Sep 13 2010You Look A Lot Older: Super Mario Turns 25
That's right folks: today, September 13th, marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. And the rest, as you well know, is history. Ooooor a shit-ton of sequels.
For over two decades, Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling video game of all time, before being outsold by Wii Sports in 2009. Excluding Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console sales, the game has sold 40.241 million copies worldwide. It was largely responsible for the initial success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as ending the two-year slump of console game sales in the United States after the video game crash of 1983. As one of Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka's most influential early successes, it has inspired many clones, sequels, and spin-offs. Its theme music by Koji Kondo is recognized worldwide, even by those who have not played the game, and has been considered a representation for video game music in general.
Ah, what a long, strange trip down the ol' warp pipe it's been, amirite? Say -- did I ever tell you about how I convinced my brother that swimming into one of the pits on the first water level was a secret warp zone? He tried to choke me out with the controller cord!
Worthwhile skip-aroundable video of the history of Mario games after the jump.
Thanks to Shriibot and REFUKIn, who don't celebrate anniversaries because they're convinced they were invented by Hallmark just to sell more cards. I believe it.
Related Stories
The Creation Of Mario, Sistine Chapel Style (06/22/2010)
Yay!: The Legend Of Zelda Turns 25 Today (02/21/2011)
The Many Faces Of Super Mario Mushrooms (11/24/2010)
No Playing With Your Food!: Mario Chess Cake (07/08/2010)
Reader Comments
1. HankersChoo - September 13, 2010 5:58 PM
Who cares, old games suck.
2. sobe - September 13, 2010 5:59 PM
hi
3. sobe - September 13, 2010 5:59 PM
damn!
4. crystalembrace - September 13, 2010 6:06 PM
A day after my birthday. I knew we were fated, Just didn't know how much.
5. woomprollar - September 13, 2010 6:06 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOW LAY SOME PIPE IN ME!
6. Mario - September 13, 2010 6:18 PM
Thank you for ignoring the four years I spent dodging that f*@&ing monkeys barrels!
7. reverse jason - September 13, 2010 6:22 PM
Bwahahahaha!!!! Monday the 13th !!! REVERSE JASON is on the prowl... I stalk and kill teenagers in the woods on monday's so their families can mourn all week long... and have a great excuse to miss work.
@1 old games suck huh... then I guess thats why you play them!... Ohhh you just got burned by REVERSE JASON!!!!!
8. REFUKIn - September 13, 2010 6:45 PM
You're welcome GW
9. naas=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿ ٩(๏̯͡๏)۶ oh noez!!! - September 13, 2010 6:52 PM
http://www.nesmaps.com/maps/SuperMarioBrothers/sprites/InvincibleFieryMario.gif
10. ☺Asperflux☺ - September 13, 2010 6:55 PM
Long last the robots!
@6 Yes, MARIO was in Donkey Konk in 1981, and then again with his brother Luigi (in 1883) in Mario Brothers. However he didn't become SUPER MARIO until 1985
11. Dishy - September 13, 2010 7:10 PM
Shouldn't it be Pr.Peach bursting out of the cake?
12. b(^-^b) - September 13, 2010 7:22 PM
OMG! That sofa looks comfy.
13. Justin - September 13, 2010 8:02 PM
Wow...less than 90 seconds into this video and I stopped it. The footage from Super Mario Brothers 2 is still from Super Mario Brothers 1.
Completely FAIL!
14. Mindy - September 13, 2010 8:03 PM
Well shit, he's been only 4 days older than me this entire time. MARRY ME PLUMBER MAN!
15. meh - September 13, 2010 9:26 PM
Justin, you complete fucktard. That WAS SMB2. The real one. Released in the US much later as the lost levels. Go kill yourself.
16. Yeags - September 13, 2010 9:56 PM
@1 - BLASPHEMY! Old classic games are awesome!
17. thumperchica - September 13, 2010 10:09 PM
Nice... And today I finished collecting all of the start coins in W1-8 on NSMBW... I accidentally celebrated =D
18. Ninjanswers.com - September 13, 2010 10:14 PM
FAIL, they forgot Super Mario Bros. 2. The footage they were showing was from the "lost levels" of the original Super Mario Bros., I believe.
19. naas=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿ ٩(๏̯͡๏)۶ oh noez!!! - September 14, 2010 8:43 AM
@18 - The only FALL around here is you and your Nintendo fanboy crap no one cares about. Idiot.
20. Cory - September 14, 2010 9:33 AM
Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan was a direct continuation of Super Mario Bros. 1. Super Mario Bros. 2 in the USA was actually a reworked game called Doki Doki Panic, which featured a little Arab guy instead of Mario (hence all the Arabesque themes in it). The American Super Mario Bros. 2 was eventually released in Japan as Super Mario USA. It is in the video, if you were paying attention at all.
21. Jonathan - September 14, 2010 9:48 AM
@13, @18:
I would think that you guys -- being such obvious Nintendo fans -- would have recognized that the title card for the video is in Japanese, so the montage likely follows the Japanese release of games. In case you have no concept of the real history of the series before the N64 (which I'm assuming is true), allow me to enlighten you.
Super Mario Bros. 2 over there was almost a re-imagining of the original game, and was later released here as the Lost Levels with the SNES All-Stars collection. OUR version of SMB2 was actually a re-skinning of a game they had over there called Doki Doki Panic. They did this because they thought the actual SMB2 would be "too difficult" for American gamers. Eventually they released our version of 2 in Japan as "Super Mario Bros. USA" (which didn't sell too well, since -- again -- they already HAD Doki Doki for years), which is actually included in the footage just before Mario 64. You would have seen this if you'd actually paid attention in Mario History Class and stopped acting like adolescent fanboy dips**ts.
22. JADE - September 14, 2010 9:50 AM
Man that was a trip down memory lane. I remember playing the first Mario for hours but my favorite was Mario 3. Oh hells yes. We would pull all nighters playing that damn game. Think I need to find me an old system !
23. Jonathan - September 14, 2010 9:52 AM
And it seems Cory pretty much posted the exact same comment as me, beating me by a good 15 minutes. I guess that's what I get for not hitting "refresh" before commenting. hehe
24. Cory - September 14, 2010 4:04 PM
No worries man, tag team! You be Mario, I'll be Luigi.