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Mario
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is a fictional character in video games, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in many video game genres, such as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting and sports games, and others.
Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Mario series, he repeatedly stops the plans of Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom.
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is a fictional character in video games, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in many video game genres, such as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting and sports games, and others.
Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Mario series, he repeatedly stops the plans of Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom. He also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet.
As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is one of the most famous characters in video game history, and his image has become synonymous with video games. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 201 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside platform games, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, and role-playing games. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he spawned a line of licensed merchandise.
Conception and creation
The character first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong as a carpenter named "Jumpman", more commonly called "Mr. Video Game" in Japan. During localization of the game for American audiences, Nintendo's warehouse landlord Mario Segale confronted Nintendo's Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent. After a heated argument and convincing Segale he would be paid, the Nintendo employees opted to name the character in the game Mario after him. Mario's profession as a carpenter was intended to reflect that as a character as an ordinary hard worker as well as to make it easier for players to identify with the character. After a colleague suggested that Mario more resembled a plumber, Miyamoto changed his profession accordingly and developed Mario Bros., featuring the character in the sewers of New York City.
Due to graphical limitations of arcade hardware at the time, Miyamoto clothed the character in bright red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against each other and the background, adding white gloves to distinguish the character's arms on the screen as they swung back and forth. A cap was added to let Miyamoto avoid drawing the character's hairstyle, while preventing issues of animating his hair as he jumped. To make him appear human onscreen despite his small size they gave Mario a large nose, and added a mustache to avoid drawing a mouth due to the difficulty of illustrating facial expressions at that size.
Miyamoto developed Mario with the idea of using him as a "go to" character for games that could be put in any title as needed, albeit as cameos as at the time he was not expecting Mario to become popular. As years have passed Mario's appearance has become more defined over time, adding a red "M" in a white circle to the front of his hat and gold buttons to his overalls. Miyamoto attributed to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology as time has gone on.
Appearances
Mario debuted under the name "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. He was first named "Mario" in the arcade game Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, the only game in which he has ever been portrayed as an antagonist. His younger brother Luigi was introduced the following year in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which would quickly be one of the most famous games on the console.
Overall, Mario games have sold more then 200 million copies worldwide, with Super Mario Bros. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, selling well over 18 million copies. Mario also appeared in the later Game & Watch games. Mario has appeared in almost every genre of video games, including platform, puzzle, racing, sports, fighting, role-playing and educational games.
Apart from his platform-game appearances, Mario has appeared in many other games, and has made guest appearances in non-Mario games, such as in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! where he is a referee. Apart from these guest appearances, Mario has appeared in non-platform games as the protagonist of other successful series, such as the Super Smash Bros. series. These games are published by Nintendo, but developed by another company, such as Hudson Soft or Camelot Software Planning. Mario has even appeared as a playable character in NBA Street V3 and SSX on Tour, both from Electronic Arts. In some appearances, he is not an in-game character: in both The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario appears on a portrait, and in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes he and Yoshi appear as small statues.
Mario stars in a puzzle game called Dr. Mario in 1990. Mario games of other genres include the educational game Mario Paint, which was released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Mario Pinball Land for the Game Boy Advance. 1996's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the first Mario role-playing game; five have followed: Paper Mario, for the Nintendo 64; Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, for the Game Boy Advance; Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, for the Nintendo GameCube; Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, for the Nintendo DS and Super Paper Mario, for the Wii.
Several other sub-series of Mario video games have been released. The Mario Kart franchise began with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and is currently the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Other Mario sports games include the Camelot-developed series Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and, respectively, the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, the Hudson-developed Mario Party series began on the Nintendo 64. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and are playable with up to four players.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! television series and live-action film based on the video game series called Super Mario Bros. brought the character into the TV and film entertainment realms. The show starred "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario, and the film starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film, and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were also created.
Characteristics
Mario was originally portrayed as a two-dimensional sprite, but in later games he is shown as a three-dimensional, polygonal model. He is depicted as a portly plumber who lives in the fictional land of Mushroom Kingdom. He is the older, shorter brother of Luigi, and they are both plumbers. In the television series, Mario and Luigi are from Brooklyn.
Occupation and hobbies
Mario's occupation is plumbing. Mario is most often plumbing during the animated series. In the original Donkey Kong games, however, Mario is named "Jumpman" and is a carpenter.
In the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games, which debuted in 1990, Mario is a medical physician named "Dr. Mario". Dr. Mario appears as a secret character in the Nintendo GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee, and, in another updated version of the original, Dr. Mario Virus Buster, for WiiWare. In the Game Boy game Mario's Picross, Mario is an archaeologist.
Mario commonly saves Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom and purges antagonists, such as Bowser, from various areas. Mario has gained fame in the kingdom due to his heroic deeds, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they are referred to as "superstars".
In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Mario has a toy-making company that earns him income.
Relationships
Since his first game, Mario has usually had the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong. Pauline was soon replaced by a new damsel in distress, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros. (she was initially referred to as "Princess Toadstool" or "the Princess" in English-speaking territories until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari debuted, even though the name was not widely used until Super Mario 64 was released three years later). Pauline returned in the Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong in 1994, and later Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in 2006, although the character is now described as "Mario's friend".
Mario has rescued Princess Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros.. In a role reversal, Peach rescues Mario in Super Princess Peach.
Luigi is Mario's younger brother. He is a companion in many Mario games and the character whom players play in two-player sessions of many of the video games, though he also occasionally rescues Mario, as displayed in Mario is Missing! and Luigi's Mansion.
Yoshi is another one of Mario's friends.
Mario rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Princess Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach", although Luigi and Daisy were previously paired as a romantic couple in the live-action Super Mario Bros. film.
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's counterpart. Though there is no tangible relationship between the two, Wario was once referred to as Mario's cousin in Nintendo Power.
Baby Mario
's back in Yoshi's Island DS]]
Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario. He first appeared in 1995 in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and has appeared in several games since. Baby Mario has often appeared in Nintendo-sports games, and has a major role along with Baby Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. He is voiced by Charles Martinet.
Abilities
During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was known as "Jumpman". Jumping—both to access places and as an offensive move—is a common gameplay element in Mario games, especially the Super Mario Bros. series.
Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies, first used in Mario Bros.. This jump-stomp move may entirely crush smaller enemies on the stage, and usually deals damage to larger ones, sometimes also causing secondary effects. This attack often enables Mario to knock the turtle-like Koopa Troopas into their shells, which can slide into and damage other enemies or Mario.
Subsequent games have elaborated on Mario's jumping-related abilities. Super Mario World added the ability to spin-jump, which allows Mario to break blocks beneath him. Later, the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong allows Mario to jump higher with consecutive jumps, and perform a back-flip. In Super Mario 64, Mario has several jumping abilities, such as a sideways somersault, a ground pound, and the "Wall Kick", which propels him upwards by kicking off walls.
Power-ups
Mario uses many items, which give him various powers. The first power-up Mario uses is the Hammer in Donkey Kong. Super Mario Bros. introduced the basic three power-ups that have become staples for the series—the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger; the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs; and the Starman, which gives Mario temporary invincibility. These powers have appeared regularly throughout the series. Throughout the series' history, there have been several kinds of Mushroom power-ups, including a 1-Up Mushroom, which gives Mario an extra life; Poison Mushroom, which causes Mario to either shrink or die; Mega Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very large; and Mini Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very small. A common item in the series is an item that gives Mario the ability of flight. The first was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3 called the Super Leaf, which makes Mario into a raccoon. Later, in Super Mario World, an item called the Cape Feather was introduced that gave Mario a cape, and in Super Mario 64, an item called the Wing Cap, resulting in the temporary ability to fly. All three of these flying power-ups were featured on the cover of their respective box arts. Super Mario Sunshine introduces a water spraying device called "F.L.U.D.D.", which has the ability to spray water, hover and more.
Some of these powers have appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series. Super Smash Bros. features the Fire Flower as one of Mario and Luigi's attacks and an item any character can use. It also features the Star and Hammer. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Super and Poison Mushrooms also appear.
Reception and legacy
As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be the most famous video game character in history. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 200 million copies, making it the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Mario was one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Link and Sonic the Hedgehog. Mario was the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to children in the world than Mickey Mouse.
Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon having starred in numerous television shows, comic books, and in a feature film. He has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials, in candy form, on Shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy. Nintendo of Japan produced a 60-minute anime feature starring Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released outside of Japan. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured a live-action series of skits starring former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts.
Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in Kungsbacka, Sweden, named after Mario.
Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo Mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, 7 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", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).
In a poll conducted in 2008, Mario was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, outranking characters such as Cloud Strife and Solid Snake.
In popular culture
Mario's theme music in Super Mario Bros., composed by Koji Kondo, is highly recognizable. Former NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux was given the nickname "Super Mario" by the media during his career. Mario Williams, the #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, was also given the nickname "Super Mario", as was pro-cyclist, Mario Cipollini. German international footballer Mario Basler was affectionately referred to as "Super Mario" by fans and the media. Another sportsman who received this nickname was the Brazilian soccer player Mário Jardel, famous for his jumps and headers.
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