an infinite supply of turtles, crabs, and flies that travel through pipes.

• 1985: Super Mario BrosSuper Mario Bros.. (NES)Mario explores The Mushroom Kingdom in search of Bowser, who has kidnapped Princess Toadstool. Mario mania grasps the nation.

• 1986: Donkey KongDonkey Kong (NES) and Mario Bros.Mario Bros. (NES)The NES versions of the two arcade games are released, exposing the greatness of these games to players who may have missed the arcade versions. Because of limited space on early NES Game Packs, the fourth level (A.K.A. "Pie Factory") of Donkey Kong was omitted.

• 1988: Super Mario Bros. 2Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES; USA version)Nintendo takes a game developed and released in Japan called Doki Doki Panic and replaces the four heroes with Mario characters, resulting in perhaps the most unique game of the Mario series.

• 1989: Super Mario LandSuper Mario Land (GB)Mario's first appearance on the Game Boy takes place in Sarasaland, where Princess Daisy is abducted by the evil spaceman Tatanga.

• 1989: Super Mario Bros. 3Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)The best-selling game of all time. Mario searches the Mushroom World for Bowser who has kidnapped Princess Toadstool, again.

• 1991: Super Mario WorldSuper Mario World (SNES)Mario's first appearance on the Super NES. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool (sound familiar?) and Mario travels through Dinosaur Land to rescue her. Super Mario World introduces us to Yoshi, spawning spin-off games riding on his popularity.

• 1993: Super Mario All-StarsSuper Mario All-Stars (SNES)SMB, SMB2, and SMB3 receive 16-bit updates as part of this compilation cartridge. The other game included, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is the first North American release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese version), originally released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986. It, too, received the 16-bit treatment for All-Stars.

• 1995: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's IslandSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)This game takes place in Mario's past. A gang of Yoshis helps baby Mario find his brother Luigi, who was kidnapped by Baby Bowser's henchmen. Powered by the FX² chip, this was arguably the best 2-D platform game ever made.

• 1996: Super Mario 64Super Mario 64 (N64)Mario frolics through various 3-D worlds to save the kidnapped Princess Peach Toadstool.

• 2002: Super Mario SunshineSuper Mario Sunshine (GCN)Mario and Yoshi reunite to clean up Isle Delfino and rescue Peach once again.

• 2007: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic GamesMario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii/NDS)Opposing mascots Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog finally go head-to-head... at the Beijing Olympics.

• 2007: Super Mario GalaxySuper Mario Galaxy (Wii)This time, Bowser takes Peach away into outer space, forcing Mario to explore planets big and small. Galaxy's innovative gravity system was one factor behind its critical acclaim.

Mario’s Most Memorable Appearances

90-07

Moving On From Platform Games

Super Mario World would be the only typical platform game based around Mario for the SNES, as Nintendo explored other genres for Mario and company.

• Nintendo’s decision led to the go-kart racing game, Super Mario Kart, in 1992. An acclaimed success, Super Mario Kart featured numerous tracks based on levels from the previous Super Mario games. It went on to sell over a million copies.

• Nintendo continued to throw Mario into other styles of games, releasing titles such as Mario Paint, Mario’s Time Machine, various endearment games featuring Mario, and even a Mario RPG. In Japan, Mario starred in various puzzle games.

• In 1994, Nintendo released a compilation of Mario games called Super Mario All-Stars. All-Stars included updated versions of the first three Super Mario Bros. games, and even included the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 titled Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The collection sold over 10 million copies, and became very popular.

• In 1995, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was released. While being hailed the game of the year by critics, it was less popular than hopes. Low sales figures were likely caused by Nintendo’s focus on their upcoming 64-bit console.

Mario on Games Consoles• Mario continued to have growing success on the N64, having a main role in such

games as Mario Kart 64, Dr. Mario 64, and Mario Party 1, 2 and 3. During this time, Nintendo explored other gaming platforms for Mario. This resulted in various games for the GameBoy, GameBoy Color, the new Game Boy Advance, and even licensed a typing instruction game for PC. Nintendo also started creating a series of sports games featuring Mario and his friends, the first being Mario Golf, and then the arcade fighting game, Super Smash Brothers, and Mario Tennis.

• The same year, in November of 2001, Nintendo released the Gamecube in North America. The Gamecube would be the first console to launch without a Mario title in it’s launch line-up, opting instead for a game starring the hero’s younger brother. Luigi’s Mansion featured the tall one in green using a vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts in a haunted mansion. This is the first game to feature Luigi as the hero, rather than Mario.

• Mario also saw hits with the touch-screen handheld the Nintendo DS. Mario 64 DS, an enhanced port of the N64 game, saw great success. Also released were Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, New Super Mario Brothers, and even a Mario Hoops 3-on-3 game

• The Nintendo Wii, released in 2006, will see many new Mario games in the future, including Super Mario Galaxy, and a sequel to Super Smash Brothers Melee. Mario and friends have seen great success in the past, and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

Conclusion• All in all super Mario is thought of as one of the most iconic

games of all time. • It continues to grow and develop, making new and improved

games for all markets to enjoy.