The History of Mario and Donkey Kong

Creation of Mario

• Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and first appeared in the 1981 arcade platformer, Donkey Kong.
• Miyamoto was hired as a graphic artist by Nintendo in 1977 and was tasked with designing a game after several of the company's early coin-ops failed.

Original Character

• Mario was originally known as Jumpman.
• He was later named Mario after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo's US office.

Mario's Professions

• Mario was originally a carpenter, not a plumber.
• He has also appeared as a doctor in the 1990 puzzle title Dr. Mario and its sequels.

Design of Mario

• Mario's design is a result of the graphical limitations of the hardware at the time.
• He has a hat because realistic hair was difficult to portray, a mustache to accentuate his nose, and dungarees to make his arm movements more noticeable.

Antagonist Role

• Mario officially starred as the antagonist in Donkey Kong Jr, the 1982 sequel to Donkey Kong.
• He trapped Donkey Kong in a cage, and the ape's son had to rescue him.

Bowser

• Bowser, the key antagonist of the Super Mario Bros series, has also appeared as a good guy.
• He helped Mario in the 1996 title Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

Super Mario Bros

• Super Mario Bros was preceded by the 1983 arcade platformer, Mario Bros.
• The game was designed by Miyamoto and Game Boy-creator Gunpei Yokoi and is set in the New York sewer system.

Wario

• Wario, the naughty version of Mario, first appeared as a nemesis in the Game Boy title, Super Mario Land 2.
• He was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake and his name blends Mario with the Japanese adjective 'warui' meaning evil.

Sales

• The first Super Mario Bros game has sold 40.24 million copies.
• It was until recently considered the best-selling game of all time.

Mushroom World

• Super Mario Bros was the first game to be set in Mushroom World, Miyamoto's long-running and ever-evolving fantasy kingdom.
• When Mario 'eats' a super mushroom, he grows in size and ability.

Other Appearances

• Mario made his first appearance in a sports sim in the 1984 Nintendo Entertainment System game, Golf.
• He appears on the cover in red and white striped overalls, with a blue starry shirt.

Music

• The iconic soundtrack to Super Mario Bros was provided by Nintendo composer Koji Kondo.
• The main theme, known as 'Ground Theme', is one of the most recognizable pieces of game music ever recorded.

Super Mario Bros 2

• The original Super Mario Bros 2 was designed as a tougher version of the first game and released to support the Famicom Disk System.
• The US and Europe got a tweaked version of the 1987 title Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic instead.

Recognition

• A Q Score survey in the early nineties revealed that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse.

Movie Appearances

• Footage from Super Mario Bros 3 appears in the climactic scene of the 1989 movie, The Wizard.
• The 1993 movie, Super Mario Bros, was Hollywood's first attempt to create a video game tie-in, starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper.

Enemy Inspirations

• The Chain Chomp enemies in Super Mario Bros 3 were inspired by an incident in Miyamoto's childhood when a neighbor's dog chased him.
• The Whomp characters from Super Mario 64 were inspired by a mythological being known as the nurikabe, a 'wall ghost' that misdirects or impedes travelers at night.
• The versions of the ghostly Boo enemies found in Super Mario 64 are based on the wife of the game's co-designer, Takashi Tezuka.

Game Development

• The Game Boy title Super Mario Land was the first major Mario game to be developed without Miyamoto.
• Producer Gunpei Yokoi didn't do too badly, however, as the game shifted over 18 million copies.