Mario

Mario (Japanese: ???, Mario), also known as Super Mario and originally Jumpman (??????) in Japan, is a video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. He is one of Nintendo's best-known characters, and is considered by many to be the most well-known video game character in history, appearing in hundreds of games, many of them bestsellers. Mario first appeared in the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game, while Mario's brother Luigi first appeared in Mario Bros., the arcade game. The Mario franchise has, as of 11 August 2005, sold 180,000,000 games (making it by far the biggest selling franchise in the history of video games).

The Super Mario games

Mario's first appearance was not in a Super Mario game, but in 1981's Donkey Kong. The game was so successful that he was given a starring role in the first game for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies (pack-in copies included) and overall, Mario games have sold over 152 million copies worldwide, with Super Mario Bros. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, with over 17 million copies sold.

Related Topics:
1981 - Donkey Kong - Nintendo Entertainment System - Super Mario Bros. - Super Mario Bros. 3

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The Mario series has created or made popular many features seen in modern games, including multiple endings, minibosses, warp zones, etc. Many platformer games such as the Pac-Man World series also use the "jump on platforms and enemies" method for play created by Nintendo.

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Multiple endings - Minibosses - Warp zones - Pac-Man World

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Super Mario 64 was the one of the first games to feature an established 2D video game character in a 3D environment in 1996 (Mario's main rival, Sonic, had some cameos in Daytona USA and BUG! prior to Super Mario 64, but it would be a long time until his first truly-3D game). The premise was to collect the 120 Power Stars in 15 worlds to free Princess Peach from Bowser. Since then, all console-based Mario games have been in 3D.

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Super Mario 64 - 2D - 3D - 1996 - Daytona USA - BUG!

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In leaping from two to three dimensions, Super Mario 64 replaced the linear obstacle courses of traditional platform games with vast worlds set up with multiple and diverse missions, with an emphasis on exploration. While doing so, it managed nonetheless to preserve the feel of earlier Mario games, including many of their gameplay elements and characters. It is widely acclaimed by critics and players alike as one of the greatest games of all time.

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Platform game - Greatest games of all time

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Mario games have also been released in genres besides platform games. Mario starred in many educational games by Interplay in the mid-1990s, has appeared in RPGs (Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario), sports games (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Super Mario Strikers, Mario Superstar Baseball), racing games (Mario Kart), puzzle games (Dr. Mario), party games (Mario Party series), Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and over 100 other games.

Related Topics:
Educational game - Interplay - RPGs - Super Mario RPG - Paper Mario - Sports games - Mario Golf - Mario Tennis - Super Mario Strikers - Mario Superstar Baseball - Racing game - Mario Kart - Puzzle games - Dr. Mario - Party games - Mario Party series - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix

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