Super Mario (franchise)



The Mario franchise is a media franchise consisting of video games published and produced by the Japanese company Nintendo. The title character is a fictional Italian-American plumber who is portrayed as the hero of a realm called the Mushroom Kingdom. The franchise was created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and its first installment was the arcade game Donkey Kong, released on July 9, 1981. The games are primarily published and/or developed by Nintendo itself, with some games in the franchise being developed by other companies under Nintendo's supervision, such as Hudson Soft, Camelot Software Planning, Intelligent Systems, and AlphaDream. Most Mario games have been released for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onwards.

The main series in the franchise is the Super Mario series, consisting of platform games that typically involve Mario and his brother Luigi working to save the Mushroom Kingdom and its ruler, Princess Peach, from the villainous Bowser and his Koopa Troop. The two brothers use their trademark jumping ability to help them progress through levels, while also making use of power-ups of various kinds. Mario games of other genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, role-playing games such as the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, and several educational games. In total, over 170 video games are included in the franchise, which combined have sold over 262 million copies. The franchise has also been licensed into other media, such as television series, comics, children's books, and a critically lampooned feature film. Mario has gained massive critical acclaim and recognition throughout the world, and is the best-selling video game franchise of all time.

Critical reception
The Mario series is the largest video game franchise in existence, and has had a lifespan of over thirty years. It is often considered to be the greatest video game series of all time, receiving many high-scoring reviews on their various games. In the series, many games have been considered to be the best of their time by players. However, the series has been considered to have some games of lower quality. An example is the Mario Party sub-series; after the release of Mario Party 3, the series is considered to have lost its flair, as the games often contain the same mechanics. Super Mario Bros. was declared to be the greatest video game of all time twice: once by GamesRadar in 2000, and another time by IGN in 2003.

The Mario cartoons also were shown to have received favorable reviews. Though each of the series were short-lived, they were considered to be highly popular, attracting an audience of children to each episode.

Even with the success of the games and cartoons in the series, there was still a large production that attracted a lot of negative reviews. The Super Mario Bros. film is often considered to be a great failure. The film took over a $20 million gross loss in profits. Bob Hoskins, who played the role of Mario in the film, was recorded saying that the movie was a "nightmare". In the May 2006 issue of Nintendo Power, an interviewer from the magazine had said, "Yes, it happened. Let us speak no more of it." The video game Hotel Mario has often been cited as one of the worst games ever.

Cultural impact
The Mario series has been referenced many ways throughout the years. From animation to music, and from the internet to other video games, the Mario series has culturally impacted many people.

In animation, Mario characters and elements have appeared in such shows as The Simpsons, The Ren and Stimpy Show, The Fairly OddParents and Mad twice.

In films, the Mario series has been referenced in such titles as Billy Madison and Ghostbusters II.

Not many references have been made to the Mario series in music, but some songs have been dedicated to the popular series, such as the song "Birdo" as performed by Horse the Band.

The Mario series is highly popular on the internet. Many websites have dedicated themselves to the series in some way, while others poke fun at the series. On YouTube, there are thousands of videos poking fun at one of the greatest blunders of the Mario series, Hotel Mario. The popular website, Newgrounds, has many fan-made games and videos, like the popular Super Mario Bros. Z, Super Smash Bros. ST and The 1-up Pursuit, that are Mario-themed in some way.

Many comics and books have also referenced the Mario series, or are completely centered around them.

In television, the Mario series has been referenced in such shows as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and My Name is Earl.

The Mario series has been referenced more times in video games than in any other form of publication. Many games created by Nintendo, such as Animal Crossing make very notable references to the Mario series. Even games on non-Nintendo consoles, such as Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, have referenced the Mario series in some way.

The Mario series has also been referenced in commercials as well as other theatrical productions.