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The daring Italian plumber you all love and know has come a long way from his early days, and it now seems like he’s a permanent part ofNintendo’s lineup of games almost every year.Mariois a cultural icon and his past rarely ever gets discussed online, even though it’s rather interesting how he found his way into the limelight.
From the reasons behind why he got his name to the early hurdles his creator had to jump through to verify they got things just right, Mario’s journey is an inspiration, and he continues to remain as timeless as ever.
The Origins Of Super Mario
Mario wasn’t always the popular juggernaut he is today, especially when he was just a minor playable character in the 1981 hit Donkey Kong. SinceMiyamoto had trouble getting the rights for Popeyeto be the main hero, he decided to create his own average Joe for the game.
He was just a simple, bare-bones sprite. His only objective was to scale a construction site and avoid obstacles to save a prominent TV news reporter who was abducted by an angry ape namedDonkey Kong.
Although Mario wasn’t the main seller in ‘81,he still garnered enough attention from Miyamoto to wind up becoming the main character for his own series in ‘83 — Mario Bros. From jumping over barrels to Snow Bros-esque platforming. The game was pretty successful in the arcades but lacked the finesse the sequel had.
Although Donkey Kong was much more popular than the famed ex-carpenter you’re familiar with today, Nintendo decided to give this new series a shot, even though it took the project a couple of years to finally develop into a game.
The game featured an array of complex enemies to fend off and Mario’s looks were more fleshed out,hence he was made a plumberinstead who was tasked with exploring the sewers of New York.
Where Did ‘Super’ Come From?
The thing that made Mario ‘super’ wasthe mushroom power upthat’s been a mainstay in the series ever since the first console game. It was a revolutionary concept that actually popularized the use of power ups.
From traversing the land and defeating a countless number of ever-advancing Koopas,Mario had barely anything to rely on beyond the power upshe’d come across by chance during his journeys.
Now the stakes were higher, he had to save the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and face off against an enemy named King Bowser. Bowser is a dragon Koopa hybrid of sorts, with castles full of evil goons who were ready to do his bidding.
Those red mushrooms and how tough the game design was for casual video game players combined to create a balance that inevitably contributed to the global appeal of the game.
Where Did ‘Mario’ Come From?
Mario started off as a character with essentially no name.He was referred to as Jumpman by the executives at Nintendo, but that was still quite an unpopular placeholder for him. Even Miyamoto barely had anything interesting planned for the character beyond “Mr. Video.”
It wasn’t until a frustrated landlord,Mario Segale, made his way into the Nintendo of America building that the devs finally decided to name the character after him in order to curb his anger.
Instead of paying him off,they started calling Jumpman, “Mario.”The name eventually caught on and fit the character’s look and the themes of the game.
Do Mario And Luigi Have A Last Name?
For years, fans speculated on what Mario’s last name was. The previous voice actor, Chris Martinet, made a statement regarding the matter. According to him,Mario’s last name was also Mario.
Despite Nintendo releasing an official statement against it, the CEO at the time, Satoru Iwata, went so far as to sayMario had no last name. Miyamoto decided to let the world know that Chris was onto something.
Despite how funny that sounds, the character did share the same first and last name. Hence,Luigi’s last name is Mario as well, since they’re both brothers.
