Mario first appeared in the arcade game Donkey Kong as a character named "Jumpman"
according to Nintendo of America. In Japan he was known as "Mr. Video Game". Since the Japanese name was not properly communicated to the American branch, Nintendo of America named him Mario after a man who closely resembled the character and the name stuck. The game was surprisingly successful.
Mario later paired with his brother Luigi in another arcade game entitled Mario Bros. When the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Super Mario Bros. was the launch title for it with Mario as the protagonist. "Jumpman", the protagonist of Donkey Kong, was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas.
His namesake was Mario Segali, the landlord of Nintendo of America's office,
who barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment
Mario Segali was the owner of the first premises of the offices of Nintendo of America. In the time of its residence there, Nintendo of America was considering a name for its popular Jumpman. Jumpman was a carpenter with a red cap and a moustache. They realized that Mario Segali and Jumpman looked alike, so they changed the character's name to Mario.
With limited pixels and colors of the 8-bit NES, the games' programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear". Making his shirt a solid color and giving him overalls fixed this. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears, and they could not animate hair, which resulted in Mario getting a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, has stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.
Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, both their evil counterparts, Wario, Waluigi and other characters such as Toadsworth.
Mario has taken on the role of Nintendo's mascot and has since been extensively merchandised. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in 1991. The two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterwards, until around 2001 when Sonic Adventure 2: Battle showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry.
Mario and Sonic officially appeared together in a crossover sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and are together again in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Appearances
Main article: List of Mario games
Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64
Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64
Mario made his debut in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. In Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, he was the villain, and in the ending cinematic, he is knocked out (although he is not dead because he is in future games). The games were so successful that he carried over into an arcade spin-off, Mario Bros. in 1983, which boasted a simultaneous two-player mode and introduced his taller yet younger brother Luigi. His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Overall, Mario games have sold approximately 285 million copies worldwide,[12] 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.[13] Mario and his friends also appeared in the later Game & Watch games. Mario has explored almost every genre of video games. Aside from action platformers, he has starred in puzzle games, racing games, sports games, fighting games, role-playing games, and even 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 at all: in The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Mario appeared on a portrait, and in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes he, along with Yoshi, appears as a small statue.
After the relatively unknown Game & Watch title Mario Bombs Away, Mario's first non-platformer game was released in 1990. Dr. Mario's gameplay was similar to Tetris, which was later ported to nearly all of Nintendo's consoles. Mario was later used in other genres; two examples include the educational game Mario Paint, which appeared 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 marked Mario's first role-playing game, since then, five role-playing games 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. Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in more sport-oriented video games, such as Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers series.
Mario's multiplayer games represent a more important sub-range of Mario games. The Mario Kart franchise began with 1992's Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and still continues to be the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise today, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide.[14][15][16][17][18] Apart from racing, the Camelot sports game franchises Mario Golf and Mario Tennis also feature Mario's visage. In 1999, the Hudson-designed video game series Mario Party was began on the Nintendo 64 platform. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and is playable for up to four players, with the most recent incarnations being Mario Party 8, which was released in May 2007 in the U.S. for the Wii; and Mario Party DS, which was released in November 2007.
The The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! TV series and the live-action movie loosely 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 movie starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and made appearances in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were created as well.
according to Nintendo of America. In Japan he was known as "Mr. Video Game". Since the Japanese name was not properly communicated to the American branch, Nintendo of America named him Mario after a man who closely resembled the character and the name stuck. The game was surprisingly successful.
Mario later paired with his brother Luigi in another arcade game entitled Mario Bros. When the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Super Mario Bros. was the launch title for it with Mario as the protagonist. "Jumpman", the protagonist of Donkey Kong, was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas.
His namesake was Mario Segali, the landlord of Nintendo of America's office,
who barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment
Mario Segali was the owner of the first premises of the offices of Nintendo of America. In the time of its residence there, Nintendo of America was considering a name for its popular Jumpman. Jumpman was a carpenter with a red cap and a moustache. They realized that Mario Segali and Jumpman looked alike, so they changed the character's name to Mario.
With limited pixels and colors of the 8-bit NES, the games' programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear". Making his shirt a solid color and giving him overalls fixed this. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears, and they could not animate hair, which resulted in Mario getting a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, has stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.
Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, both their evil counterparts, Wario, Waluigi and other characters such as Toadsworth.
Mario has taken on the role of Nintendo's mascot and has since been extensively merchandised. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in 1991. The two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterwards, until around 2001 when Sonic Adventure 2: Battle showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry.
Mario and Sonic officially appeared together in a crossover sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and are together again in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Appearances
Main article: List of Mario games
Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64
Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64
Mario made his debut in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. In Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, he was the villain, and in the ending cinematic, he is knocked out (although he is not dead because he is in future games). The games were so successful that he carried over into an arcade spin-off, Mario Bros. in 1983, which boasted a simultaneous two-player mode and introduced his taller yet younger brother Luigi. His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Overall, Mario games have sold approximately 285 million copies worldwide,[12] 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.[13] Mario and his friends also appeared in the later Game & Watch games. Mario has explored almost every genre of video games. Aside from action platformers, he has starred in puzzle games, racing games, sports games, fighting games, role-playing games, and even 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 at all: in The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Mario appeared on a portrait, and in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes he, along with Yoshi, appears as a small statue.
After the relatively unknown Game & Watch title Mario Bombs Away, Mario's first non-platformer game was released in 1990. Dr. Mario's gameplay was similar to Tetris, which was later ported to nearly all of Nintendo's consoles. Mario was later used in other genres; two examples include the educational game Mario Paint, which appeared 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 marked Mario's first role-playing game, since then, five role-playing games 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. Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in more sport-oriented video games, such as Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers series.
Mario's multiplayer games represent a more important sub-range of Mario games. The Mario Kart franchise began with 1992's Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and still continues to be the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise today, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide.[14][15][16][17][18] Apart from racing, the Camelot sports game franchises Mario Golf and Mario Tennis also feature Mario's visage. In 1999, the Hudson-designed video game series Mario Party was began on the Nintendo 64 platform. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and is playable for up to four players, with the most recent incarnations being Mario Party 8, which was released in May 2007 in the U.S. for the Wii; and Mario Party DS, which was released in November 2007.
The The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! TV series and the live-action movie loosely 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 movie starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and made appearances in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were created as well.
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