M A R I O, Archer Blue, A Short History of Mario THE HISTORY OF MARIO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remember back... a LONG time ago when the newest gaming sensation was Super Mario Bros.? Come now, think back... Well, he is the most enduring video game personality of all. He has been made into a feature film, a saturday morning cartoon show, an after school live action program, and too many video games to count (but we will). MARIO IS BORN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ah, how distinctly I remember, twas in 1981, immediatly after the Pacman era, when Mario first appeared on the arcade scene under the unassuming name of Jumpman. And do you recall where this ws, ladies and gents? In the smash hit Donkey Kong (Japanesse for Silly Monkey), wherin Jumpman dodges barrels and overturns pies in an attempt to rescue sweet Pauline. He is a carpenter. In 1982, he is Donkey Kongs jailer, and Donkey Kong Junior tries to save him from the villianous Mario. In 1983, Mario becomes a plumber, and his brother Luigi helps him to destroy irritating turtles (the forerunners of the Koopas) and unclog drains. This was Mario's first starring role. 1985, a new era is born. The first game EVER to use horizontal scrolling makes the Donkey-Kong style one screen games a thing of the past. Super Mario Bros. hits the scene! It was the most popular of the games to reach the NES, and it was by this lisence that Nintendo pushed its way up and over its rival Sega, and give it a trademark! MARIO GROWS UP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was to be three years before Mario and his brother Luigi would have another starring role, and in 1988 there was Mario Madness (SMB 2). But this was certainly not Super Mario Bros. Two. Just look at it. Why the drastic difference? SMB2 was released in Japan as the sequal to SMB1. But when Nintendo of America looked at it, they thought it too chalenging for North American players. But the U.S.A. was screaming for more Mario, and besides, Nintendo just couldan't make it without him, so in a panic they bought the rights to a Japanesse game called Doki Doki Panic, which featured four Arabian characters in turbins, and reprogrammed a little. Notice all the deserts and flying carpets? Notice that ALL the original Mario monsters are gone? In Japan, that game does not exist with a Mario. Mario does not exist with that game. We each have a different version of SMB2. The Japanesse version of SMB2 has been released in this country as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and is available with the Super Mario All Stars package. Naturally, for some unknown reason, Nintendo does not openly acknowledge that this was the oriental version of SMB2. The most popular video game ever released for the NES was SMB3. It remains the most popular NES game. The Japanesse also had a Mario Four, but Nintendo of America felt the need to rename it Super Mario World, in 1991. Geesh... You may recall that in 1989, Game Boy started to exist. And with it, the Mario game Super Mario Land (and its sequal, The Six Golden Coins). Also, Dr. Mario. He has "cameo" appearences in Pinball, Tennis, Golf, Punch Out (the referee), Wrecking Crew (yeah, that's him), Alleyway, Tennis for Gameboy, Tetris for Gameboy (the cinema sequences), Golf for the Gameboy, F-1 Race, QIX, NES Open Tournament Golf. There are also two games that are not action but educational, Marios Time Machine and Mario Is Missing. Mario Is Missing is the much requested solo game for Luigi. INTERESTING FACTS? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mario's creator is Shigeru Miyamoto The bosses are modeled after the Mario Staff Members, giving them their due credit in a very special way. Mario's general look was due to graphics limitations of the early 80's. He wears overalls to show arm movement. A mouth could not be seen on the limited screens of the time, so a moustache was substituted. His hat is necesary because they had to few shades of brown to do hair. His hands are white to contrast with the colored backgrounds. Mario is a plumber because his character was intended to be hardworking. He is shorter than his enemies and the princess he rescues on purpose. The concept of Yoshi has been around since SMB1, but programming limitations made it impossible until 1991, with SMB4 (Super Mario World) Super Mario World took three years to make, and had a design team of sixteen people. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Archer Blue 0strich Dox c.1993 0strich WHQ (802) 660-9875 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÿ ÿ X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699 The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674 Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560 "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X