Mario Bros: 30 years in 6 games

Last September 13th, our dear plumber Mario turned 30. That same day on 1985, the Japanese company Nintendo launched the first game with this hero. However, Mario was revealed four years before, fighting against Donkey Kong in a game named after this giant ape.

At that time, Mario was known as Jumpman and the star of that game was Kong, the villain. However, the mechanics were the same: a jumper little man whose mission was to rescue a princess from the huge monkey who was throwing barrels all the time with the intention to knock him down. The difference: Mario was not a plumber but a carpenter.  Curiously, the original idea was to use Popeye to rescue Olivia instead of Mario and Peach, who was named Pauline at that time.

Mario was a pioneer platform game inside this range. This game presents a lineal world that moves forward alongside the character, always in straight line. This little plumber achieved 310 million sales and he took part in more than 70 different titles.

The original idea of Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka was inspired by human emotions and fears. Mario is a hero who beats his enemy without using the violence, and his resemblance with human people is the reason why this game became a big success for 30 years.

We want to talk about the 6 most remarkable games of the plumber in these 30 years.

1. Super Mario Bros

This is the first game named after Mario and in which he is the star. It was launched in 1983 and it introduced the plumber, leading him to success. At the beginning, an arcade game and it made the character popular.

Later, in 1985, Super Mario Bros was launched for the first videogame console named Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Players loved this console. 40 million of games were sold for this console. It was a revolution for platform games. Who hasn’t played this classic when being a child? It was a milestone in videogame history and introduced milliards of young people to the videogames world.

2. Super Mario World

After the success of Super Mario Bros, in 1990 Nintendo launched the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan, which could be bought alongside with the game Super Mario World. It was launched in Europe two years later. In 1989, the Japanese brand had launched the Game Boy, which was a big success, so it was introduced in Europe in 1990, presenting Mario in a game called Dr. Mario. The signature of Super Mario World was that Yoshi, the dinosaur, made its first appearance. From the very first moment, Miyamoto wanted this prehistoric animal to accompany Mario on his adventures.

3. Super Mario 64: 

This game had 2D and 3D graphics, and improved definition and design.  In fact, it was the first 3D Mario. Super Mario 64 was launched for Nintendo 64. The lore of the game was improved as well, but the goal was the same: to save Princess Peach. However, this time, the little plumber had to access the worlds by jumping into the paintings that decorated the castle. This game was launched in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in Europe.

4. Super Mario Kart:

This kart-race version was originally launched in 1992 for Super Nintendo and sales reached 8 million copies. In 1996 it was launched again in 3D, alongside with Super Mario 64 for Nintendo 64. Undoubtedly, these games marked 90s kids childhood. Besides, Mario Kart introduced multiplayer option, which opened a wide range of possibilities for children of that time.

5. Super Mario Galaxy

Ten years later, Mario traveled to the outer space. In 2007 Super Mario Galaxy was born for Wii console, which brought endless possibilities to players. Outstanding graphics, more items, new suits for Mario, new characters… But always keeping the original lore: to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser hands.

6. Mario Party Saga

Finally, we wanted to rescue this Nintendo 64 game, which put every member of the family together. Those endless days with the family wouldn’t have been the same without the funny plumber and his friends. This game was launched in 1998 for Nintendo 64 and later in 2002 for the same console and for GameCube as well.

Super Mario became the most sold videogames series all over the world. A global success created inside Miyamoto’s mind, while he was in a train, watching the landscape passing by his eyes. The owner of Nintendo warehouses in the United States, Mario Segale, inspired him to bring the most famous plumber in the world to life.