Mario

I've gotten used to the idea that if someone doesn't know the Mario Bros (Mario Mario and Luigi Mario?? confusing, but it's Mario Bros and Luigi Bros) it's because they're either banished from society or, alas, too stupid to handle a controller.

Mario started out as a simple Italian-American plumber, cleaning the Brooklyn pipes (that's the story of his pipe-travel) when suddenly one of the pipes transfers him to a world where practically everything revolves around mushrooms and bricks. A flower makes you spit out fireballs and a star makes you blink in assorted colors as the background music changes to funky music.

Oh, and it makes you invincible for about 10 seconds.

Then there's the story: Mario needs to rescue a princess, but first he has to LOOK for her. Talk about shabby stories. She didn't even have a name!!

In the world he was in, nobody was a friend. Everything, from walking mushrooms to assorted-color turtles with gaping mouths, was bound to kill him by mere touch. And then there was this turtle with spikes on his shell and, surprisingly, fangs. He was later known as Bowser, the Koopa King, Bowser Koopa, the Big Boss, whatever you wanna call him...

It's just the same...

I wonder how the Toads (mushroom people) still don't think of Mario as a cannibal, what with eating mushrooms and stuff... I suppose they are decapitated Toads, because the similarities are endless.

Except for the color arrangement, this is creepy...

But anyways, Mario wasn't even Mario when he shot for the stars. He was known as Jumpman during Donkey Kong's games, but when he needed a name, Shigeru Miyamoto decided to christen him after one expectant Nintendo customer called Mario Segali.

I don't know where ideas of the suits in Super Mario Bros. 3 came from, but I know they were ridiculous (except for the tanooki one that turned into a statue, great for infiltrating Bowser's castles) but it was quickly dismissed upon the arrival of Super Mario World.

You're totally not going to impress the princess with THAT.

Super Mario World was the first SNES game featuring Mario. New items included a 1up Mushroom (handy for close calls) the now famous Cape that really enhanced the "Super Mario" title, and a name for our beloved princess: Peach Toadstool.

It also included a form of transport that became a beloved character in the franchise: the dinosaur, Yoshi. It became one of the most played games of that time, and there is even a GBA version of it available. Oh, and it was the first to provide a different anatomy for Luigi.

KEEP SEARCHING

Curse you, Nintendo...

To compensate for Yoshi's minor role (the Green Yoshi, not the other Yoshis that were kidnapped by Bowser's minions) Nintendo decided to launch a sequel to Super Mario World: Yoshi's Island. But the fact that Yoshi finds a baby Mario and tries to look for a safe place for him to live, makes this game a prequel to practically ALL the Mario games that exist and will exist.

Hope you know what you're doing, Nintendo...

This game introduced various moves that would later be symbolic to Yoshi, such as the egg laying and throwing, the mid-air jump where he kicks away in a desperate attempt to gain more altitude (this later transforms to not a desperate attempt, but a graceful rise that more than doubles his altitude) and a 'Ground Pound', where he stomps the ground with his butt.

Not to mention the occasional carelessness...

At that time, RPG's were becoming popular among the game companies like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. When SNES put in Mario inside an RPG, this is what resulted:

Or did somebody throw Mario and Zelda into a blender?

Legend of the Seven Stars was a hit, not as much a hit like Super Mario World, but a hit anyways. It included the integration of friendly versions of typical enemies like Goombas and Koopas, as well as some cameos of Nintendo characters like Kirby and Samus.

When a Mario game jumped to Nintendo 64, it became the first Mario game not to involve the symbolic items, but Super Mario 64 was designed more as an adventure and exploration title. It completely lost the classicness, but it paid off with one new power and another one that was enhanced: Invisible Mario was the new power that made Mario invisible (duh!) and let him pass through walls to complete levels. The enhanced one was the Stone Mario, which turned into Metal Mario.

Now you can go get her!!

On with the story, Mario received a lot of comments during this era, primarily critics concerning the lack of items as the mushroom and the star (although the funky jingle remained for the Caps) which, frankly, WAS a downside.

The huge disappointment in this game was the End, when you finally meet Yoshi, you can't even pat him on his snout. He just congratulates you, gives you 100 lives, and commits suicide by jumping from the castle roof.

And they made him stupid enough to ask if you have beaten the game yet.

Then the GameCube appeared. The promotion game was the first to have Luigi as the protagonist, and probably settled his personality as a coward. But, hey, he isn't to blame. After all, he DID rescue his brother from a haunted mansion, armed with a Ghostbusters backpack made by an apparently premature scientist.

Frankly, the title pic says it all...

Then Super Mario Sunshine appeared. It was a relief to see Mario actually roll up his sleeves because of the heat (at least for me, I don't know about you guys...) and a new character arose: Toadsworth, the counselor Toad. He advised the Princess on what to do, but in times of sudden action and mostly during Bowser's appearances, he has been known to faint.

Flimsy...

Mario landed another hit when he decided to try RPG one more time. This time, he dragged Luigi in with him, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga became the best RPG game ever launched by Nintendo. It introduced live brother-&-brother action and moves only Mario and Luigi could ever perform (the Jump'n Stomp could not miss this opportunity)

Quickly followed by a DS sequel, Partners in Time.

And THAT was even more mutual moves!!!

Such success could not wait to settle down, for after launching the move-detecting console Wii, another concept of Mario's adventures hit the screens. Called Super Mario Galaxy, this game involved a little less area than its predecessors, but it paid off with a more extended gamma of ways to jump, say, FROM ONE PLANET TO ANOTHER.

Eat that!

And to spice it up, Mario has been not only a plumber and a meat-&-potatoes hero; he has been seen as a doctor, a safari tour guide, a cook, and, for goodness sakes, he has played practically every sport that comes through our minds.

But as for the games' plots, mark my words: it's the ONLY thing NONE of the games have ever changed. Yep, it's still the same "beat-bosses-kick-Bowser's-butt-and-rescue-Peach" routine Mario probably eats for breakfast already...

You were the one hanging around pipes in the 1st place...