The China Mail - 40 years of 'Mario' games that have grown up with fans

The colourful "Super Mario Bros.", released for Nintendo's home consoles in Japan on September 13, 1985, was a landmark of early video gaming.

Players controlled the eponymous character as he ran and hopped his way from left to right through a colourful world of platforms, pipes and scowling enemies -- all set to the jaunty eight-bit music that has stuck in minds for decades.

"My father bought me the game, and I've been playing for as long as I can remember," Kikai told AFP in his office lined with somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand Mario-related objects, from plastic figurines to plush toys and carpets.

Created by legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario has obsessed several generations of fans like Kikai.

The character's first appearance came in 1981 arcade game "Donkey Kong", when he was known simply as "Jumpman".

Mario's christening came in 1983 with the "Mario Bros." arcade cabinet, but his true rise to fame was with "Super Mario Bros." on Nintendo's Famicom console (known as the NES in Europe), which has sold more than 40 million copies.

- 'Lucky accident' -

"It was a lucky accident, because at the start there was no plan for this character to become a video gaming icon," said Alexis Bross, the French co-author of the book "Mario Generations".

The plumber's look was initially chosen to conserve scarce computing resources and make him stand out on screen, with bright blue overalls and a cap that saved on animating hair.

Miyamoto created Mario as "a completely functional character under very strict technical constraints" governing the few pixels making up his image, Bross noted.

But as the games endured through the years, their star became a "generation-spanning" and even "reassuring" presence, he added.

"He's a regular man, not unlike us, who has no special powers at the outset and stays a bit frozen in time."

Beyond Mario's mainline adventures, spinoff games have dropped him, his buddies like brother Luigi and his rivals like dragon Bowser into "Mario Golf", "Mario Tennis" and the vastly popular "Mario Kart".

Graphics have evolved from 2D to 3D as the games' reach has spread to many hundreds of millions of players worldwide.

But the original pixelated look has long inspired artists making their own riffs on the character.

Lyon-based street artist In The Woup, who declined to give his real name, has been mashing Mario up with other characters like Gandalf from "The Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars" antagonist Darth Vader in guerilla mosaics dotting cities around the world for years.

"Bringing things from my games console out on the street means bringing immaterial things out into real life. I thought that was pretty crazy," the 39-year-old said, a Mario mask securely concealing his face to keep up his anonymity.

- Changing with the times -

Many of today's children and teens have turned towards more recent heavyweight gaming titles such as Fortnite and Roblox.

But Mario still enjoys a high "parental nostalgia" quotient, with those now heading into middle age still buying the games and playing together with their offspring, said Rhys Elliott of analytics firm Alinea.

Nintendo has looked to evolve along with its audience, recently launching a range of baby clothing and accessories in Japan.

Mario also graces goods from luxury watches to Lego, as well as being the star of theme parks in both Japan and the US.

And in 2023, the plucky plumber made a successful leap to the big screen after a 1993 flop that was one of the first ever game-to-movie adaptations.

The more recent film brought in over $1.3 billion, with a sequel in the works for next year.

With gender relations in a different light today than 40 years ago, Mario's objective in-game is no longer securing a kiss from a grateful rescued princess.

Nintendo's princesses are more likely these days to star in their own titles, as the company "adapts to new audiences, following little by little developments in society," author Bross said.

Even now, fans are eagerly awaiting a new Mario-led 3D adventure following the blockbuster release of the Nintendo Switch 2 console this June.

Bross hopes to see "a totally new idea that will be a new milestone in the history of videogames".

Y.Su--ThChM