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Nintento Power – Issue #2 (September–October 1998)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 3, 2022 . Retrieved August 23, 2022. Gpara.com. February 10, 2003. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011 . Retrieved January 11, 2011. best villains in video games". GamesRadar. May 17, 2013. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013 . Retrieved July 28, 2013. Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U included the "Cat Mario" power-up, which was implemented to help newcomers play the game and add new gameplay features such as climbing up walls. Another power-up was the "Double Cherry", which was added accidentally; one of the developers added a second Mario into the game in error, and found it humorous when both Mario's were somehow controllable at the same time. [135] In 2020, also as part of the Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary, Nintendo re-released Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Switch with the additional mode titled Bowser's Fury. [136] Stratton, Stephen; Buchanan, Levi (2003). Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. p.21. ISBN 9780761544234. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020 . Retrieved August 22, 2017.Gerri Sorrells". The Japan Times. November 2003. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021 . Retrieved May 1, 2021. Futter, Mike (June 2, 2014). "Mario Kart 8 Speeds To Over 1.2 Million Sales In Opening Weekend". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on June 4, 2014 . Retrieved June 2, 2014. In the early stages of Donkey Kong, the focus of the game was to escape a maze, while Mario did not have the ability to jump. However, Miyamoto soon introduced jumping capabilities for the player character, reasoning that "[i]f you had a barrel rolling towards you, what would you do?" [27] [28] Continuing to draw from 1930s media, King Kong served as an inspiration and Mario was set in New York City. [29] [30] Name Mario Is Missing!". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021 . Retrieved February 21, 2021.

Brian Ashcraft (August 23, 2008). "And Japan's Favorite Video Game Characters Are...?". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013 . Retrieved August 23, 2008. Schilling, Chris (September 3, 2015). "There's far more to Wario than being Mario's fatter arch nemesis". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020 . Retrieved March 29, 2021. Nintendo has explored a variety of sports games featuring Super Mario property, which include tennis, golf, baseball, soccer, kart racing, and other miscellaneous. Of which, the only four that were defined to be official series and are still currently running are Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and Mario Kart. The Mario Kart series is the most successful, selling over 150 million games in its entirety. [144] Mario has been the protagonist of various role-playing video games (RPGs), beginning with Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The developer of Super Mario RPG, Yoshio Hongo for Square, liked the character Mario and believed he would fit well in an RPG format. He discussed the idea with Miyamoto, and according to him the meeting went well. [139] The game was a critical and commercial success, and led to two other spinoff RPG series starring the character, Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. Of the two series, the Paper Mario is the only one still currently running with Paper Mario: The Origami King in 2020, as the company behind the Mario & Luigi series, AlphaDream, went bankrupt in 2019. [140]

Nintendo Ultra 64: The Launch of the Decade?". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (2): 107–8. November 1995. Shanfeld, Ethan (October 13, 2023). "Mario's New Voice Actor Announced by Nintendo After Charles Martinet's Departure". Variety . Retrieved October 13, 2023. Spencer, Spanner (December 30, 2014). "Platform Panic Review: Infinite Platforms, Infinite Pleasure". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016 . Retrieved July 4, 2016.

Over time, Mario's appearance has become more defined; blue eyes, white gloves, brown shoes, a red "M" in a white circle on the front of his hat and gold buttons on his overalls have been added. The colors of his shirt and overalls were also reversed from a blue shirt with red overalls to a red shirt with blue overalls. Miyamoto attributed this process to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology. [46] Voice acting Charles Martinet voiced Mario for over 30 years before shifting to a brand ambassador position. While it is implied by the title of the Mario Bros. series, in a 1989 interview his full name was stated not to be "Mario Mario". [37] The first notable use of "Mario Mario" was in the 1993 live-action film adaptation of the Super Mario series, and was further used in Prima's official video game strategy guides, in 2000 for Mario Party 2 [38] and in 2003 for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. [39] In 2012, after Mario voice actor Charles Martinet stated that the character's name was, in fact, "Mario Mario" at the San Diego Comic-Con, [40] Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said Mario had no last name, [41] with which Miyamoto agreed the month after. [42] Two months after Iwata's death in July 2015, Miyamoto changed his stance, asserting at the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival that Mario's full name was indeed "Mario Mario". [43] [44] Appearance and profession Mario, as depicted for the first time in promotional artwork for Donkey Kong Mario is portrayed by Bob Hoskins in the 1993 film loosely based on the Super Mario series, titled Super Mario Bros.. In the film, he is the cynical older brother who takes great pride in being a plumber and is a parental figure to Luigi, portrayed by John Leguizamo. At first he holds no belief in unusual things happening, but meeting Daisy and a trip to Dinohattan soon changes his mind. Hoskins was ultimately cast to play the character after other choices falling out such as Dustin Hoffman and Danny DeVito. [176] [177] [178] Hoskins had previously done multiple roles in children's films and kept suggesting changes to the script before he agreed to portray the character. [179] According to one of the films' directors, Annabel Jankel, Hoskins was mainly considered due to his physical appearances. [180] In subsequent interviews, Hoskins considered the role his worst choice in his acting career, admitted to constantly drinking before and during filming, and noted that he was injured and almost died multiple times during production. [181] [182] [183] Chris Pratt voices Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Navarro, Alex (February 9, 2007). "Super Mario World for Wii Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007 . Retrieved May 4, 2022. Kent, Steven (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. Roseville: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. Whitehead, Thomas (August 28, 2015). "Mario History: Mario Tennis – 2000". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019 . Retrieved March 25, 2021. Hirokazu Tanaka's Works" (in Japanese). Sporadic Vacuum. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011 . Retrieved November 21, 2011.

Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite out of all characters that he has created. [190] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave Mario their "Coolest Mascot" award for 1996, calling him "an age-old friend." [191] Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favorite hero, citing his defining characteristics as his mustache, red cap, plumbing prowess, and his mushrooms. [192] In a poll conducted in 2008 by Oricon, Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan. [193]

There have also been a variety of Super Mario games starring Mario that do not have standard typical 2D or 3D platforming. The Super Mario 3D series does have 3D gameplay, but the stages are linear and do not allow for open-world movement. The Super Mario Maker games are a series of game creation systems where the player can create their own 2D Super Mario levels and play ones created by others. Super Mario Run is a 2D platforming mobile game with other unnatural gameplay aspects.