Just let it sink. Though the idea of a video game franchise being 40 old is shocking to some, the fact that almost half a century old franchise still releases critically acclaimed and commercially successful products is truly astonishing.
Since you’re here, we recommend getting a Super Mario emulator to experience the history of the franchise on the tips of your fingers. In this article, we want to cover some milestones in this great odyssey (not to be confused with Super Mario Odessey, 2017) of the Super Mario games.
Table of Contents
Influences and origins
You can’t talk about the origins of Super Mario without talking about Donkey Kong released in 1981 and created by Shigeru Miyamoto. That’s the game where people first saw the iconic plumber, though he was named Jumpman at that point.
Later in 1983, the first Mario game saw the light of the day called Mario Bros. Donkey Kong’s Jumpman changed his profession from carpenter to plumber, the brother named Luigi appeared, and the name Mario was given.
The location was set to be the sewers in New York, that’s where the Koppas, Goombas, and all the other ever-present enemies were first introduced.
Super phase
The 1985 Super Mario broses created hugely long-lasting waves in the gaming industry both on the side of game developers and consumer gaming culture. It changed the formula of gaming by replacing one-screen levels with huge several sides-scrolling levels.
And it isn’t just one innovation. The game was packed with game-changing (no pun intended) ideas that were adopted by all the other games of the time.
The situation when games are crucial for selling gaming consoles is still relevant today. And it would be a huge understatement to say that Super Mario sold the NES(Nintendo Entertainment System) to the whole world.
The importance of the Mario franchise for Nintendo could be via one event that happened in 1993. Namely the release of the Super Mario Bros movie, which spoiled a reputation of a franchise and extended dumping the NES sales allowing SEGA to gain some footing in the console war.
3D phase
One movie can’t spoil something brilliant and deeply original and Miamoto proved this point in 1996 by releasing maybe not the first(one of the first nonetheless) but the absolute best 3D platformer.
Mario 64 is the game that people enjoy even in 2022, just try to search for emulator videos on Youtube, and the chances of you seeing people playing Mario 64 are pretty high.
Miyamoto sold Nintendo’s console once again with his game, this time it was N64. And once again his game influenced the industry as a whole.
Current days and future
We won’t even attempt to list all the games that were released recently, but you can’t argue that the 2017 Mario Odyssey is a masterpiece of the game, and recently released Bowser Fury while just being a DLC of a sort to the 3d world, puts in shame a majority of current game releases. And we are all waiting for the Odyssey 2.
