Mario Games

Defining Mario Games also known as the Super Mario Bros. series of games is both easy and challenging, mainly due to the sheer breadth of titles on offer under that family name. The mascots for Nintendo and, ostensibly, video games at large, these titles have done everything from race karts to plumb the depths of a haunted mansion. There are puzzle offerings such as Doctor Mario and odd games such as Super Mario Typing.

If you’re thinking about crowd games then look no further than Mario Party. While not a game belonging to the family itself, Super Smash Bros. often features most of the cast of these games so, in a way, it is part of that universe. And, of course, there is the traditional platformer Super Mario Bros., the game type that most of us are familiar with and the one that drew many of us into to gaming with its debut all the way back in 1983.

These titles are a master class in game design and have probably inspired as many clones as id Software’s DOOM itself. Each new game of this genre features a central conceit around which the gameplay of the title is built and it is this tradition that keeps the mainline series of games fresh and relevant year in and year out.

But, really, even the mainline games do not themselves define as such a title because that can be almost anything. And perhaps that is the point on Nintendo’s part. They want gamers to associate Super Mario Bros. games with video games in general, whether it is platforming, racing, puzzle games, or something else – Mario means games.

Mario Games – the Origins

Mario games are a series of platform video games featuring the Italian-American twin plumbers Mario and Luigi. The franchise was created by Nintendo and is published and produced by them throughout all these years. The games were later developed by many different developers. Let’s see how much do you know about these games and characters, starting with their origins.

The first game of the series was released in 1981 and was called ‘Donkey Kong’. This arcade game was about a fictional gorilla named Donkey Kong who escapes from his owner and kidnaps Mario’s girlfriend Pauline (originally Lady), while trapping her in a cage. Jumpman tried to save her but he failed as he got injured trying to climb the building where she was held captive. Right now there is still some controversy as to whom this character is, as now it looks like that he may be either a carpenter or a plumber. Nevertheless, at that time Jumpman looked more like a carpenter, which was the reason why he was later changed to a plumber in his next games.

Mario’s design has been done by Nintendo artist and designer Shigeru Miyamoto. However, that is not his only credit as he’s also responsible for many other well-known characters such as Donkey Kong Jr., Kirby, heroes from The Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox among others.

Miyamoto’s inspiration for creating Mario came from multiple sources, especially from Popeye.