Having discussed Nintendo’s history and legacy in a previous article lets now move on to one of the most popular video game icons ever. That is no other than Nintendo’s mascot the legendary Mario. I bet there isn’t a single video game player that doesn’t know who Mario is. Mario as we all know today is the resident hero of all of the Super Mario games along with his brother Luigi. We all know him as the guy who eats mushrooms to become big and jumps on goombas and koopa troopers. He is also the guy the wears a blue and red color combination clothing as well as having a big nose and mustache. He is also known to be an Italian plumber for some reason.

 

The truth is Mario wasn’t originally a plumber but rather a carpenter. Mario made his debut in 1981 at a Japanese arcade created by Nintendo entitled Donkey Kong. He was a carpenter at this time as the goal of the game was to reach his girlfriend who had been abducted by a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The game play then was simple but it was one of the most successful games at that time which then spawned a sequel Donkey Kong Jr. This was the only time that Mario played a villain as he had locked up Donkey Kong in a cage which needed to be saved by his son Donkey Kong Jr. It wasn’t until 1983 that Mario had his first titled gamed along with his brother Luigi. It was called Mario Bros. wherein he was now a plumber fighting monsters underneath the sewers of New York City.

Mario’s biggest breakthrough came with his 1985 game release of Super Mario Bros. This was release for the Famicom in Japan and the NES for America. The game was so much fun that a lot of fans had identified Mario as one of the best plat forming games at that time even until now. The success led to Mario spawning sequels during the late 80’s. It was then that Nintendo had established themselves as one gaming company that fans can return to. Mario’s influence stretched out to other forms of media such as spawning cartoons, television shows as well as a feature length film in America.

 

It is undeniable how Nintendo’s mascot came from being a plumber to a video game icon today. If we compare other video game mascots and icons from other games and companies no one can surpass Mario. He has been well over 200 games for Nintendo in the past 25 years. He probably has the highest life span of any video game character. Hopefully Mario will be here to stay for the next generations to follow that way they can feel his presence as I did.