‘Mario’ Franchising: Four decades of success games – See facts and curiosities that you probably didn’t know
‘Mario’ Franchising it’s Nintendo’s most famous game. Mario had a potato-shaped nose, short, mustachioed, and a red hat. And he has become better known among American kids than Mickey Mouse.
Mario was played in more than 200 games since it was created in 1981 by Japanese Shigeru Miyamoto.
This year we celebrate 40 years of the creation of the character. And we are going to remember some facts and curiosities that involve this nice and famous plumber.
Donkey Kong and Jumpman
In 1981 Nintendo thought of creating a game with the famous comic book character Popeye but was unable to release the copyright.
So the way out was to create a game with another character, and Miyamoto came up with the idea for Donkey Kong.
In this game, the character Jumpman tried to rescue his girlfriend captured by the gorilla Donkey Kong.
Yes, Mario’s name was Jumpman when he appeared in the Donkey Kong game in 1981.
The characteristics of the character Jumpman were made to make it simpler to animate, using a smaller number of pixels. Games at the time were made in 8-bit, so there were many graphical limitations.
This explains why his cap hides his hair and his mustache hides his mouth. Even the clothes and colors were chosen for this reason.
Military Recruitment Game
Before Mario Bros. became famous all over the world, he participated in some curious games. Mario’s Bombs Away (1983) for the Game & Watch the character dons military camouflage. The gameplay mechanics are delivering bombs from left to right and try to avoid burning oil spills and enemy torches that would ignite the bombs. At the time they commented that the game was commissioned as a military recruitment tool by the government of Japan, but this has never been confirmed or proven. Mario was also present in several games for Game & Watch.
Play online Mario’s Bombs Away
Mario Carpenter
Before the first Super Mario, he starred in another 8-bit Nintendo game that didn’t bear his name. In Wrecking Crew (1985) for the NES, Mario and Luigi had to smash structures and ladders with a hammer while avoiding the construction foreman Spike. In this game, Mario was not a plumber, he was playing the role of a carpenter or bricklayer. It’s the first title to offer a level editor. The players can create their own maps.
The character’s name would change from Jumpman to Mario in a very unusual way.
Staff at Nintendo’s New York office began to realize that the character had become too much like an employee. His name was Mario Segali.
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Mario and Alice
According to Miyamoto, Super Mario Bros. has many symbologies based on and inspired by the classic Alice in Wonderland. Like Alice, Mario travels through a colorful world, full of mushrooms that make him grow and shrink. These mushrooms are inspired by the famous hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita Muscaria, common in the northern hemisphere. It is aesthetically very similar to the mushroom in the game. This mushroom has the ability to make a person actually have hallucinations and psychedelic trips that give him the impression that he is growing.
Mario lives in Japan
In Super Mario Bros. 3, one of the maps seen in the game has its format inspired by the map of Japan.
Also, on the map, there is a castle that is in the same location as Kyoto, the place that houses Nintendo headquarters.
Mario Bros Movie
Not everything is successful with Mario. In 1993 it became a film. A film adaptation starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi. The story showed the two brothers fighting King Koopa. The movie was a failure. With low-quality special effects, even for the time. And ridiculous scenes like the romance between Luigi and Princess Daisy. Even characters like Toad and Yoshi gained versions in this production, but they don’t resemble the original versions in games at all. If you like Mario Bros game, don’t watch this movie.
Mario and Guinness Records (‘Mario’ Franchising apex?)
Mario is recognized by Guinness World Records. The Nintendo mascot was awarded seven world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2008. These records include “Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time”, “First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game”, and “Most Prolific Video Game Character”. In 2011, readers of Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition voted Mario as the top video game character of all time.
‘Mario’ Franchising – Super Mario Bros. sold for $660,000
A sealed copy of the classic game “Super Mario Bros.” was sold at auction for $660,000. Last year, the same title, also sealed, had won the Heritage Auctions auction house’s record for the most expensive game ever sold.
The 1985 video game cartridge released for the NES console was sold at auction in April 2021. Previously, the same game had been sold in early 2020 for US$114,000. Now, this value has been surpassed by the value of US$660,000.
The Super Mario Bros. success
Maybe it’s impossible that someone doesn’t know the game Super Mario Bros (1985), but in case you’ve never played it, here’s a small summary of the game’s dynamics. In these games, Mario traverses worlds that contain a set number of levels to complete. In them, he traverses them from moving left to right, the screen scrolling in the direction he moves. Mario has the goal of reaching the end of the level to move onto the nest, typically marked with a flagpole. These games are less focused on plot and more on platforming; most commonly, Bowser kidnaps Peach, and Mario, with the help of Luigi and other characters, sets out to rescue her. Most worlds have mini-boss battles, which typically involve fighting Bowser Jr. or one of several Koopalings. The final level is a fight against Bowser.
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