“Confessions of a Non-Mario Fan Who Actually Loves Mario”

With MAR10 Day arriving this week, gamers around the world celebrate the Super Mario series of video games. The impact of this franchise cannot be understated; it’s one of the most successful video game series in history, and a plethora of spin-offs within the world of the Mushroom Kingdom have become beloved classics in their own right. Super Mario is the foundation of so many journeys into video gaming, often forming the basis of a lifelong passion and an inspiration for individual stories of personal purpose.

Considering how significant Super Mario is to so many people, I have a few confessions to make: I’ve never finished a single Mario game. I can count the number of Mario games I’ve tried on one hand, and I’ve never played any of them for more than a few hours. I am not a “Mario fan” and the Super Mario games don’t hold any particular interest for me.

So why are you writing about Mario if you don’t even like Mario?

The answer is simple.

Upon reflection, I realized that even though the Mario games themselves don’t really interest me, I have a different kind of love and appreciation for the series. The plumber with the signature red cap is arguably the most prominent (if indirect) factor in how my own gaming journey came to be, and that journey has led me to become the person I am today. I am deeply grateful to Super Mario and here’s why.

Reason #1: Everyone Knows Mario

Before the release of Mario Bros., arguably the most recognizable recurring character in video gaming was Pac-Man (as well as Ms. Pac-Man). Mario wasn’t the first character to feature in an eponymously titled franchise, but he would go on to become extremely successful. Mario Bros. was popular enough to warrant a sequel: Super Mario Bros., which is where the phenomenon really exploded.

Mario (and Luigi, of course) were able to cement their presence in the gaming community as named characters with their own series of games largely because their games had a purpose beyond merely defeating all the enemies on screen, navigating a course, or solving a puzzle. Mario and Luigi had a quest: to save the kidnapped Princess Toadstool and liberate the Mushroom Kingdom from the clutches of the nefarious Bowser.

The fantastical environments, imaginative creatures, innovative platforming mechanics (power mushrooms, the Fire Flower, using Koopa shells to obliterate enemies), and increased difficulty modes created an experience unlike anything before it and gave Mario games their unique flavor. Moreover, it made them highly replayable with a different level of personal engagement. Players became genuinely invested in what happened to the characters involved. There was a clearly defined villain to vanquish, and a richly articulated world to save. Mario and Luigi’s challenge wasn’t simply to earn a high score, beat the best time, or perform better than your friends; their world needed their help and it was up to you to save the day. Mario’s gaming odyssey (pun not intended) blossomed from there, and the characters of the franchise became entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist, recognized the world over.

Show someone a picture of Mario and ask them who it is, and the likelihood is high that they will answer with the name of the world’s most famous plumber.

Mario created a new paradigm of video gaming: inspiring widely recognizable, recurring characters with their own franchises which players became deeply attached to. Just a few examples over the course of video game history include: Sonic the Hedgehog, Kirby, Samus Aran, Link, Mega Man, Pikachu, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Fox McCloud (better known as Star Fox), Kratos, and more. Mario proved that video games centered around characters with a narrative, rather than focused on a specific challenge, could thrive and become cultural icons beyond the previously niche gaming community.

Reason #2: Mario, the Avatar of Cheerfulness

Mario’s characterization could be interpreted as an attempt to portray an “everyman” figure who confronts immense challenges in a wildly extraordinary world. Obviously, the everyday, mundane aspects of how Mario is depicted don’t exactly translate that well; the art style and world design of the Mushroom Kingdom and everything in it are far from what daily life is really like. However, using a pair of plumber brothers as the main characters in a video game series is definitely an outlier.

Rather than using characters inspired by high fantasy such as elves, wizards, knights in shining armor, or otherworldly superheroes, Nintendo went in the opposite direction. Mario and Luigi were unlike any video game characters that came before them, and they are unlike many characters that have arrived since they burst onto the scene. Even so, the most striking imagery I associate with Super Mario is not rooted in any mundane facets of his design. Mario’s most enduring attribute is not commonplace at all: his relentlessly resilient cheerfulness.

Simply put, Mario puts a smile on people’s faces and brings joy to the world.

Even while leaping, corkscrewing, and fireballing his way through every obstacle placed before him, Mario appears to be enjoying the challenge. “Let’s a-go! Ya-hoooo!” It’s infectious, and to so many gamers, the images of Mario which are embedded in our minds are those of Mario’s wide grin as he soars through the air. Such enduring cheer is rare in the world, and as such, it’s Mario’s greatest superpower.

Reason #3: Mario Literally Saved Video Gaming

In the 1980s, video gaming was largely a pastime spent a quarter at a time in arcade cabinet machines or with a rudimentary home console such as the Atari 2600. The Atari system was able to significantly outpace its competitors like the Intellivision and the ColecoVision because of its home console port of the arcade phenomenon Space Invaders. The home console arms race was on, and Atari pushed out a more advanced console, the 5200. However, an oversaturation of poor-quality games being rushed onto store shelves caused the entire home console gaming industry to not only stagnate but crash completely in North America.

Meanwhile, Nintendo had released its Famicom home console in Japan with solid returns by avoiding the mistakes of its American contemporaries. Nintendo had garnered success in American arcades with Donkey Kong, which featured a now-familiar character named Jumpman. In 1985, Nintendo decided to venture overseas in an attempt to take advantage of the massive void in the North American market. The Famicom was rebranded as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Mario Bros. was the flagship title of the system.

The rest, as they say, is history. Nintendo went on to dominate the North American sales charts for years to come and reestablished home console gaming as a viable business venture for manufacturers that followed. Most importantly for us, it meant that video games continued to exist as a meaningful home pastime here. Without Mario, the world would be a radically different place.

So while I’m not a Mario fan, I will always love Mario. My life would be a far lesser existence without him and his gaming franchise because he paved the way for the games I know and love most, and he did exactly the same for every gamer in the world.

JRPG fiend turned Twitch streamer, Mystraker (Myst for short) turned his childhood love for role-playing fantasy adventures into the driving passion of his life! You can find him on Twitch, usually waist-deep in a sprawling epic tale with more than a few anime tropes thrown in. His love for RPGs even inspired him to earn a degree in religious studies, so you can also expect some deeper thought on his favorite games as well as an appreciation for references to real-world cultures and connections.