Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, the Mario Brothers are two of the most influential videogame characters of all time. They have appeared in numerous games and are well known around the world. According to Miyamoto, Mario's name is in homage to the landlord of Nintendo of America's (NoA) office in New York, who was Mario Segali, an Italian with a thick moustache. Luigi's name, however, was given simply because it was the most Italian name Miyamoto and his fellow designers could think of. The appearance of Mario and Luigi was due to limitations of videogame hardware at the time. Hair was difficult to create, so they were each given caps. Overalls were easier to create then a real outfit, and a moustache meant that they could avoid creating a full face for Mario, which would have been too complicated to draw. Therefore the Mario Brothers trademark looks were developed out of a need for simplicity.

Jumpman To The Rescue

The Super Mario Brothers are two Italian plumbers born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Mario began his career with Donkey Kong, released in 1981. With the nickname of Jumpman and a job as a carpenter, Mario risked his life to save Pauline, the damsel in distress.

The game was a huge success in Japan, and turned over a very significant profit in the United States. Considering the arcade industry's impending crash in the US, the results were very surprising to Nintendo. Demand was so high, in fact, that very large amounts of arcade cabinets that were to go to Nintendo's other games were converted to Donkey Kong machines to satisfy demand. A legend was born...

A GameBoy version of the game was released in 1994 which featured an enormous number of levels and very complex puzzles. It is, without a doubt, the best version of Donkey Kong ever created.

Brotherhood

After Mario abandoned his nickname and had a few more adventures with Donkey Kong, his brother decided to enter the scene. Mario and his brother, Luigi Mario, became plumbers in Mario Bros. Their mission was to defeat the crabs, turtles, bees, and freezies that emerged out of the pipes at the top of the stage. The game was a moderate success¹.

It's-a me!

Their true break into superstardom was in 1985, when Super Mario Bros was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). One day the pipes in Mario Bros were transported to a new world², the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon hearing of the cruel King Bowser Koopa of the Koopa Kingdom and his kidnapping of the fair Princess Peach Toadstool, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, the brothers set out to defeat Bowser and free the princess. This would soon become a common theme for the brothers.

Super Mario Bros almost didn't make it to the US. Nintendo was very wary of the US market after witnessing the videogame crash in 1983³ and did not want to commit fully to producing games for the US market. As a test, they decided to debut the system in New York close to Christmas. The launch was a huge success and caused a system shortage for months. To get a better foothold in the US, Nintendo teamed with Worlds Of Wonder⁴, and the rest is history.

About the Brothers

It's possible to distinguish between the Mario Brothers in several ways. Mario is shorter than Luigi, and Luigi can jump and remain in the air longer than Mario. However, Mario is known more for his bravery, while Luigi seems to be afraid of ghosts. Mario favours red, and Luigi favours green. In sports, both are all-around average athletes and are usually capable of the same abilities. Mario's love interest is Princess Toadstool, and Luigi's is Princess Daisy from Sarassaland, a world explored and saved in Super Mario Land, for GameBoy. Their favourite food is, of course, Italian, they love their Mama's spaghetti⁵. Of course, they must have paid close attention to Mama's cooking techniques, as they have cooked up a storm in Game and Watch and Mario Party games. Mario and Luigi's best friends in the Mushroom Kingdom are Toad, the Royal Mushroom Retainer and Princess Toadstool's right-hand Toad, and Yoshi, a dinosaur who often aides the brothers in whatever quest by catching enemies with his tongue and pulling them into his mouth, making a meal of them.

Mario and Luigi's clothes were a little different when it all began. Mario had red overalls and a blue shirt, while Luigi debuted in white overalls with a dark green shirt. Why their looks changed is unknown, but their new looks stuck. However, many pieces of Mario merchandise still feature the plumber in his original outfit.

A Break In The Continuity

A problem that persists when discussing the brothers is that of their age. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it is stated that the Mario Brothers were actually twins born in the Mushroom World - yet every other game, cartoon and even their film has ignored these notions. As it messes up the continuity, the idea of the Mario Brothers being twins is often thrown out of the window. However, theories still abound - for example, Luigi wasn't delivered at the same time as Mario, Luigi wasn't considered born and didn't age. But this is most likely nonsense. Just remember that Mario is the older brother, Luigi is a few years younger, and disregard Yoshi's Island.

Rogues' Gallery

King Bowser Koopa is their true enemy, but there are more. Donkey Kong was Mario's first enemy. Wario Wario and Waluigi Wario are Mario and Luigi's doppelgangers, and are in many ways the opposite of the plumbers. Wart, a figment of a dream Mario had, was the villain in Super Mario Bros 2 (which featured Toad and Princess Toadstool as playable characters), and in Luigi's Mansion, King Boo was the one who kidnapped Mario and created the mansion with the sole purpose of destroying the brothers. The evil witch Cackletta, who has stolen Princess Toadstool's voice, has just recently joined the ranks of villains in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga for GameBoy Advance, released on 18 November, 2003 in the US.

The Games

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

In the brothers' second adventure, things were a little different. While on a picnic, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad came across a doorway to an alternate dimension. Their jumps were useless on enemies, and they had to resort to picking vegetables and hurling them at their enemies. Bowser wasn't the enemy this time, though. King Wart from the land of Sub-Con was their adversary, and it was him and his legions of Shy Guys⁶, Ninji's, and Pirhana Plants that prevented the heroes from making their way back home. Mushrooms weren't needed for health points in this land. Rather, a health gauge was used for the characters. By the end of their adventure, it was revealed that the whole thing was Mario's dream! The game ended when he awakens.

This game was very different from the first, and for good reason. The game was originally titled Doki Doki Panic and featured three guys in turbans and a princess. The fact is, it isn't a true Mario game at all. The real Super Mario Bros 2 was made in Japan, and had more or less similar graphics. However, it was deemed too difficult for American gamers and the Super Mario Bros 2 we know was made. The original Super Mario Bros 2 was released for the US under the name Luigi's Lost Levels and was featured in Super Mario All Stars for the Super Nintendo and Super Mario Bros DX for GameBoy Colour.

Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)

In the third adventure, the Kings of the Mushroom World had been transformed into different creatures, and (even worse) the Princess had been kidnapped! Bowser and his kids, the Koopalings, took to the sky in their warships, and it was up to Mario and Luigi to return the kings to their original state and rescue the Princess.

Super Mario Bros 3 introduces an amazingly large amount of power-ups into the Mario world. When a brother stumbles across a leaf, he transforms into a raccoon and, if running, is capable of flying great distances⁷. Other key power-ups are the frog suit, which gave the brothers an advantage underwater (and nowhere else) and quite possibly one of the most bizarre power-ups ever, Kurribo's Shoe. That's right, you were able to hop into a giant shoe and mercilessly stomp on enemies. Still, there was nothing quite like the Warp Whistle; the fabled power-up that would send you to certain points in the game.

Super Mario Bros 3 still holds the record for best-selling game of all time that was not packaged with a console.

Super Mario Land (GameBoy)

Mario, for reasons never adequately explained, finds himself in Sarassaland, which is ruled by Princess Daisy. One day an alien named Tatanga invades the kingdom and kidnaps the princess. With the entire kingdom filled with Tatanga's henchmen, Mario must journey through the strange land by land, by sea, or by air, to save the princess. Why? Because that's just the way Mario is.

Just why the heck did all this happen? A reason that has been given is because Shigeru Miyamoto wasn't involved with this game. Why there are no other Mario characters besides Mario himself is mysterious, but still... it wasn't a great game, and for some weird reason, Nintendo made a comic book based on Super Mario Land instead of the 'Mario' series (most likely as a way to pitch the GameBoy, which had just been released).

Super Mario Land 2: Legend of The Six Golden Coins

As thanks for saving Princess Daisy, Mario receives his own castle. All is peachy until someone seizes the castle and throws Mario out. Now the giant 'M' in front of Mario's castle is upside-down and there's some weird fat bloke in yellow and purple, laughing like a maniac. With no princess to save, Mario only has one goal - revenge!

This was the first appearance of Wario Wario, Mario's doppelganger. His origins are unknown, but it's been said that Wario and Mario were childhood friends, and now Wario is insanely jealous of Mario's fame and popularity. Whether the clothes are a deranged attempt at imitation or not is unknown, but since Super Mario Land 2, Wario has become more of a rival then a villain. In fact, Wario replaced Mario in the Super Mario Land series in...

Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (GameBoy)

Wario is a more then a little angry after losing to Mario in Super Mario Land 2, but his attitude changes when he sees a local paper. In the report it states that the giant golden statue of Princess Toadstool has been stolen, and that the person who retrieves it will be rewarded with immense wealth. With greed in his soul, Wario gets to work on tracking down the statue, and finally narrows it down to one place: Kitchen Island. When he arrives, he finds that pirates are swarming the island and they too are after something. And so, Wario heads out on his first adventure to find the statue and get filthy, stinking rich!

This was Wario's first solo game, and it introduced the idea of hats as power-ups, which would be used in a later Mario game.

Super Mario World (SNES)

Hailed as one of the best videogames ever, Super Mario World debuted alongside (and with) Nintendo's next system, the Super Nintendo (SNES). Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool have decided to visit Dinosaur Land for another picnic. But upon arriving, Bowser, in a sheer act of pure evil, kidnaps the princess! Upon setting out to rescue the fair princess, the brothers stumble across an egg. Before their very eyes, the egg hatches, and a green dinosaur-like creature pops out! He introduces himself as Yoshi and tells the brothers that the Koopa Kids have captured his friends (who are all, by a freak coincidence, named Yoshi). And so, with a new friend, the Mario Brothers journey through Dinosaur Land to find Princess Toadstool and to thoroughly beat the tar out of Bowser.

In a departure from Super Mario Bros 3, all power-ups that were introduced were completely left out of Super Mario World, and one new one made its debut: the cape. When wearing the cape, Mario became Super Mario and was able to spin jump and fly (when running). But in a sense, Yoshi was a power-up as well. When you had the right colour Yoshi, you were able to do things such as spit fire, pound the ground, or even fly.

It should also be noted that Yoshi is friends with the Mario Brothers, not their pet. For some reason, some people believe that he belongs to the Brothers, but this is incorrect. Yoshi has also starred in a few other games, but none of them really add more to the general plot or are really that great, with the exception of Yoshi's Cookie for Game Boy⁸.

Super Mario Kart (SNES, N64, GameBoy Advance, GameCube)

Sports and Mario have been a couple of odd characters in Nintendo's library of sports games. Mario was the referee in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!, as well as in Tennis. He was the main character in Golf, and other various sports games. In Super Mario Kart, Mario features alongside Luigi, their friends, and two enemies.

Simply put, the game revolutionised the racing genre. While nothing extremely innovative was introduced, the sheer simplicity of the controls, small nuances, and frantic action made the game easy for gamers to pick up, and a true challenge to master. Also, the games graphics were (for that time) nothing short of stunning in their beauty. The tracks were inspired from previous Mario games and the weapons were picked right from the '?' blocks in an assortment of games. Only one weapon was brand-new: the lightning bolt which was capable of temporarily shrinking everyone to half their size, giving the user an incredible advantage in taking the lead.

The game has three sequels: Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!

Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

In his first RPG, Mario begins his quest by doing what he's done at the end of his other adventures: going to Bowser's castle to rescue Princess Toadstool. After a battle on chandeliers, Mario is victorious and defeats Bowser. But the adventure is far from over, as a massive explosion sends the Mario Brothers, the Koopa King, and Her Royal Highness flying. When Mario makes his way back to the castle, he is startled to find a giant sword stuck through the castle. Mario now has to figure out who this new enemy is and find the Princess. But he needs help, and finds it in the unlikeliest place - Bowser himself!

This game marked the (until recently) last time Nintendo and Final Fantasy creator Squaresoft collaborated on a game together. It featured brand new characters and items, along with the usual cast and power-ups. Unfortunately, this also marked the first time that Luigi was officially evicted from a Mario game. Being the first Mario role playing game⁹, it is no surprise to hear that it had the most advanced story of all compared to the series before it, and its popularity spawned a sequel for the Nintendo 64 and GameBoy Advance.

Super Mario 64 (N64)

Dear Mario,
Please come to the castle. I have baked a delicious cake for you.
Sincerely,
Princess Toadstool
(Peach)

With that letter¹⁰ we heard Princess Peach Toadstool's voice for the first time. But it also began Mario's next adventure, as he quickly arrived at the royal castle for some baked goodness. Upon his arrival, he noticed that the castle was far too quiet. As he stepped into the castle, Mario heard a warning to leave immediately and loud laughter. That laugh could only mean one thing: Bowser had returned. But where were all the people? More importantly, where was the Princess? A toad, cowering by the front door, tells Mario that Bowser has stolen the 120 power stars that reside in the castle and has kidnapped the Princess. The stars are now hidden within the castle paintings, and Mario must enter them to find the stars, make his way to the top of the castle, beat Bowser, and rescue the princess.

Super Mario 64 is a landmark in videogame history. Not only is it the first 3D Mario game, but it is also the first true 3D game. Almost all the classic Mario enemies return for Super Mario 64, as well as a few new ones. But not a single power-up from the old games (except the one-up mushroom) makes an appearance. Rather, three caps (one for flying, one to pass through walls, and one to transform into living metal) were the only power-ups in the entire game. Of course, this was the first time Mario, Princess Toadstool, or Bowser ever spoke in a game, and it was also where we finally learn Princess Toadstool's first name: Peach. Sadly, Luigi did not appear in any way, shape, or form in the entire game.

Mario Party 1-5 (N64, GameCube)

To be honest, these games serve no purpose in the continuity of the series, and have been hailed as the absolute worst Mario games ever. The premise is simple: For some reason, various Mario characters have to determine who the superstar is among them. To settle this, they take part in a life-sized board game in an attempt to gain coins and stars. To add flavour and depth, mini-games are used, where the players must team up, gang up on one member, or have a four-way free for all to earn more coins. That's pretty much it. Let's move on...

Paper Mario (N64)

Bowser has won? Wha..? At the beginning of the game, we see that Bowser has found a way to make himself invincible by stealing the Star Rod, a device used by the seven Star Spirits to grant wishes to good people. With this immense power, he storms the princess's castle, which just so happens to be the location for a lovely banquet Princess Toadstool is hosting. The Mario Brothers are featured guests at this party, and as Mario finally makes his way through the castle to find her Royal Highness, the ground begins to shake. Mario looks out the window to see that the entire castle has been lifted from the ground! Mario turns to see that Bowser has entered the castle and has taken Princess Toadstool prisoner. Mario makes a valiant effort to defeat Bowser, but Mario is horribly outmatched. After having a nice introduction to the floor, Bowser hoists Mario into the air and tosses him out of the window, sending him hurtling towards the ground. By sheer luck, Mario lands safely in Goomba Village, inhabited by a family of friendly Goombas and a Toad. Mario then begins his quest to find out how Bowser became so powerful, what the object in Bowser's hand was, and why no one's wishes are being granted anymore.

Paper Mario featured many new things that it is difficult to list them all here. To summarise we learn the following :

• Not all Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Bob-ombs, Boos, or Cheep-Cheeps are evil.
• The Mushroom Kingdom is very, very, very big.
• The Mario Brothers have a house that's split in two to reflect both their styles.
• Luigi¹¹ has not appeared in the recent Mario games because Mario felt that Luigi wasn't ready to be a hero.
• The mushroom people do in fact have names besides 'Toad' (meaning that 'Toad' is an actual character, unlike the legion of Yoshis), and there are female mushroom people.

Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)

Luigi has won a raffle, and the prize is a really big mansion! Funny, he doesn't remember entering a contest, but oh well. He calls up Mario and tells his brother to meet up with him at the address. After getting lost in a very dark and spooky part of the woods, Luigi finally makes it to the address he was given. It looks a bit freaky, but he cautiously enters. He searches around, calling his brother's name, but no reply is heard. Suddenly, in front of his very eyes, a ghost appears! Luigi screams with fright and cowers in a corner of a room. But as he shuts his eyes tightly, he hears...a vacuum cleaner? He looks and sees an elderly man fighting off the ghost and trying to suck it into a device he's wearing on his back. After scaring the ghost away, Luigi and the old man flee to his shack. Upon arriving, the old man introduces himself as Professor Elvin Gadd, a research scientist of the paranormal. He tells Luigi that his brother did indeed enter the mansion, but after hearing some loud noises and a struggle, he heard and saw nothing of Luigi's brother. Finally, he reveals to Luigi that the mansion had materialised out of thin air only a few days ago! Professor Gadd gives Luigi a mission: to enter the mansion and capture the ghosts that have escaped from his paintings. More importantly, Luigi must prove himself as a Mario Brother and save his brother from these mysterious ghosts. Professor Gadd arms Luigi with the vacuum-like Poltergust 3000, a device not only used to suck up the ghosts and keep them contained, but to also suck in and fire three of the elements: water, fire, and ice. Luigi is terrified of what he may be in store for him. He's not used to the lifestyle of a hero anymore, and he's always been deathly afraid of ghosts. But, for the love for his brother, he gathers up the courage to step inside and save Mario. Now, the other Mario Brother has a chance to shine.

True Mario enthusiasts can tell you that this is not the first game to have Luigi rescue Mario. There's another game for the SNES titled Mario is Missing! which featured Luigi travelling through time, trying to thwart the Koopalings' attempts to steal world landmarks by collecting clues, ultimately leading to a confrontation with Bowser in Antarctica. Pity them. It, along with Mario's Time Machine was an attempt at edutainment via Nintendo characters, and both games bombed. In fact, these games were so bad that this Researcher considers them the worst Mario games of all time, and places the Mario Party series at a not-too-close third.

However, this game is nothing like Mario is Missing!. At the time of its release, it was easily one of the most beautiful games available, and it was remarkable how all inanimate objects reacted to movements by Luigi or the ghosts and Boos. With the exception of the three elements, no new power-ups were introduced, but the poison mushroom was brought back to hinder Luigi if he was unfortunate enough to touch it. The game made many references to the previous games, and despite the fact that it was far too short, it was a very successful launch title.

The Super Smash Bros. Series (N64, GameCube)

At the beginning of Nintendo 64's years of decline, Hal Labs (infamous for their Kirby games) worked with Nintendo to create a first-party fighting game featuring Nintendo's characters. The result: Super Smash Bros, a game where Nintendo characters (as toys in a child's room) face off in an up to four-player slugfest. The goal wasn't to kill the character, but to send him falling (or flying) off the arena.

The original fighters consisted of :

• the Mario Brothers
• Yoshi
• Donkey Kong
• Pikachu and Jigglypuff (Poke'mon)
• Ness (Earthbound)
• Capt. Falcon (F-Zero)
• Fox McCloud (Star Fox)
• Link (The Legend of Zelda series)
• Samus (Metroid)

The sequel, Super Smash Bros Melee, featured the original characters, as well as:

• Princess Toadstool
• Bowser
• Dr Mario, Falco Lombardi (Star Fox)
• Princess Zelda
• Sheik (Zelda's alter-ego in Ocarina of Time)
• Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time¹²)
• Young Link (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)
• Pichu and Igglybuff (Pokemon Gold and Silver)
• Mewtwo (Poke'mon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow)
• Marth and Roy (Fire Emblem)
• the Ice Climbers (an obscure NES game aptly titled 'Ice Climbers')
• Mr Game and Watch, the main character in the dozens of 'Game and Watch' LCD games that Nintendo originally produced in the early 80s.

The games were a huge success, and for good reason. Weapons and power-ups from dozens of old games were brought back for this game, the arenas, levels, and music had the feel of being taken straight out from their respective games, and the fighting engine Hal Labs created was marvellous. Of course, the story was pure nonsense¹³ but the game was so good in so many other ways that the plot was accepted and is usually ignored.

Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube)

Let’s face it, after saving the princess so many times and, worse, being kidnapped by Boos, Mario totally deserved a vacation. So Mario, Princess Toadstool, Toadsworth (Princess Toadstool's Royal Advisor and Chief Diplomat), and an entourage of Mushroom People, decide to fly to Isle Delfino, a sunny and beautiful island known for its breath-taking scenery and friendly people. However, as the Royal Plane lands at the airport, Mario and company see that the entire runway is covered in a paint-like substance. The natives of the island rush to Mario and arrest him, accusing him of vandalising and polluting the island! They hold a hearing and Mario is found guilty! The judge sentences him to clean the entire island. Neither he nor any of his party are allowed to leave the island until the job is done. But Mario is not alone. Mario comes across FLUDD (Flash Liquidiser Ultra Dousing Device), the latest invention from Gadd Labs that can shoot jets of water. With FLUDD, Mario can now clean the island much quicker, but who really created the huge mess? Mario must now clear his name and clean the island!

Like Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine isn't a true Mario game. Rather, both games are like side stories that are used to create more depth in the series. The game itself, while by no means as long as Super Mario 64, was much longer than Luigi's Mansion. The graphics were fairly equal to Luigi's Mansion, but the gameplay was significantly different. While Luigi was unable to run due to fear, Mario was able to run, jump, and perform his usual stunts.

The only power-ups in the game, aside from the one-up mushrooms, were the three nozzles for FLUDD. One would make Mario hover, another would make him run or swim very fast, and the third would launch him straight into the air. The items to collect this time were not stars, but Shine Sprites. Shine Sprites are the objects that make the island so sunny and bright. The pollution from the mysterious vandal has caused these Shine Sprites to vanish, and Mario must find them to restore the sun's effects on Isle Delfino¹⁴.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (GameBoy Advance)

After having their own adventures, the brothers thought that maybe things would calm down. However, they were hopelessly wrong. While Mario is taking a shower, Toad runs in and tells the brothers that something terrible has happened. The diplomat from Beanbean Kingdom has stolen Princess Toadstool's voice and has replaced it with explosives! Mario and Luigi journey to Princess Toadstool's castle and witness firsthand that the Princess does indeed have rather explosive language. Shortly after the brothers arrive, so does Bowser, who plans on kidnapping Her Royal Highness. But when he sees what's happened to her, he realises that there's no way he can kidnap her in her current condition. So Bowser does something very difficult: he asks the Mario Brother for help. The three set out on one of Bowser's ships, but it's attacked and sent crashing down just over the border of Beanbean Kingdom. The brothers fall together, but Bowser is sent way off into the distance. Now, the brothers must team up in a whole new place to save their princess...and maybe Bowser too.

In this doozy of a game, the Mario Brothers are finally together again. They rely on each other throughout the entire game, and their brotherly love is quite obvious. When one brother is down, the other will leap to his aid and defend him. In one situation where Luigi must save Mario, he rises to the occasion (eventually) and rescues his brother. The humour is very high, and the recurring joke that no one can remember Luigi's name is great. Most of the enemies and characters are brand new (such as Prince Peasley and Queen Bean), and some of the weapons and power-ups are taken from the previous Mario RPGs.

Mario vs Donkey Kong (GameBoy Advance)

Donkey Kong has turned into a villain again! After seeing a commercial for the brand-new Mini Mario toys, Donkey Kong rushes to the store to find that they're sold out. Furious that he can't have any, Donkey Kong raids The Mario Toy Co and steals every last Mini Mario! As he exits, Mario enters the scene, and chases after Donkey Kong to save the toys. Maybe now, after decades of animosity, these two can settle their rivalry once and for all.

Mario vs Donkey Kong introduces a few new twists into the old Donkey Kong formula, in that there are two sub-stages in each stage and six stages and a boss battle in each level. Added onto this is the Mini Mario stage in each level, where Mario has to guide all the rescued toys into a toybox for safety. For every Mini Mario saved, Mario gains one more health point is his fight against Donkey Kong in the boss battle.

Remember the hat, parasol, and purse thingies in the original? They're gone and are replaced with three presents. Collect them all and you go to a bonus stage where you can earn extra lives.

Most of the old villains from Donkey Kong are back, except for the weird-looking-Yoshi-like-things, which are replaced by Shy Guys. Of course, the hammer is back to wreak some plumber justice.

What's Next?

Mario Brothers' games to look forward to include :

• Paper Mario 2 for the Game Cube
• The New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS
• Super Mario 64x4 for the Nintendo DS
• Mario Pinball for the Nintendo DS
• A new Super Smash Bros title for the Nintendo DS
• The ever-mysterious Mario 128/100 Marios for an unknown system

Bigger Than Mickey

The brothers are two of the most popular characters ever. Three cartoon shows were developed based on the games, as well as comic books, children's books, edutainment software (such as Mario Teaches Typing), toys, clothes, floor mats, bumper stickers, car dice, air fresheners, bobbleheads, pencil toppers, CD soundtracks, posters, hats, arm bands, and even a feature film. Super Mario Bros is largely considered to be the game that saved video games, after sales from the NES resurrected the American video game industry, which crashed in 1983 with the collapse of Atari¹⁵. In fact, at one point in the 1980s, Mario and Luigi were recognised more than Mickey Mouse by children.

The Super Mario Bros. are very popular. But after all they've done for their own world and our real one, it's most likely deserved. And with the amazing designers behind the series, it looks like the brothers will be heroes for a long, long time. And we'll be there to enjoy it.

It's-a me, Mario!
I'm-a Luigi, number one!

---

¹ Around the release of Mario Bros, Donkey Kong was ported to Mattel's Intelevision console, as well as Coleco's Colecovision. It would be Mario's only game for a non-Nintendo console.
² Some say another dimension, and either one works.
³ Nintendo was not affected, as they had stayed out of the US market, with the exception of a few arcade games including Mario Bros and Donkey Kong, as well as the ports of Donkey Kong. The damage was far from severe.
⁴ Also known as FAO Schwartz.
⁵ And if anyone reading this has a sense of humour, go ahead and assume her name is Mia.
⁶ No one knows how or why, but Shy Guys soon became enemies in the other Mario games, despite the fact that they only existed in Mario's dream.
⁷ This is also known as the Tanooki suit and is also able to transform into a statue in stealth missions. Don't ask, just accept it and move on.
⁸ A personal favourite of this Researcher.
⁹ While other SNES games may have dropped in price, SMRPG still remains fairly expensive (Not to mention very rare). Also, because no PAL version of the game was ever produced, the game was never released in Britain. Sorry guys, you really missed out on that one.
¹⁰ Or something like it.
¹¹ If you take a look at Luigi's diary, you'll see a rather interesting entry which foreshadows events to come...
¹² Ganondorf was only seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. In every other Zelda game, he was Ganon, the huge beast-like monster he transformed into at the end of Ocarina of Time. Wind Waker is not referred to here because that game was released after Super Smash Bros Melee.
¹³ Defeat the evil hand that made you live? Wha?
¹⁴ Super Mario Sunshine marks the debut of a brand new character, but this Researcher will not reveal who it is as you'll have to find it out yourself.
¹⁵ Super Mario Bros was by far their best seller and its fame generated a fortune for Nintendo.