Mario aka Jumpman Biography

In 1981 Nintendo needed a quick idea to save them from the failure the Radar Scope arcade console sales, or lack of sales, had brought them. Nintendo had over-produced consoles and were left with at least 2,000 unsold consoles, so they decided to ask Shigeru Miyamoto, a Nintendo artist, to help them design a new game to take the place of Radar Scope.

The first appearance of Mario was in 1981's Donkey Kong. Known simply as Jumpman, he was given a moustache (due to the difficulty of depicting a mouth with the limited graphics) and his trademark hat (because the animator had difficulty drawing hair). Donkey Kong proved such a success that Jumpman was named Mario and given his own game on the NES. The legend goes that the name Mario was chosen due to Mario Sengale, the landlord of Nintendo America's offices, who barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment. Then came with Super Mario Bros., a platform game that has influenced gameplay and design ever since. It was here that we were introduced to the characters and storylines that are now synonymous with Mario: save Princess Toadstool from King Koopa, with the help of brother Luigi in the two-player mode.

Nintendo then changed gaming forever again, releasing the Game Boy in 1989. And, of course, it was launched with a monster Mario release, Super Mario Land (as well as Tetris). Though it was little more than an adaptation of Super Mario Bros, in the green glow of the Game Boy's portable world it soon became just as iconic. Launched with the SNES, Super Mario World was another smash hit in a lucrative end to the decade for Nintendo. New additions included Princess Peach, with blonde hair and white gloves for the first time, and Mario's new spinning jump and flying cape.

Like any successful boy band, Mario's co-stars were now so big they could 'go solo'. Over the years we've seen games based on Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Luigi and Princess Peach, alongside their continued appearances in the Mario titles. Over 200 Mario games in a quarter of a century shows Nintendo's ability to keep coming up with new ideas for the franchise. Few have bettered Mario Kart, one of the ultimate multiplayer games. Originally on the SNES, it has been a must for every new Nintendo console since, most recently the Wii. As well as kart racing, Mario has always been a sport lover and down the years has tried most of them. Tennis, golf, pinball, baseball, football, basketball and Olympic tie-in games have all been released, most with decent successfully. He must be in great shape!

Super Mario Bros. The Movie (1993) Yes, it was the first major motion picture to be based on a video game. Yes, they managed to get Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi. They even had Dennis Hopper as King Koopa. But there's no escaping the fact that it was bad. Really bad.