The pint-sized plumber from Japanese game maker Nintendo has enjoyed 40 years of extraordinary popularity that has transformed the character into a truly global icon. Here are some highlights.
The saviour
Nintendo owes a lot to its moustachioed hero created by a young game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto, initially as the protagonist in the “Donkey Kong” arcade game in 1981.
The firm had been struggling to crack the North American market and, according to some accounts, was on the verge of financial ruin.
With “Kong”, the Japanese studio finally succeeded in the United States – and invented the platform video game along the way.
The hero in red overalls was known as “Jumpman” until 1983 when he was given the name “Mario”.
Miyamoto then let him loose in his own “Super Mario Bros” game in 1985, where he was finally renamed “Super Mario”.
Gaming icon
The main “Super Mario” games have since shifted more than 400 million units. And that does not account for wildly popular spin-offs like “Mario Kart”, “Mario Odyssey”, “Mario Golf” or “Mario Tennis”.
Game designers have built a Mario universe with characters including his green-clad brother Luigi, turtle-demon nemesis Bowser, and friendly dragon-like sidekick Yoshi.
The franchise has thrived through transitions from 2D to 3D, and from consoles to smartphones with “Super Mario Run” and “Mario Kart Tour”.
And retro gamers are still willing to pay big bucks for a slice of its history. A sealed Nintendo 64 cartridge of “Super Mario” sold for US$1.56 million in 2021, a record for a video game, according to Heritage Auctions in the US.
“He is a pop-culture icon known to everyone, young and old,” Morihiro Shigihara, a writer and former arcade manager, told AFP.
“The only other video-game character with a claim to be more famous is Pikachu,” he said, referencing the hero from the “Pokemon” franchise.
Global statesman
Japan’s late former prime minister Shinzo Abe was not known for his comic flair. So he surprised the world by rocking up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio – the official handover ceremony for Tokyo 2020 – dressed as Mario.
“I wanted to show Japan’s soft power to the world with the help of Japanese characters,” he told reporters afterwards. “I wasn’t sure how the audience would react. But I received so many cheers.”
Mario was given perhaps an even stranger tribute by the authorities in the Spanish city of Zaragoza in 2010, when they named a new street Super Mario Bros Avenue.
It is just around the corner from streets named after “Space Invaders” and “Tetris”.
Real-world empire
Nowadays, movie adaptations of video games are everywhere. Some, like “Resident Evil” and “Tomb Raider”, have become bankable franchises.
But “Super Mario” was there first with the 1993 movie “Super Mario Bros”, starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper.
It bombed. Critics and audiences alike hated it.
Nevertheless, the wider “Mario” universe has expanded undeterred with the genial working-class hero getting toy tie-ins with Lego, watches made by Tag Heuer, and a backpack range from Eastpak.
“Mario” theme parks are also popping up – first in Osaka in 2021, then Los Angeles last year, and a planned third “Super Mario World” in Florida.
One of the attractions being considered is the ultimate tie-in, where the real world and “Mario” world finally meet: an augmented-reality “Mario Kart” race around Bowser’s castle.