Mario is Still a Legendary Icon After Being Around for 20 Plus Years

It has been over 20 years with Mario games created and is recognized as one of the top icons in the video game world. Almost everyone who has ever played a video game in his or her life would know who Mario is exactly. In just about every game but one, he is the hero on a mission that involves defeating Bowser saving Princess Peach Toadstool. He has been on every Nintendo console made to date and currently in development with a new adventure game for the Nintendo Wii. In between adventures but mostly involved with other aspects, there were games that were sports and a popular Mario Party series that came about. Also there is an All Star game with Mario as one of the main characters in the Super Smash Bros. series.

In the beginning, there was Donkey Kong. It was originally made for the Atari 2600 and it involved what would become Mario and of course the woman there is Pauline. It was like you were supposed to free her from Donkey Kong's clutches. After completing the game, you have to start all over on a more difficulty level. It does not have an official ending, just keep playing and see how high of a score you can receive. The sequel was called Donkey Kong Jr. or in some respects Donkey Kong 2. This time however, Mario was the villain and you played as Donkey Kong Junior. There were 4 levels in the game and after the final stage it starts over. These games were also remade with different graphics with the NES and also had a combo game called Donkey Kong Classics exclusively for the NES. Mario was just getting started and also had a game called Mario Bros., which introduced Luigi into the mix. It was more or less an arcade game that had no ending.

Here would be Mario's 1^st major adventure called Super Mario Bros. This game however would have a plot involving the Mushroom Kingdom. Both Mario and Luigi have to save the Princess but the evil Bowser. Sometimes called King Koopa but in the games called simply Bowser. There were 8 Worlds and could be completed really fast warping from World 1 to 4 and from 4 to 8. To clarify which levels exactly, that would be 1-2 to 4-1 and 4-2 to 8-1. That is the fastest route to get it done and could complete the game in under an hour. After completing the game, it could be done again but you can select you want to go to but there are no goombas, only buzzy beetles. If completing that, the game is over. The next one would be Mario 2, which was vastly different from the 1^st Mario game. The original sequel was Japan only until the SNES made Super Mario Bros. All Stars. This one could have 4 characters selected for each level. You could play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool. It did start to distinguish in some perspectives on Mario and Luigi giving them their own identity. The boss in Mario 2 was none other than Wart, an entirely different character and vastly different from Bowser. This basically was more or less a dream due to the ending of the game. The final one for the NES one that was an Adventure game was Mario 3, which basically added some new characters Koopa Kids into the mix. The plot was the same as the 1^st one but had 7 Koopa Kids and extra power ups. Instead of just a fire flower, there was a Racoon Suit, Tanooka Suit, Sledgehammer Suit, and of course a Frog Suit. There were 3 Whistles in the game and could be found in secret areas. If those could be found, they could be used to warp to World 9, a World Selection screen that allows you to pick the world you want to be on. If you are in World 1 still, you would have to choose between the 1^st 4 Worlds. Worlds 2 to 7 if I remember correctly can warp you to 5-7 and if you had 2 whistles you could warp to World 8 regardless.

Mario has had Game Boy adventures with the 1^st Super Mario Land games but has villains in it than Bowser. In the 1^st one, Tatanga is the final boss and in the 2^nd one would introduce yet another character who branched off into his own series Wario. He was the evil counterpart to Mario though he had gained a following and is regarded as an anti-hero. Other adventure games would follow like Super Mario World, which introduced Yoshi, a green dinosaur that could eat just about anything and can get you out of danger. There was a sequel but mainly had Yoshi as the main character with Baby Mario. It involved saving his twin brother, Baby Luigi from the clutches of Baby Bowser and the Koopa Wizard.

It should be noted however going back above, that there were some Super Mario Bros. games remade. The 1^st one was remade along with the Lost Levels in the game Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. The Super Mario Advance series remade the following games: Super Mario 2 (American Version), Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and Super Mario Bros. 3. Those games were basically remakes of the successful games more or less. It was for the Game Boy Advance, another one of Nintendo's great systems. For the DS, they remade the Super Mario Bros. game with some modifications and called it New Super Mario Bros. but that's the only one. There is also out for the DS Yoshi's Island DS, an enhanced remake of Yoshi's Island and also Super Mario 64 DS, an enhanced remake of the classic Super Mario 64.

The adventure series evolved into the 3D World with Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and soon to be released Super Mario Galaxy. These ones add on to the 2D mix that Mario was used to prior to the big jump, no pun intended. Each had an adventure and a plot to follow. Super Mario Galaxy is not yet out for the Wii but it will be soon. Super Mario 64 involved getting the stars and freeing the palace from Bowser's control. The Paper Mario series is currently running with the latest being Super Paper Mario for the Wii that has a different innovation. With that game, in some parts, it would have to be played in 3D making Mario go vertical and some of the parts have him going horizontal, that's got to be a 1^st in video game history or a very rare item if done before.

The Mario Party series of course was made mainly for multi-player should you can have fun with another player. Another character would be introduced and it would Waluigi, who is basically Luigi's rival and Wario's brother. The series was regarded as a great series for multi-player for people who like Mario and that. Mario has also participated in just about every sport. Now if they only made a wrestling game, that would be interesting to watch. For some reason, I actually wonder if it would work but it probably could if done correctly. There have also been the Mario Kart games that haven't been bad at all.

One of the last series though not technically a Mario series is the Super Smash Bros. series that has been made for the N64 and Gamecube at the moment. There is to be a 3^rd one called Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. This one is supposed to have some new characters like the Meta Knight, Zero Suit Samus, Wario, and Solid Snake from what I can remember. Smash Bros. Melee happens to be on my personal favorite in that series so far and am wondering how will the next one top it. I liked the 1^st but I also liked the 2^nd one more so.

Mario has also been mentioned in media culture. For instance, there was a Super Mario Bros. movie made that wasn't successful. No sequel was made for it. A show was made and had different spin-offs like Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and of course Super Mario All Stars, which was a combination of some episodes from each Mario cartoon series. He made an appearance in the classic Punch Out games for the NES. I'm sure there are other games that Mario had appeared in like some of the Zelda games or just indirect references in that series. If that's not enough proof for Mario to be considered legendary, then I don't know what is. When people think Nintendo, Mario is one of the one of the names associated with them since he has been with them since the early days. An icon in video games, Mario has earned the right to be placed in a Video Game Hall of Fame if there is ever one.