He’s an Italian plumber with a mustache. He eats mushrooms to grow big, flowers to give him fire power, and stars to make him invincible He’s worn raccoon suits, bee suits, and penguin suits. He’s saved the princess, raced in go-karts, fought in melees, and played mini-games in a self-named party. He’s Mario, Nintendo’s greatest and most prolific video game character and, arguably, the most well known, and beloved, video character of all time.
I met Mario when I was eight, and he immediately became my hero. I played Super Mario Bros. on a twenty-four inch television for hours at a time, exploring the Mushroom Kingdom with him in an effort to save the Princess. We traveled through Warp Zones and pipes, smashed through bricks, stomped on enemies, and collected coins. I quickly ranked Super Mario Bros. as the best way to spend my spare time, and Mario and I were fast friends. Little did I know that we would remain friends into my adulthood, from the first Nintendo system on to the Wii, and that the adventures he would take me on would be practically countless. I have enjoyed the Mario games more thoroughly and with more gusto than I have enjoyed most physical, actual vacations. This is not an exaggeration.
If asked, I wouldn’t hesitate to reply that Mario is my favorite video game character, but there are more reasons behind that answer than simple nostalgia. Sure, I feel like I have grown up with Mario, but the games have always been engrossing and truly fun. While I enjoy Mario in spin-off games such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., the real enjoyment comes from his travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in search of Princess Peach. The best of the best, for me, includes Paper Mario (a role playing game on the Nintendo 64 with smartly designed puzzles), Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii (in which game play is in 3D across a stunningly rendered outer space), and NES’s Super Mario Bros. 3 (a game that blew me away, at the time. with its depth and intricacies). Every Mario game, including these three favorites, has been rewarded with hours of my time across years, if not decades. While I first played Super Mario Bros. in the eighties, I have revisited it again and again in the 1990’s, 2000s, and, yes, in the 2010’s. The games are fun and have great replayability.
Mario, as a character, is pretty incredible, too. His never-ending willingness to rescue the princess is the kind of quality that would make him a fantastic husband, should he ever decide to settle down. The princess, while very sweet and lovable, is constantly getting herself in ridiculous predicaments that involve being captured by Bowser and requiring the kind of assistance that necessitates intense , yet farcical battle and puzzle solving across stages, kingdoms, worlds, and sometimes the galaxy. Mario is always up for the challenge, and, as of yet, I have never seen him start off a game complaining that he has to save the princess ONCE AGAIN and that maybe Peach needs to invest in some full time bodyguards and leave Mario to focus on his career. Mario is patient, understanding, and endlessly heroic.
Mario is always evolving, too, and every time I meet up with him, it seems that he’s found time to work on his personal development and has honed some new skills. In Super Mario Bros., his game play was pretty one-dimensional. He could run, jump, throw the occasional fireball, do a little light swimming, and jump onto enemies. Throughout the past couple decades, he’s fine-tuned these simple movements and added dozens of more tricks to his bag. He’s mastered the spin jump, wall jump, and flying. He’s thrown ice balls, ridden on Yoshi, walked on water, and created cloud platforms out of thin air. Every game brings us a Mario that is stronger, faster, and smarter. And it’s not executed in an obvious or contrived way. Mario’s new abilities are always fresh and surprising.
Mario was a major part of my childhood and a trusted companion on cozy winter afternoons through my 20s. Now I am 31, and I still find myself plugging in the Wii for some occasional Mario time- either with the latest release or a golden oldie on the Wii’s Virtual Console. I have a one year old son, too, and while he is too young now to play video games, I can easily envision us sitting together on the sofa in another five years as I introduce him to a character that will surely be a lifelong friend for him as well. Yes, Mario is my favorite video game character, but he’s more than that. He’s an institution.