The Super Mario series has now officially turned 35, and with this milestone comes some life advice from creator Shigeru Miyamoto to the star plumber. Nintendo has gone all out with celebrating this anniversary, as it revealed with its recent Mario direct.
The platforming game icon has gone through a fair share of trials, but his games have remained in the hearts of many for providing fun to generations of gamers around the world. For months, it was rumored that Nintendo would go all out in celebrating Mario’s 35th anniversary. The waiting finally paid off this month, when Nintendo surprise dropped a Nintendo Direct featuring a variety of Mario titles. The premier announcement was the Super Mario 3D All Stars collection containing some of Mario’s biggest 3D platformers. Despite a bizarre caveat of being available only for a limited time, fans were nonetheless happy to see these classic Mario platformers arrive on the Switch.
A recent CNN interview with Shigeru Miyamoto prompted the legendary game designer to talk about Mario’s anniversary, including what life advice he would give the mustachioed plumber. According to the interview, if Mario was actually 35 years old in game, Miyamoto would tell him, “living in a way that's true to yourself is more enjoyable than being in competition with others. You'll be keeping plenty busy, so don't forget to work out and keep your mustache well groomed." This very much falls in line with what Mario stands for in gaming: while many parts of the gaming industry fight to obtain the hottest HD graphics and performance rate, Super Mario is off doing his own thing by applying the Nintendo approach of putting fun above all else.
The interview also talks about how Mario was created back in the 1980s. When designing Mario, Miyamoto stated that “I was trying to use the technology available at the time to produce a distinctive-looking character from a small number of pixels, and that resulted in Mario.” He also stated the reason why Miyamoto chose to make the video game icon a 26-year-old plumber from New York: “We wanted him to be someone who might live near you, and not a superhero.”
Mario has appeared in games of multiple genres ever since he revolutionized the video game industry. He's done kart racing, sports, parties, dancing, RPGs, and more. But perhaps the most poignant thing about Mario is what Yoshiaki Koizumi, producer of titles such as Super Mario Odyssey, says about the mascot. "No matter what worlds he takes on, Mario remains Mario. Maybe this is strange but I find that fact very comforting." This is something that has remained a constant throughout Mario's adventures. Nintendo is all about fun, and no matter the game, Mario will always stay true to that core principle. Fans can expect this series to stick around for years to come as a result of that principle, and they can relive their memories with Mario's greatest hits when the Super Mario 3D All Stars Collection launches this Friday.
Source: CNN