Super Mario (franchise)

Mario or Super Mario is a long-running Nintendo video game series of platformer titles that has spanned more than twenty years over a variety of arcade, console, and handheld platforms in addition to personal and Macintosh computures. Though the series is technically a spin-off of the Donkey Kong series, Super Mario now stands independent of its parent series and is one of the most well-known franchises in the world. The series inspired any spin-offs, several of which developed into independent video game franchises such as the Yoshi, Wario Land, and Mario Kart series.

Donkey Kong

 * Year Released – 1981
 * System – Arcade Machine

In 1981, the Mario series had officially started with the release of Shigeru Miyamoto's creation – Donkey Kong. Originally released in the arcades, Donkey Kong became a very popular game amongst gamers, eventually spawning many remakes and ports. In 1981, Mario had yet to be called so – rather, he was called "Jumpman" during that brief era; it was only a few years later that Mario Segali would rename the aforementioned character to "Mario". Since then, the name has become very popular among the video game community; he is considered to be Nintendo's mascot. Since the release of Donkey Kong in 1981, Mario has appeared in over 200 games, and cameoed in several more.

Donkey Kong Jr.

 * Year Released – 1982
 * System – Arcade Machine

One year later, in 1982, Mario – still "Jumpman" at the time – appeared as the antagonist of the game Donkey Kong Jr.. The story revolved around Donkey Kong's son, Donkey Kong Jr., saving his father from being trapped in a cage by Mario. Donkey Kong Jr. had to climb across many vines, avoiding several Snapjaws along the way. Eventually, when Donkey Kong Jr. collected several keys, freeing his father from his cage and defeating Mario.

Mario Bros.

 * Year Released – 1983
 * System – Arcade Machine

One year later, in 1983, Mario got his own game – using his current name. In the game Mario Bros., Mario and his brother Luigi – who first debuted in this game – were traversing the creature-infested depths of the sewers. Mario and Luigi had to fight such creatures as Shellcreepers and Sidesteppers; but with the help of a POW Block, things could get easier.

Super Mario Bros.

 * Year Released – 1985
 * System – NES

In 1985, Mario starred in his very first game outside of the arcades. With the release of Super Mario Bros., the NES was an extreme success. Mario, and his brother Luigi, had to set out on a massive adventure across the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool and the Mushroom Retainers from the evil King Bowser Koopa. After traversing through eight massive worlds, filled with enemies, the brothers eventually reached Bowser's Castle, finally rescuing Princess Toadstool. Super Mario Bros. eventually became the best-selling video game for the NES in 1999.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

 * Year Released – 1986
 * System – Famicom

After the extreme success of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was released just one year later in Japan. The gameplay and story were almost identical to its predecessor, but it was not released in the United States due to its extreme difficulty. Some gameplay elements were changed slightly, such as Bloopers flying in midair, wind to help the player jump across abysses, and other minor changes.

Super Mario Bros. 2

 * Year Released – 1988
 * System – NES

Another two years later in 1988, Nintendo released yet another Mario game for the NES – Super Mario Bros. 2. Despite the fact that the game's title has "2" in it, it was not the direct sequel to Super Mario Bros. – Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was. In this game, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad had to save the dream world of Subcon from the diabolical Wart. After fighting their way through seven strange world, they eventually saved the world of Subcon.

Super Mario Bros. 3

 * Year Released – 1990
 * System – NES

Another two years had passed by the time the next mainstream Mario game had been released: Super Mario Bros. 3. This was by far, the most expansive Mario game on the NES, as it featured many levels, items, and enemies. Bowser and his seven Koopalings wreaked havoc across the Mushroom Kingdom after turning all of the Mushroom Kings into various animals. Mario and Luigi had to traverse through many worlds, castles, seas, forests, and deserts to fix the wrongs the Koopalings had caused. Eventually, the Bros. reached Bowser and defeated him, rescuing Princess Toadstool once again.

Super Mario Land

 * Year Released – 1989
 * System – Game Boy

Mario made his first appearance on Nintendo's first handheld system in 1989, with the release of Super Mario Land. Selling a total of 18.06 million copies, it became the bestselling video game not to be bundled with a system in history. In this game, Mario had to traverse across the four worlds of Sarasaland to save the fair Princess Daisy from Tatanga. With the help of new features such as the Superball, Marine Pop, and the Sky Pop, Mario was able to get to Tatanga quicker, before he caused more damage.

Super Mario Land 2

 * Year Released – 1992
 * System – Game Boy

Three years later, Mario reappeared on the Game Boy with the release of Super Mario Land 2. Super Mario Land 2 was more popular than its predecessor, Super Mario Land. This story picked up right where the last one left off. After rescuing Princess Daisy, Mario returned to his estate, only to find that it had been taken over by his old nemesis, Wario. Mario must collect six golden coins scattered across Mario Land in order to regain access to his estate and defeat Wario.

SNES Era
In 1991, Mario debuted on the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. This game introduced Mario's companion, Yoshi. It sold 20.60 million copies worldwide.

Mario returned to the Gameboy in 1992 with Super Mario Land 2, which introduced his rival, Wario. In the same year, Mario set the standard for cart racing games with Super Mario Kart. It at the time it was (and some say, still is) the best racing game available.

In 1994, Toad and Wario closed the NES with a bang with puzzle-game Wario's Woods. It is the only game to star Toad as the sole hero.

Mario's next Super Nintendo title was released in 1995, depicting the iconic plumber as a baby in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario World 2. Instead of controlling Mario, the player controlled Yoshi on a quest to rescue Baby Luigi from the Koopas, led by Baby Bowser and his caregiver Kamek, both of whom would become staple enemies in future Yoshi series titles.

Mario's last game on the Super Nintendo had him delve into the RPG genre. Super Mario RPG is fondly remembered by fans and is often listed as one of the top games for the Super Nintendo. Interestingly, this is the first game that let players play as Bowser.

Virtual Boy Era

 * Year Released: 1995
 * System: Virtual Boy

In 1995, the first installment to the Mario Tennis series was released &mdash; Mario's Tennis. It was fairly popular, as it allowed the creation of several more games in the series, (the next being ''Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64). The game had seven playable characters, all of which were featured in Super Mario Kart, with the exception of Bowser who did not appear in this game.

Nintendo 64 Era
Super Mario 64 was released in 1996, making it a landmark year for the Mario series. The game made the transition from 2D to 3D very well, and set an example for how 3D platformers should feel. The game sold 11.62 million worldwide, making it the bestselling game for the Nintendo 64.

In 1999, Mario was once again pushed in a new direction with Mario Party, which combinated board games and video games. It was an odd concept, but it was very well done and resulted in an excellent game to play with friends. Another new idea developed in 1999 was Mario and sports: that year, Mario Golf was released and well received. However, perhaps the strangest departure that year was a fighting game. While Super Smash Bros. isn't technically a Mario game, it's still noteworthy. The game featured characters from some of Nintendo's most popular franchises, and went on to become the fifth bestselling game for the Nintendo 64.

In the year 2000, Mario tried out another sport. Mario Tennis was as successful as Mario Golf was before it.

In the year 2001, Mario returned to the RPG genre, but with a new twist: Paper Mario featured the hero as a paper cut out.

Nintendo GameCube Era
The Game Boy Advanced was released in mid-2001. In its launch was Super Mario Advance, which was a remake of the American Super Mario Bros. 2, adding new graphics and a few new additions, such as a remake of Mario Bros. that could be played with 4 players. Later that year, the Nintendo GameCube was introduced to the gaming world, as was a game starring Luigi, Luigi's Mansion. The game strayed away from platforming and focused on the use of the Poltergust 3000 to solve puzzles and capture ghosts haunting the green-clad plumber's new abode. 2001 also saw the sequel to 1999's fighter Super Smash Bros. with Super Smash Bros. Melee, the best-selling game on the Gamecube.

Super Mario Advance 2 came out early in 2002. A remake of Super Mario World, it had new graphics, but unlike the original Advance, it had many new features as well. Mario's first big GameCube game was also released in 2002: Super Mario Sunshine. Like his brother, Mario was wielding a new device in his latest quest; in this case, it was F.L.U.D.D. Also in 2002 came Super Mario Advance 3, a port of Yoshi's Island.

In mid-2003, Mario Golf had a huge update on the GCN with Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. It did not have any of the humans from the original; instead, it added tons of new features to add to its wackiness, plus a new, easier mechanic for swings. Mario got his first RPG on a portable system in 2003. For the Game Boy Advance, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga featured both of the brothers fighting simultaneously.

2004's Super Mario Advance 4 was more or less a port of Super Mario All-Stars's remake of Super Mario Bros. 3, but it had a few tiny changes, such as yet another Mario Bros. remake addition. Also in 2004, Mario Golf: Advance Tour was released. It was a lot like the GBC version of Mario Golf, but now it has new characters, courses, and 3D graphics. There were RPG elements to the game, too, which meant one's character stats could be totally different from another's of the same character. It was possible to link to Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and transfer characters to it.

The year continued to be groudbreaking as Mario went back to his roots and went up against his old antagonist Donkey Kong for the first time in 10 years. Mario vs. Donkey Kong ' s gameplay was similar to Donkey Kong '94 ' s gameplay, but with entirely new levels. Mario Power Tennis, the sequel to 2000's Mario Tennis, was also released; it featured several new characters and modes, along with Power Shots. Finally, the sequel to Paper Mario came out in 2004: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door played similarly to its predecessor, but in a new setting with an unrelated story.

2005 stretched Mario's boundaries a bit further by adding rhythm games his resume. Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix featured remixed games as well as characters from the Mario series. Mario also tried a couple of new sports in 2005. Mario Superstar Baseball mixed the great American pastime with Mario; Super Mario Strikers, on the other hand, brought an exiting version of contact-soccer/football to the series. The GBA version of Mario Power Tennis came out in 2005, called Mario Tennis: Power Tour. It added RPG elements and Humans to a game that was otherwise similar to the GBC Mario Tennis. Unfortunately, the GCN version could not link up to the GBA game.

Late in that same year, two Nintendo DS titles came out featuring Mario. The first was Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the sequel to Superstar Saga that threw time travel and Baby Mario and Luigi into the RPG fray. Next came Mario Kart DS, which was the very first Nintendo online game. Along with 16 new courses, it included 16 old favorites (4 from each of the past Mario Karts).

Princess Peach got her own game in 2006. Super Princess Peach is an easier platformer than the previous Mario platformers, but it has its own unique characteristics. The next DS title continued the old Super Mario Bros. genre in a unique way with the New Super Mario Bros. With new abilities and graphics added to the old platforming action, the game is truly a worthy successor. Mario then tested his skills on the courts with Mario Hoops 3 on 3. Along with his usual friends, he also went up against some opponents from the RPG Series Final Fantasy. 2006 also saw a sequel for the SNES's Yoshi's Island: Yoshi's Island DS. This time, the game featured the younger versions of several favorite characters.

Wii Era
The technological advancements of the Wii resulted in a slew of innovative new ideas swelling the Mario series from 2007 onwards. The first glimpse of this was the dimension-flipping of Super Paper Mario, which set it apart from the previous Paper Mario titles and blurred the lines between 2D side-scrollers and 3D RPGs. After some Wii installments of staple Mario series, such as Mario Party 8 (Mario Party series) and Mario Strikers Charged (Mario Strikers series), the gravity-defying Super Mario Galaxy (sequel to Super Mario Sunshine) was released. Walking off platforms no-longer resulted in Game Overs as Mario traveled through space to rescue Peach, defeat Bowser, and change the face of gaming yet again.

Later in 2008, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Super Smash Bros. Series) and Mario Kart Wii (Mario Kart Series) and Mario Super Sluggers (Mario Baseball series) were released.