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Nintendo
September 1985. Mario and his faithful brother Luigi make their debut in the first “Super Mario Bros.”
No one could have known that 35 years later, the men with the mustache would have sold a staggering 373 million games worldwide.
Mario, with his distinctive red jumpsuit and the unfortunate habit of losing his love interest to a huge, spiky turtle, has become a much loved part of millions of people’s lives.
But why is it still so popular for more than three decades? Four Super Mario fans have been telling Radio 1 Newsbeat about their love for a tiny plumber.
‘I don’t remember a time when I didn’t play Mario’
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Ethan hunt
23-year-old Ethan plays on the N64, a console released the year he was born
To celebrate Mario’s 35th birthday, Nintendo is re-releasing three of his classic adventures.
Super Mario 64 (originally released on Nintendo 64), Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube), and Super Mario Galaxy (Wii).
The oldest of the three, 64, is Ethan Hunt of Liverpool’s all-time favorite game, despite being three years old when it was first released.
“I appreciate what the game did,” he tells Newsbeat.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t play Mario games.
“I got the Gameboy Advance when I was six years old, then the Nintendo DS version of Super Mario 64 (its first re-release coming out in 2004).
“I fell in love with the game. I had seen images of the original N64, so I came back from there.”
Ethan went on to purchase a second-hand Nintendo Entertainment (NES, first released in the 1980s), a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and a Nintendo 64, all because of his passion for the game.
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Nintendo
Ethan says the polygonal visuals, music, and gameplay help make Super Mario 64 so much fun to play today
‘The game is timeless’
In a world of ultra high definition, 3D games and big budget titles that are created every year, what makes people like Ethan in his 20s play Mario games who are older than them?
Jon Doyle writes for two Nintendo magazines: Switch Player and Ninty Fresh.
“The games are so well made that the gameplay is timeless,” says the 29-year-old.
“Mario 64 in its day was revolutionary in terms of how it was played and the content.
“The graphics weren’t up to par with what PlayStation was handling, but the gameplay itself was second to none.
“And that has been the case in all the generations of consoles where they have released a new Mario game.”
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Jon doyle
Jon: “Nintendo is the preferred console for the game, they pay a lot of attention to it. That’s what makes games timeless”
Jon says that one of the most impressive things about the Mario series is Nintendo’s ability to keep reinventing it while maintaining quality.
“Mario 64 still feels like an amazing platform today as it did then.
“Mario Sunshine on GameCube, for example, if you play it today, it feels like a completely new idea.
“Very few games define a genre and they do it repeatedly with almost every title.”
‘Families playing together’
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Special effect
Becky and the special effects team help people access games they might not otherwise be able to
‘Families playing together’
Becky Frost is from the Special Effect charity, which helps players with physical disabilities.
In a world where some games can be complicated or overwhelming, Becky says Mario’s play and play style has helped him jump, climb, swing, and fly (we could go on) for three and a half decades.
“Mario and Nintendo games have a huge focus on accessibility,” he tells Newsbeat.
“You have Mario Kart, for example, which has all of its different accessibility options built in, which is absolutely fantastic for charities like us when we create settings for people to use in different ways.
“It also gets families to play together at different skill levels, where it also levels the playing field.”
That was certainly the case for Vaneet Mehta, 28.
‘I can’t wait to see where they take Mario next’
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fake images
When it comes to playing Mario games, Vaneet has been there, did it, and got the shirt.
One of his earliest memories is running with Mario, making Luigi jump and Yoshi eat whatever he can find, as well as seeing his father reach higher levels than him.
“Each and every game since then has really tried to capture that magic. The way this center, the castle, was created, there is a lot to explore.
“You’re learning more and more as you unlock new areas, jumping through paintings not knowing what is going to be in front of you.
“It had a lot of magic. You jump through that painting into a world of change.”
Vaneet, like thousands of others, is looking forward to bringing the three classic games back into his life for Mario’s birthday, but also to see where Mario will travel for his next mission.
“You only have this big sandbox, you can play and explore this giant world in front of you. I’m really interested to see what they do next.”
Mario may have had three and a half decades of kart racing, traveling through space and swinging a fire-breathing turtle around and around until it lands on a bomb (we’ve all done it).
But hold on to your hat Mario, you are far from done.
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