Classic 'Super Mario Bros.' turns 40 this Saturday
' Super Mario Bros.', which revolutionized the video game industry, was one of the first to feature horizontal character development in a colorful universe.
The game's main character, the bouncing plumber Mario, was created by Japanese artist Shigeru Miyamoto.
The plumber with a mustache made his first appearance in another video game, 'Donkey Kong', in 1981, under the name 'Jumpman'.
In 1983, 'Jumpman' was officially renamed Mario due to the launch of the game Mario Bros, a worldwide success released for Nintendo's Famicom console (NES in Europe).
Writer Alexis Bross, one of the authors of the book 'Mario Generations', published in 2018, said that the plumber's success "is a happy accident" .
"It's a happy accident because, initially, this character was not destined to become a video game icon," said Alexis Bross.
Initially, the character created was "purely functional, with very tight technical constraints" , as Mario was made up of just a few pixels on a screen, according to Agence France-Press (AFP).
The game featuring a plumber in blue overalls and a red cap is benefiting from "parental nostalgia," who continue to buy and play it with their children, according to Rhys Elliott, an analyst at data analysis company for the gaming sector, Alinea Analytics.
In theaters, 'Super Mario Bros.: The Movie', from 2023, was one of the biggest hits of recent years, grossing more than 1.3 billion dollars (around 1.1 billion euros).
Japanese video game memorabilia collector Mitsugu Kikai, who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Super Mario items, also turns 40 and told Agence France-Press that his life would be different without Mario.
"My dad bought the game and I've been playing it for as long as I can remember," Kikai said.
The collector has accumulated "20,000 to 30,000 items" related to the plumber in his office, including dolls, stuffed animals, rugs, among others.
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