SUPER MARIO BUILDS:
How do you even START with a character like Mario? One of the original unique arcade characters, he debuted as "Jumpman" in 1981's Donkey Kong, and got so popular that he would surpass the title character, then change the entire course of video game history as the launch title of the "Nintendo Famicom/Entertainment System". Hard to believe he came about just because they couldn't get the rights to "Popeye" for the game, and had to substitute in a giant ape and a carpenter for Bluto & Popeye! Given his iconic appearance due to the limits of Character Sprites in those days (overalls made his arms more visible, and a mustache allowed him to have a recognizable face instead of a featureless blob). His true name was formed when an American employee noticed the physical resemblance between Jumpman and their Italian landlord, Mario Segale.
After a few popular games, the Donkey Kong series soon faded away (and would not get a fresh shot until the 1990s with Donkey Kong Country, itself taking several concepts that Mario would later popularize), and Mario was changed to a plumber and given a brother named Luigi, and put against a new set of enemies in 1983's Mario Bros. in a single-screen action game (this game is seen in the "Battle Mode" of Super Mario Bros. 3), which was somewhat popular, but never made much impact.
SUPER MARIO BROS. (1985):
-It'd be Super Mario Bros. that would propel Mario into the stratosphere. This NES launch game, along with most others in the series, was perfectly balanced- easy at first, but the difficulty increases as time goes on, so that only pretty good players can make it to the end. This game is one of the most influential in history, popularizing the Action Platformer, a game that would be repeated THOUSANDS of times after this point (when I did my "Video Games" set three years ago, almost half the characters statted were Platformer heroes). Pauline, the character from Donkey Kong, was replaced with the pink-clad Princess Toadstool (Peach in Japan, and that name would eventually take over for some reason). The villains here, including Bowser, the Koopas, and Goombas, would become the most iconic villains in video game history, and even the Cheep-Cheeps and Lakitu would be iconic.
SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 (1986 & 1988):
-Super Mario Bros. 2 was swiftly released, essentially being the same game with a few modifications (like Poisoned Mushrooms- inverted-colored "Power-Ups" that actually HURT YOU). The sequel was so difficult that it had to be kept from American shores (and it is TOUGH- the "Lost Levels" portion of the Super NES Mario All-Stars game is this game- I died on the FIRST LEVEL once, and it gets worse from there), and so another game was turned into Mario 2 in the West. Doki Doki Panic was the original, and featured the ability to play as Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool herself! The game was more open-ended, with the ability to throw objects and even some bad guys, and each of the four characters had some kind of variation. It was silly and kind of alright, but I HATED IT, because I prefered the classic Mario style over tossing turnips around at people. Some people still like it, but I had little time or care for it, especially once Mario 3 came out. It was also hilariously imbalanced, with Princess Toadstool being BY FAR the best character, since she had the ability to glide... in a PLATFORMER GAME. Sure, the others had some bonuses and she some weaknesses, but come on.
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3 (1988-90):
-Super Mario Bros. 3, however, was EPIC- the release of which was unheard of for the time, it sold bajillions of copies and stunned everyone I knew, and featured the iconic advertising campaign with a map of the world showing Mario's face. The game is AMAZING, with a huge world, lots of interesting characters and levels, and basically perfected the formula. It's so good that there is NO QUESTION as to whether it's a better game than Mario 1 or Mario 2- it is hard as HELL at points, and adds a ridiculous amount of stuff to the franchise (adding Raccoon suits with tons of others). The game features an odd "this is a theatrical performance" motif, with curtains, platforms "nailed" to the background, and even a "backstage" you enter after completing stages. While Mario 2's original form just copies the first game, this one features all-new, more detailed sprites, completing the Mario 2 redesign by shifting the colors of the brothers into their permanent forms- blue overalls with red/green shirts & hats.
SUPER MARIO WORLD (1990-91):
-Super Mario World was just icing on the cake, and made me want a Super Nintendo SO BAD (I don't remember when I got the NES, but OH MY GOD do I remember my dad walking downstairs with THIS one!). Adding Yoshi and a huge new world with fantastic new graphics, Nintendo basically said "F*** You!" to rival Sega, and set off a new stage in the Video Game Wars of the 1990s. The Super NES hit a huge surge, and is now pretty easily one of the greatest video game systems of all time, but the Sega Genesis was a worthy competitor- it's faster capabilities made Sports & Racing games better (except Mario Kart, which rapes all of Sega's racers), but the SNES has the better version of almost every other game thanks to it's better graphics and Control Pad.
Unfortunately, Nintendo rarely capitalized on Mario Platformers as often as it should have- the sequel to SMW was a late-release in the SNES' life-span (it basically came out during the beginning of the Saturn/PlayStation era) and focused on Yoshi, who Nintendo was kind of late on capitalizing on as well- he got a weird Picture-Taking Game and a spot in most "Mario Group" games, but that was it. Yoshi's Island is often considered a lost classic these days, but was forgotten quickly in its own time (I remember reading people online bitching about the GamePlayers Magazine's score of "76%"- DieHard GameFan even took up space complaining about how this was proof that the mag was run by hacks). But really, the game had IDENTICAL graphics to SMW, despite being released far later. It was a recipe for disaster.
This leads to a bit of an odd situation, as there is a MASSIVE gap between Mario World and the following main continuity game, Mario 64. Only one proper game was released for Nintendo's flagship system, compared to three for its predecessor (the NES). This would seem foolish, but Nintendo had by this point learned to make countless SPIN-OFF games, as hordes would be released during the 1990s, largely tiding fans over and not requiring any sequels.
SUPER MARIO 64 (1996):
"Super Mario 64" would again prove the old concept of "ALWAYS RELEASE A SYSTEM WITH A MARIO GAME". This game wasn't the FIRST "3-D Sandbox" game (I usually call it a "3-D Treasure Hunt" game, because that's essentially what you're doing), but it was certainly the codifier that set off a HUGE storm. Every other Video Game Franchise of the era immediately started copying it, which helped ax the concept of cel-based animated games and 2-D platformers basically forever. Now, I was never the biggest fan of this game- at all of 20 or so, I was already being a Grumpy Old Man who wanted things the way they USED TO BE, DAMMIT, and so I pooh-poohed the game quite a bit, especially since a lot of it just seemed to be big for the sake of big. The fact that Mario could be hit A LOT without dying, and was barely threatened by any of his foes (from bosses to regular guys) was greatly annoying, as was the fact that the positioning could be difficult. It's also funny how the graphics were SO PRAISED at the time, but now look like an utter bag of ass- Mario 3 AND Mario World both look much better these days, as the early days of polygonal gaming now look terrible because now the mere concept of a game being 3-D is no longer impressive by itself.
Never mind that the game excommunicated Luigi entirely (something that'd hold for quite a while), and even YOSHI, major new character of the previous game, wasn't a part of the actual gameplay- it was just a running, climbing Mario.
But yeah, for all my grumpy protests, the game was HUGE. It made Ninendo's latecoming "Nintendo 64" a huge hit, in spite of it's childish games, goofy colour palette and cartridge-based gameplay. The combination of this game, Mario Kart 64, goddamned GOLDENEYE (still the best FPS ever. Up yours, Halo), and especially WCW vs. nWo Revenge, made the N64 an awesome buy, though I ultimately preferred the PlayStation, as did most people, which helped ax Sega from the console market after a series of INSANE blunders ("d-uhhhhh we don't need a major Sonic game on the Saturn, OH NO! And surely we should piss off retailers with a surprise early launch and an unfinished Virtua Fighter, which now looks like balls compared to Toshinden and Tekken, right?"), and hurt Nintendo badly. The popularity of Mario 64, and the games it inspired, however, would ultimately lead to me fading away from video gaming entirely in my 20s- something I'd never get back into. It took me a while to realize what exactly had happened, but I think it all comes back to me and the general video gaming public disagreeing so greatly on the issue of this game and its clones.
SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE (2002)- Mario Drops the Ball:
-Nintendo would fail BIG TIME after this, with the GameCube system being a general disappointment, and never really trying to capitalize on the Mario series. I mean, I didn't care for it that much, but it was HUGE, and yet they never seemed to finish work on a sequel (one was planned in 1999, but cancelled after the Nintendo 64 started fading and its upgrades failed). Could you imagine playing sequels to this early-on, with Luigi or Yoshi as characters? Super Mario Sunshine would come out on the GameCube, but it was too little, too late. The goofy "spray water and crap to make it clean" concept was just plain DUMB, and nobody ever really talked about the game. It sold well (I mean, it's MARIO, and a basic sequel to Mario 65, but was nowhere near what it should have been. It's ultimately been considered the "Dork Age" of the series, which makes me happy.
SUPER MARIO GALAXY (2007)- Righting Past Wrongs:
-The past decade has been kinder to the old guy, it turns out. Mario Galaxy was a huge hit and actually got a TIMELY game for once, and earned just as much acclaim as Mario 64, with many people calling it the greatest game of all time. I've never so much as seen more than a couple of minutes of gameplay, so I couldn't tell you. The game introduced Rosalina, a Peach-lookalike who's been a favorite in fanart circles ever since, and re-used Bowser Jr. from Sunshine and helped make him a recurring element.
SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 (2010):
-For once, Nintendo actually made a sequel that came out a reasonable amount of time after the last successful game, and SMG2 was another smash hit for the Wii, improving upon the prior game, despite being pretty much the same sort of thing. Though successful, it notably sold barely half as well as the original Galaxy- the Wii fad was ending, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a more-accessible, fun platformer with Multiplayer aspects, was MUCH more successful, selling 30 million compared to 7 million.
SUPER MARIO ODDYSEY (2017):
-The most recent "Big Release" game was Oddysey, which again went over like nuts. Here, Mario uses a sentient cap named "Cappy", which can control other creatures when thrown onto them.
OTHER MARIO GAMES:
-They even went RETRO with the New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Bros. Wii games, which are basically new versions of the old 2-D Platformers. Mario's been in more games than basically any other character EVER, has played every sport imaginable, had a great RPG (that is REALLY hard to find for less than $100), and is a resolute Gaming Icon. And while he's a bit bland and one-note like Mickey Mouse, a fellow Company Mascot, he's generally less-hated by people. I actually know very few people who HATE Mario- just some who are indifferent to him. His pop cultural impact is remarkably huge, though all of his cartoons have SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED. I mean, as a kid, I was stuck watching The Super Mario Bros. Super Show because it was the only kids' show in it's timeslot right after school, and I hated every single non-Zelda episode they had. Lou Albano was a solid Mario, but this show was DUMB and full of Mario 2 enemies instead of GOOD ONES. Watching The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 as an adult was pretty painful as well, as they use terrible music, too many cutesy game sound-effects, bad acting, and awful animation. Worst part was, I LOVED that show as a kid, so it was perhaps the ultimate example of a childhood fave just not holding up at all. I can't imagine Super Mario World was any better, but I never saw it.
And let's not speak of that god-awful movie. I imagine there's SOMEBODY out there who finds it some kind of under-appreciated thing, but I don't think people should be allowed to have opinions that bad. I mean, this movie was like a giant steaming turd on the career of Bob Hoskins, and just got EVERYTHING wrong. I get that a Mario-based film would be insanely hard, but going with stupid humor, stuff that completely ignores the games, and going all weirdly-dark with everything? That basically alienates the ENTIRE FREAKING AUDIENCE- people who don't care about video games won't see it, action fans won't see the "goofy kiddie movie", and the primary audience of VIDEO GAME FANS basically go "WTF? This is nothing LIKE Mario Bros.!" and so the entire audience hates it. What a piece of crap.
THE BUILDS:
And so we come to my builds of the games and characters- this is no attempt to build EVERY Mario character ever, as that would be both redundant and insane. It's more of an attempt to capture some good-ol' nostalgia for the CLASSIC games, and I pretty much slow down around Mario World because I care a lot less about anything that came later. I kind of got out of video games years ago (my most-recent system is a GAME BOY ADVANCE), and so I've only played "Mario Bros. Wii" (which is fun, but annoyingly hard the more players you add, which isn't a good game function) of anything after "Mario Sunshine".
Turning the workings of an Action Platform Game into M&M stats is something that requires a few decisions to be made, and some concepts to be hand-waved away. There are a lot of various things that would happen if you statted up Mario characters the way they are in the games- all the enemies would have the same Strength & Toughness aside from multi-hit characters (doing equal damage & taking mostly equal damage), most have the same speed, and most have identical attack patterns (effectively, Goombas, Koopas, Spinies and Buzzy Beetles are all exactly the same enemy in terms of PL). All enemies would have some kind of an "Aura" since they all seem to hurt Mario just by touching him, and Mario can only Jump on guys most of the time. However, this is rather boring, so I'm adjusting things for the hell of it. I'm assuming that Mario can punch guys (old books would feature him doing just that, and it would ANNOY ME because the games didn't feature that move), and that enemies actually have to attack most of the time. Very few things have Aura Damage, and elite enemies can differ, and move up in Power Level.
