His creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, referenced global pop culture influences, envisioning a protagonist that could make recurring cameos across different games, rather like Alfred Hitchcock cropping up in the movies he directed. Prior to his 1981 debut in Donkey Kong, Mario had been called Ossan (Japanese for "middle-aged guy"), Mr Video and Jumpman in development he was eventually named after the landlord of Nintendo's US HQ. Mario's now massive "everyman" presence stems from low-key beginnings. More than any other video-gaming character, Mario has steadily powered up from an arcade sprite to a household name and pop culture icon. His adventures have inspired multi-generational merch (toys, trading cards, designer kimonos), spin-offs including new animated feature The Super Mario Bros Movie, and theme park attractions. Over the decades, Mario has appeared in more than 200 games, among them Nintendo's original Mario Bros (which marks its 40th anniversary in March 2023), alongside his sibling Luigi, and the Mario Kart series (1992 onwards). The music most embedded in our psyches?
Mario had three lives in this platform game, but an apparently infinite appeal beyond it. I played the game obsessively, captivated by its split screen liquid-crystal display, and the simple expressiveness of its hero character: a plucky monochrome figure called Mario, who would scale a construction site to rescue a captive princess.
Back in the mid-1980s, I was thrilled to unwrap a hi-tech gift for my ninth birthday: a handheld Game + Watch version of the arcade hit Donkey Kong.
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