Mario first appeared in the 1982 arcade hit Donkey Kong, and became an instant hit. He appeared again 2 years later in Mario Bros., his first title role. This game also introduced Luigi to the public. Mario first came home on the Nintendo Entertainment System in Super Mario Bros, one of the best selling games ever. This game brought Mario into millions of homes around the world and made him a cultural icon.
Since then Mario has appeared in many other games for the Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Virtual Boy, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii, and DS. A Mario (or Luigi) game has been released alongside each of these systems and helped many of them succeed. These games have consistently brought new innovations into video games and been extremely successful in the stores. Super Mario Bros. is still the best selling video game ever, selling over 40 million copies worldwide since its release. Super Mario 64 has been hailed as "The greatest video game of all time" by Next Generation magazine, and critically acclaimed on countless occasions. Past that, New Super Mario Brothers (DS) has performed greatly, getting one of the highest marks to be found from Nintendo Power in their review of it. It, and other Mario games, have received countless awards.
The Mario bros. have become a cultural phenomenon outside of video games. They have been featured in 3 cartoon series, one major motion picture, and every toy imaginable, from board games to water guns. He's been featured in many non-game magazines and been a topic in a few widely published books. In an old 1991 poll, it was found more kids could identify a picture of Mario than Mickey Mouse. He has also outlasted most of the mascots from his era.
Naming
- The character in the original DK was originally referred to as Jumpman when the game was in preproduction (some Japanese translation no doubt). By the time the game came into production in the US, though, the character was known as Mario. Therefore, it is acceptable to refer to Mario or Jumpman as being the star of DK. However, the main character in DK3 is not Mario, but an exterminator known as Stanley the Bugman.
- Toad is the royal mushroom retainer of the Mushroom Kingdom. Not all the little mushroom guys are "Toad", as they are other citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone calls them Toad anyway (Go figure). They might all look the same to us, but I'm sure there's some slight differences to tell them apart.
- The Princess' name is Princess Peach Toadstool. The first name is Peach and the last name is Toadstool. That is why she is called Princess Peach in Japan and the letter at the beginning of SM64 is signed "Peach". Similarly, it is King Bowser Koopa. The first name is Bowser, and the last name is Koopa. This settles the double name issues.
- Princess Peach isn't the only princess Mario has saved. In Super Mario Land, (and the Mario Movie, and the comics) Mario save Princess Daisy instead. In Donkey Kong, neither of those. It was Pauline instead, a damsel in distress taken captive by Donkey Kong. Mario's exact relationships with these three women is sketchy at best... but Mario seems to especially like Peach (and she baked him that cake at the end of SM64... so bonus points!) Pauline has only appeared in one game since her debut, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2. Peach, on the other hand, has appeared in countless titles, and even had her own game (Super Princess Peach.) Daisy usually appears only in the multiplayer games--so it is obvious Peach is the main relationship with Mario.
- The name Yoshi refers to the one specific, green dinosaur that Mario saves in SMW. The term "Yoshi" also refers to the whole species of multicolored dinosaurs. There is only one "Yoshi" though. (confused yet?) The other Yoshis (besides the main green one) are often called Yoshi's "cousins" although this doesn't seem to be a traditional, family relationship, but more like a general title (e.g. "father" used to refer to a priest). The baby Yoshis found in eggs are not all children of the one, green, "Yoshi", but rather, babies of one of the Yoshi species of dinosaur. Understand? No? Didn't think so. But that's as clear as it can be made here.
- Wario, and hence, Waluigi, have sketchy relationships at best with Mario. Wario is not Mario's 'evil twin' nor is Waluigi Luigi's. Wario and Waluigi themselves, however, are related.
- Super Mario RPG was partially made by Square; therefore, many characters remain exclusive to it. Characters such as Geno or Mallow, therefore, are unlikely to appear in any future games. The game itself has not had any direct sequels as a result of this, either. However it itself has 'Spiritual' successors, such as Paper Mario and its own sequels.
- The Mario brothers' origin is hotly debated, and therefore, it is difficult to place their origin. Some games say he was delivered with Luigi by a stork (See Yoshi's island), while others reference a New York connection (Donkey Kong, Mario Bros.) however it appears the Yoshi's Island version is more prevalent, and likely to be the main game storyline for now. (Some games, however, like to play with this idea.)
Mario and Luigi appear again in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. A new disease, the Blorbs, which make Toads grow to a giant size, has affected the Mushroom Kingdom citizens from Fawful, who is selling Blorb Mushrooms. Mario and Luigi attend a meeting that is disrupted when Bowser barges in. Bowser then fights Mario. After defeated, Bowser receives a Vacuum Mushroom from Fawful. The mushroom makes Bowser inhale everything, including Mario, Luigi, Starlow, and the Princess.
Mario and Luigi are found inside Bowser, who is knocked out in Cavi Cape. The Bros. and Starlow help Bowser get his castle back from Fawful. Along the way, Bowser meets Broque and Broggy and gets the ability of the Vacuum block. Mario, Luigi, and Starlow aids Bowser in his trips, while they travel to various parts of his body. When Bowser finally reaches his castle and reclaims it, Bowser is grown fat from winning the fight against Midbus, a giant pig.
While Bowser is fat, Mario and Luigi find Peach in the Flab Zone, who is kidnapped in front of them by Alpha Kretin. After a long chase, Mario and Luigi trap and defeat Alpha and Beta Kretin, freeing the Princess. Peach, after the boss battle, tells them that Fawful probably wants the Dark Star, so he can control the Mushroom Kingdom. She also explains that Peach herself is necessary for this process. As they find an exit, Peach is taken out of Bowser's Body by Fawful and is once again kidnapped. Meanwhile, Midbus gives Bowser a treadmill to lose his extra pounds on.
Mario and Luigi travel until they find Bowser knocked out in a island of trash. After fighting Junker, they go back into Bowser, and wake him up from his back pain. After going through the castle all to finding the Dark Star awakening and Fawful becoming Dark Fawful, who is sent flying by Bowser. Dark Star enters Bowser, who copies his DNA, but is incomplete thanks to the Mario Bros., and combines with Dark Fawful to create Dark Bowser.
After Mario and Luigi defeat Dark Star Core and Bowser defeats Dark Bowser, Fawful explodes, destroying himself, and expelling everyone else from Bowser's body, freeing them. After realizing that the Mario's were inside Bowser, Bowser and Mario & Luigi fight, which ends the story. At the end, it is revealed that Mario and Luigi win yet again and Bowser is back at his ruined castle, recovering from the injuries he sustained in their fight.
SEE THE ORIGINAL INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS:
Sources:
