We all know and love Mario and Luigi, but do we really know where they came from?
The brothers first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong as two carpenters who were tasked with saving a princess from a giant ape; later appearing as playable characters in 1983’s Mario Bros.
Although their appearance was not finalized until Super Mario Bros., their origins can be traced back to the early arcade days of video games.
Although their appearance was not finalized until Super Mario Bros., their origins can be traced back to the early arcade days of video games.
When were Mario bros created?
Mario and Luigi first appeared as playable characters in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros.
The game was created by Nintendo, and it is widely considered to be the first-ever sidescrolling platform game.
The origin of Mario Bros
The Mario Bros. series was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, who based the character on an Italian-American plumber named Mario. Miyamoto, when developing Super Mario Bros., designed Mario as a character that players could easily identify with and that could be marketed internationally; hence the nickname “Mario” became Westernized to “Mario”.
The original Western name of the two characters was “Jumpman” and “Louie,” respectively. In the NES version of Donkey Kong, Jumpman’s carpenter overalls were a red colour and had no gloves or sleeves. His hat also had a brim, making him resemble Popeye.
The early days of Mario Bros
The early days of Mario Bros. were a time when video games were first starting to become popular. Arcades were becoming more and more common, and people were starting to become interested in video games as a form of entertainment.
This was also the time when the Mario Bros. series was first created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
Super Mario Brothers 1 and 2
Super Mario Bros. is the first game in the series that was released on September 13, 1985, in North America for the NES, and is usually credited as the first game to introduce Mario as a playable character.
The player takes control of Mario’s brother Luigi who’s given very little independent characterization. Super Mario Bros. also has two-player simultaneous gameplay, where one can play as either Mario or Luigi.
This game serves as the main basis for Super Mario Bros. 2 in North America and Europe, which was released on April 28, 1988. In this version, however, the princess is known as Princess Peach and wears yellow pants with a green shirt under a pink dress. It also features new playable characters such as Toad, Luigi, and two different kinds of Mario.
Super Mario Brothers 3, 4, and World
Super Mario Bros. 3 was released on September 14, 1988 for the NES. It introduced two new characters named Daisy and Waluigi, who are respectively Luigi’s girlfriend and Luigi’s rival.
It was the first game to introduce up to six players that can simultaneously control one of six different Mario characters including Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, and Wario.
Characters could also be switched out in this game by pressing select which is a gameplay mechanic that returns in Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Super Mario Bros. 3, 4, and World were all followed up by Super Mario 64 which was released on June 23, 1996 for the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 is a 3D platform game that introduced a new style of gameplay to the series and began the trend of having Mario games that take place in fully three-dimensional worlds.
Newer games in the series such as the Galaxy Games
Newer games in the Super Mario Bros. series include Super Mario Galaxy, released for the Wii on November 12, 2007, and its sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, released for the Wii on May 23, 2010.
These games introduce new power-ups such as the Bee Mushroom and the Boo Mushroom. The former allows Mario to fly temporarily by shrinking and flying through tight spaces, while the latter allows him to become transparent and pass through walls.
How to play a variety of different games from the series including Donkey Kong Junior, Wario Land II, Dr Jr Jr III, Yoshi’s Safari etc…
1. How to play Donkey Kong Junior
It’s an arcade-style platformer that stars Mario as the hero of the game and Donkey Kong Jr. as the villain. Like its predecessor, it features very little dialogue or narrative, with one exception being when Mario rescues his friend Pauline at the end of the game.
2. How to play Wario Land II
The protagonist of this game is Wario, who’s taking control of many enemies’ forces by turning into many different forms throughout the course of the game.
3. How to play Dr Jr Jr III
In this game, players use pills of different colors to attempt to eliminate viruses represented by those colors.
4. How to play Yoshi’s Safari
It’s a rail shooter game that stars Yoshi and Mario as they travel through different lands to save Princess Peach.
Conclusion
The Mario Bros. series is one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time and has been around for over 30 years.
It’s interesting to see how it evolved from a 2D side-scrolling platformer into 3D worlds with new gameplay mechanics like flight, invisibility, and more!
If you’re a fan of the Mario series, I hope this article gave you some insight into its history.
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