Super Mario jumps to the big screen today. The premiere of Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is a perfect opportunity to look back and review the impact that the Italian plumber has had on popular culture over the last four decades.
The Nintendo character has transcended the video game itself. Next, we will remember his origin, his most outstanding games and some other anecdote. But we’ll start with something really amazing: its impressive numbers.
Mario has appeared in around 300 games. This figure takes into account both his main adventures (Super Mario Bros.) and the many spin-offs (Mario Kart, Dr. Mario, Mario Party, etc.) that he has starred in.
Nintendo has sold more than 825 million games starring Mario, according to data from the Japanese company. This impressive figure places it as the best-selling franchise in the history of video games, above Tetris (495 million), Pokémon (440 million) or Call of Duty (400 million).
As a curiosity, of the 825 million games sold, it is estimated that around 385 million belong to Super Mario, the character’s series.
With 60 million copies, Mario Kart 8 is the best seller. It’s funny because it’s not a game from the main franchise (Super Mario), but rather the latest installment of its famous kart racing spin-off. Although the game will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year, it is still selling like hotcakes today. Seeing this figure, it is not surprising that Mario Kart karts have an important role in the film.
The next best-selling game is Super Mario Bros., the great classic that launched the character in the mid-80s and whose figure of 40 million cartridges sold continues to amaze today.
Mario’s first appearance was in the arcade game Donkey Kong (1981). In this arcade classic, “Jumpman” – as Mario’s character was called at the time – had to rescue Pauline from the clutches of a huge gorilla. Despite not appearing with his final name, the hero already showed his characteristic mustache and his red cap.
Like all the great games of the golden age of arcades (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, etc.), the first Mario titles are full of legends and other curiosities. The most widespread version of the origin of Mario’s name states that it comes from Mario Segale, the owner of the warehouse from which Nintendo operated in the United States. Apparently, his insistence on collecting back rent caused Jumpman to end up baptized as Mario. In 2015, Nintendo confirmed this version.
Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of Mario and other iconic Nintendo franchises. This Japanese designer started working at Nintendo in 1977 and one of his first successes was the arcade video game Donkey Kong, which he took the arcades by storm in the early eighties. In addition to having created the Japanese company’s two most popular franchises, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, Miyamoto’s resume includes hundreds of games, such as Star Fox, Pikmin, Nintendogs, as well as his work designing consoles as popular as the Wii or the Nintendo DS.
Although Miyamoto is the most familiar face behind Mario and Zelda, his partner and fellow game designer Takashi Tezuka also has a pivotal role in Mario, Zelda, and other iconic Nintendo franchises. All this without forgetting the human teams –increasingly large– that are behind each game.
Super Mario Bros., the first great adventure starring Mario, is considered his most iconic game. Published in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System – the NES – this game laid the foundations for so-called platform games and the entire Super Mario universe. The Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach and the evil Bowser first appeared.
This is the game that comes to mind for most of us when we think of Super Mario –especially if we are of an age– and that is why the film bears the same title.
The key to Super Mario Bros. –and the rest of the main Super Mario installments– is the emotion that the game transmits with the controller in hand. The movement of the character and, above all, his jump, are well studied to produce a very satisfactory sensation.
Another key to the success of Super Mario Bros. is the level design, since each new screen surprises with new dynamics and a very elaborate progression in which the player learns and applies what he has learned in a few seconds. Shigeru Miyamoto and his team were able to turn level design – a unique feature of the interactive medium – into an art form.
Finally, the third key to the success of Super Mario Bros. is that it is a game that, although it presents a considerable challenge, is capable of quickly connecting with anyone regardless of their ability and experience playing video games.
The music composed by the Japanese composer Koji Kondo is another key to the Super Mario series. In fact, along with the music for Tetris, the music for Super Mario Bros. is probably the best-known original music ever for a video game. The theme of the first level, the famous Overworld, is a melodic, upbeat, Latin-influenced piece that encourages the player to move forward. Kondo’s obsession – who is also responsible for Zelda’s music – was that the repetition of this theme would never be heavy for the player.
Despite the fact that one might think that all Super Mario games are quite similar, the truth is that they always introduce variations and changes in each new installment. After the great success of Super Mario Bros., Nintendo continued to evolve the formula with its corresponding 2D installments, such as Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) or Super Mario World (1990).
Until in 1996 the series made the leap to 3D with Super Mario 64. The revolutionary first Mario adventure in 3D for the Nintendo 64 console did the same thing as Super Mario Bros. but with the new possibilities offered by three-dimensional graphics. . Since then, Nintendo has combined 2D games (New Super Mario Bros.) with 3D deliveries (Super Mario Odyssey).
In fact, there is a precedent for Super Mario on the big screen. In 1993 the live action movie Super Mario Bros. was released, starring Bob Hoskin (Mario), John Leguizamo (Luigi), Samantha Mathis (Daisy) or Dennis Hopper (King Koopa). This delirious film ended up being a great disappointment for fans of the character and for the image of the franchise in general.
Beyond the poor reception of this film, Nintendo has never shown much interest in sharing its licenses with other companies, nor in taking its characters to other media. Especially after almost every time what has been done has not given the expected results (just remember the infamous Zelda produced by Philips for CD-i).
Times have changed and now it seems that Nintendo is more aware of the importance of taking its characters beyond video games. On the occasion of the film that opens today, the Kyoto company has played it safe when entrusting the project to Universal and the Illumination animation studio, those responsible for the popular Minions films.
