It’s been a long road for the portly plumber. More than 200 titles have featured the character, amassing more than 750 million sales worldwide. Two movies, multiple cartoon series, comicbook spin-offs and unimaginable amounts of merchandise. Mario is 40 years old today, and with that comes a whole new world of opportunity.
Mario is more than the most recognisable character in the videogame world. He’s arguably the reason the industry is the pop culture force it is today. When Super Mario Bros. debuted back in 1985, the industry was not doing well. Revenues were down nearly 97%; from $3.2 billion in 1983 to $100 million in 1985. Atari, which not long before had been the fastest growing company in US history at the time, had filed for bankruptcy. But it was largely thanks to Mario that the world gave videogames a second chance. Super Mario Bros. remains, 40 years later, one of the best selling games of all time.
Super Mario Bros. has sold more than 40 million units, according to Nintendo. Many other Super Mario titles have also sold in excess of 10 million units. The franchise is one of the best selling in videogame history, and Mario is one of the most popular videogame characters of all time.
However, as any gamer worth their salt will know, Super Mario Bros. wasn’t the first game to feature Mario. He technically was born in 1981 in the Donkey Kong arcade game. But at the time, he was only known as “Jump Man” – and his now iconic moves were rudimentary. It was Super Mario Bros. that gave him an identity and made him an icon. The classic tale of how Mario’s image formed – his colourisation and moustache in particular – is one of imagination triumphing over technical limitation.
Mario’s creator, the legendary videogame auteur, Shigeru Miyamoto, says the game was designed to encourage exploration. The original version offered no instructions or tutorial. Yet it’s a title most new players quickly understand, regardless of their history with videogames. And the more players explore, the more surprises they’ll find. Super Mario Bros., even by today’s standards, offers a wealth of secrets to uncover.
What’s especially impressive about Super Mario Bros., though, is how it has endured over the past 30 years. This is the game that set the tone for many future Mario titles. Even the likes of Super Mario Odyssey still continue many of the traditions established 40 years ago. And for that, our hero will continue to live on long after turning 40.
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