42 (Very) Super Mario T-Shirts

Super Mario Brothers is arguably one of the most important video game series of all time. It was one of the first series to come out for Nintendo, and by now the series has proved that it has more staying power than almost any series ever.

First Game
The game started out as a 2D platformer that featured the main character Mario, starting out on the first “World,” which was called 1-1. This game established the tone for the entire series, as well as introducing many of the themes and power-ups that would be used throughout. One of the most iconic power-ups for Mario is the simple mushroom. This item, when received, makes Mario grow larger. It also provides something of a buffer for damage. If you don’t have a mushroom, you’ll die in one shot if you are hit by an enemy. But if you have it, then when you’re hit you just become small again instead of dying. Becoming large also allows you to destroy blocks by jumping into them. Other power-ups include the ability to throw fireballs. The first game came out in 1985.

Series Evolution
As the series progressed, new elements were added to it. One of the more famous power-ups that were added later on, in Super Mario Bros. 3 was the Tanooki suit. This power-up was represented by a leaf that starts drifting down from a power-up block with a question mark on it that comes up when you jump up into it. Upon getting the leaf, Mario is transformed into a version of Mario that has a raccoon tail. You can use this new suit to drift down slower when falling off high ledges, or to swish back and forth in order to destroy enemies. Some versions also let Mario fly for short distances when running off of a cliff fast enough.

The series has added many power suits throughout the years, including a frog suit, penguin suit, bee suit and cat suit.

Another character that was added later was Yoshi. Yoshi is a green dinosaur that Mario can ride around on. Yoshi can attack enemies by sticking out his tongue and grabbing them. Yoshi then eats them and sometimes passes them through in the form of an egg.

Additionally, Mario is supposed to be a plumber, and this is an aspect of the series that is fleshed out in the form of the warp pipes. These are green pipes that appear throughout the stage. If you go into them or down them, Mario will be transported to a different part of the stage. Sometimes there are hidden levels that are only accessible through warp pipes. Other times the warp pipes are just a natural part of the stage.

Story
Super Mario features characters from the Mushroom Kingdom. The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom is usually called Princess Peach, and she is periodically kidnapped by a giant spiky turtle lizard creature named Bowser. The game follows the adventures of Mario trying to save the princess from Browser’s clutches.

Popularity
The popularity of the Mario series has been attributed to several different factors. For starters, the game is quite simple to learn, and the instruction manual isn’t really needed since the controls are mostly intuitive. The characters are colorful and have obvious personality. The level designs are quite entertaining and have a huge amount of variety. The power-ups in particular have been a huge draw for the game series, and are now iconic to the degree that they are emulated frequently by other games.

Altogether, the series has sold 262 million games. This makes it the best-selling video game franchise in the world.

My personal faves include Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros (on both Wii and Wii U) and the latest, Super Mario 3D Worlds. OH, and also Mario Kart!