Mario (franchise)


is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, as a spin-off of the Donkey Kong franchise. Starring Mario, the franchise began with video games but has extended to other forms of media, including a television series, comic books, a 1993 film, a 2023 film, and a theme park area. Mario made his first video game appearance in the arcade game Donkey Kong and was featured in multiple Donkey Kong games prior to Mario Bros., the first game with "Mario" in the title. Mario video games have been developed by a variety of developers, with the vast majority produced and published by Nintendo and released exclusively on Nintendo's video game consoles.
The flagship Mario subseries is the Super Mario series of platform games starting with 1985's Super Mario Bros., which mostly follows Mario's adventures in the fictional world of the Mushroom Kingdom and typically rely on Mario's jumping ability to allow him to progress through levels. The franchise has spawned over 200 games of various genres and several subseries, including Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi; several characters introduced in the Mario franchise, such as Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi, sparked successful franchises of their own.
The Mario series is one of gaming's most successful and renowned franchises, with many of its games, in particular within the Super Mario subseries, considered some of the greatest video games ever made. It is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with more than 900 million copies of games sold, including more than 430 million for the Super Mario games alone. Mario is also Nintendo's flagship franchise.

Video games

Origin games

''Donkey Kong''

After the commercial failure of Radar Scope, Nintendo's company president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, referred to designer Shigeru Miyamoto to create an arcade game to save the company. Miyamoto came up with the idea of a game in which the playable character has to make his way through an obstacle course consisting of sloped platforms, ladders and rolling barrels. Miyamoto named the game Donkey Kong, and its main protagonist "Jumpman". Donkey Kong is an early example of the platform genre. In addition to presenting the goal of saving Pauline, the game gives the player a score. Points are awarded for finishing screens; leaping over obstacles; destroying objects with a hammer power-up; collecting items such as hats, parasols, and purses ; and completing other tasks. The game was surprisingly successful. "Jumpman" was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas; his namesake was Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America 's office/warehouse, who, according to one version of events, barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment. This story is contradicted by former NOA warehouse manager Don James, who stated in 2012 that he and then-NOA president Minoru Arakawa named the character after Segale as a joke because Segale was so reclusive that none of the employees had ever met him. James repeated this account in 2018.

''Donkey Kong Jr.''

Mario next appeared in 1982's Donkey Kong Jr. as the game's antagonist. Players control Donkey Kong Jr. as he climbs vines and collects keys to save his kidnapped father from Mario. The game was later ported to several platforms including the Famicom, NES, and several Atari home consoles. Additionally, a Game & Watch port and sequel were later produced. Like the first game, it is an early example of the platform genre.

''Mario Bros.''

Mario Bros. is the first game to feature "Mario" in the title and to feature Luigi. The objective of Mario Bros is to defeat all of the enemies in each phase. Each phase is a series of platforms with four pipes at each corner of the screen, and an object called a "POW" block in the center. The mechanics of Mario Bros. involve only running and jumping. Unlike future Mario titles, players cannot jump on enemies until they are flipped over; this can be accomplished by jumping under the platform they are on or by using the "POW" block. Both sides of every phase feature a mechanism that allows the player to go off-screen to the left and appear on the right, and vice versa. The game has since reappeared in various forms, including as a minigame in Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario Advance series, and reimagined as Mario Clash.

Game and Watch

has released several Mario and Donkey Kong LCD video games for the Game & Watch line. Eleven were released between 1982 and 1995. Nintendo also licensed the release of six LCD games for Nelsonic's Game Watch line between 1989 and 1994. Many remakes of Game & Watch games have changed the protagonist from a generic Mr. Game & Watch character to Mario. In 2020, a rerelease of Super Mario Bros. in the form of a Game & Watch titled Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. was released for the game's 35th anniversary.

''Super Mario'' series

Mario then became the star of his own side scrolling platform game in 1985, titled Super Mario Bros., which was the pack-in game included with the Nintendo Entertainment System console. It was also later sold in a package with Duck Hunt. In Japan, a game titled Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in 1986, but a different game with the same name was released internationally in 1988, followed by Super Mario Bros. 3 later that same year in Japan. Super Mario World then released in 1990 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While Super Mario Land and two sequels were the Game Boy installments in the series, the Game Boy Advance did not receive any original entries, only remakes. Super Mario 64, the first Mario game with 3D graphics, debuted as the launch title for the Nintendo 64 console in 1996. Super Mario Sunshine was the series' entry for the GameCube, and Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel continued the franchise for the Wii. Super Mario 3D Land was the series' flagship title for Nintendo 3DS. The Wii U saw the release of Super Mario 3D World in November 2013. A rerelease titled Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury released February 2021. Super Mario Odyssey would be the first game in the series to be released on the Nintendo Switch, and was released in 2017.
In 2006, a sub-series with retro gameplay called New Super Mario Bros. was inaugurated on the Nintendo DS, featuring the mechanics of the Super Mario Bros. games. It continued on the Wii as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, on the 3DS as New Super Mario Bros. 2 and on the Wii U as New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U ), with a port titled New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch in January 2019. Super Mario Bros.-styled gameplay is further offered by the level creator game Super Mario Maker, released on Wii U in 2015. A sequel, Super Mario Maker 2, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. Wonder on October 20, 2023.
In 2016, the team behind New Super Mario Bros. released Super Mario Run, Nintendo's first real smartphone game and one of the few instances a Mario game was developed for non-Nintendo hardware.

Puzzle games

''Dr. Mario'' series

is a series of arcade-style puzzle video game originally developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1, and later developed by Arika and produced by Nintendo Software Planning & Development. The first in the series, Dr. Mario, was launched in 1990 on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy to critical and commercial success. In the Dr. Mario series, the player character Mario, who assumes the role of a doctor, is tasked with eradicating deadly viruses. The player's objective is to destroy the viruses populating the on-screen playing field by using falling colored capsules that are dropped into the field, similarly to Tetris. The player manipulates the capsules as they fall so that they are aligned with viruses of matching colors, which removes them from playing field. The player progresses through the game by eliminating all the viruses on the screen in each level.
There have been 4 Dr. Mario games released for home consoles, two portable games and one mobile game, for a total of seven original titles. As the series has progressed, each new game has introduced new elements to keep the gameplay fresh such as new game modes. In 2001, Dr. Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 introduced new game modes such as a Story mode, Score Attack and Marathon, Wario as a playable character and four-player multiplayer. After a seven-year hiatus, in 2008, Dr. Mario Express for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare service re-introduced the series to the portable gaming market. Also in 2008, Dr. Mario Online Rx for the Wii's WiiWare service introduced online multiplayer to the series. In 2013, Dr. Luigi for the Wii U's Nintendo eShop introduced Luigi as the playable character as well as an Operation L game mode in which all capsules assume the shape of the letter "L". A mobile game titled Dr. Mario World was released in 2019, but was permanently discontinued in July 2021.

''Mario's Picross'' series

This series is a collection of nonogram logic puzzles involving a grid with numbers for every row and column, which refer to the amount of marked squares within the grid. The games features Mario as an archaeologist who chisels away to form images on the grid.
  • Mario's Picross
  • Picross 2
  • ''Mario's Super Picross''