We owe a lot to Mario. There was a time, not too long ago, when the video game industry was on the verge of collapse. The market was all but doomed, and gaming was being put out to pasture. But in a truly unexpected turn of events, a plumber wearing a red hat and overalls swooped in and saved us all from extinction. Since then, Mario has become an indelible icon of pop culture, his popularity far exceeding the boundaries of the games industry. Alongside the likes of Pikachu, Hello Kitty, and others, Mario is a worldwide star. The Mushroom Kingdom is now a theme park. Mario is a movie star with the voice of Chris Pratt. And to think, this all started 40 years ago with an unassuming gray cartridge and a leap of faith from Nintendo.
Mario Saves the World
In the mid to late ’70s, the video game market was booming. PONG was wowing everyone, Space Invaders and other coin-operated games dominated blossoming arcades, and the Atari 2600 put that gaming experience right in your living room. Unfortunately, after a few years, Atari had flooded the market with so much meaningless slop that video games faded out. In 1983, the video game market in the United States crashed and showed no signs of coming back. However, after some careful consideration, Nintendo made a major play. For their new home console, they decided to market it not as a video game system, but as a toy. A few test markets all but confirmed that this approach would work, and the world was mostly convinced. But like every good game platform before it, the upcoming Nintendo Entertainment System needed a killer app.
When the NES was finally released in the United States in October of 1985, Super Mario Bros. became a pack-in title, introducing millions of gamers to this chubby little plumber. Lost in a magical world of platforming goodness, it was an easy win and everyone loved it. Hopping on Goombas and picking up power stars, Mario continued his dominance with a worthwhile sequel, both in Japan and the West. By the time Super Mario Bros. 3 was in the works, the world had descended into Mario mania. Fans were so hyped up that they even flocked to theaters to watch the admittedly mediocre Fred Savage movie, The Wizard, just in hopes of seeing a sneak peek at the gameplay. Just like that, Mario had saved gaming over the span of a few years and business was booming.
No Midlife Crisis for Mario
When most of us turn 40 years old, we panic a bit, and maybe buy a fancy sports car or a pinball machine to complete our midlife crisis. Not Mario, though. In the four decades since his big NES debut, there’s been no downtime for this iconic protagonist. Starring in over 200 mainline games, spin-offs, and crossovers, he’s filled countless roles for our gaming pleasure. Mario became a doctor, a kart racer, an all-star athlete of multiple sports, has partnered up with the raving Rabbids, transformed into paper, and so much more. Even now, with the Switch 2 hot on shelves, everyone eagerly awaits the next mainline Mario game, buying consoles in anticipation of its inevitable release.
So, how is Nintendo celebrating Mario’s big 40th anniversary? In celebration of this milestone, a brand new remaster of Super Mario Galaxy + Galaxy 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch, a new entry in the Mario Tennis series has been announced, and details on the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie have come to light. While these new projects are all exciting enough, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than this: whether through original hardware or official emulation, boot up the NES Super Mario Bros. and run as fast as you can toward the flagpole. Bonus points if you hit a warp pipe. No matter what, make sure you take a bit of time to replay your favorite Mario game, as we likely wouldn’t be playing any other games if it weren’t for Nintendo’s timeless Italian plumber.
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