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Super Mario series

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Super Mario Wiki logo.png This article is a short summary of Super Mario series.
Super Mario Wiki features a more in-depth article.
Super Mario
スーパーマリオ
Sūpā Mario
Super Mario logo.png
Creator: Shigeru Miyamoto
First game: Donkey Kong (1981)
Best-selling game: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (60.58 million[1] copies)
Latest game: Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2023)
For in-depth information:
NIWA
Super Mario Wiki
is dedicated to chronicling the Super Mario series.
For additional information:
NIWA
Bulbapedia
is another wiki dedicated to {{{niwa2-purpose}}} the Super Mario series.

The Super Mario series (alternatively known as the Super Mario Bros. series,the Super Mario franchise, or simply the Mario series) refers to the overall franchise comprised of a number of series and games based off of the Super Mario Bros. platforming games, and is Nintendo's primary flagship franchise, with new Mario games appearing on all of Nintendo's systems to date since the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Super Mario series is typically used to refer to the platforming games, on which all other games are based, though the overall franchise also includes series and games such as Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, Mario Party and others. With over 300 titles and over 800 million copies sold between all subsets of the franchise, the Super Mario series is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with the core platforming games alone selling over 310 million units.[2]

Overview

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Arcade

The Super Mario series began with the creation of the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, which involved Mario trying to rescue his girlfriend, Pauline, from the eponymous ape and established the platforming aspect prevalent in much of the series. The character of Mario was originally referred to under the title of Jumpman, and would receive his current name of "Mario" after Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord, Mario Segale.

The Donkey Kong game would later go on to receive two sequels: Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3, which would be spun off into a distinct franchise of Donkey Kong games. After his role as the antagonist of Donkey Kong Jr., Mario would later star in the 1983 arcade title Mario Bros..

Main series

The Super Mario series would begin in its current form in 1985, when the first side-scrolling platform game in the series, Super Mario Bros., was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Selling over 40 million copies, Super Mario Bros. would go on to spawn a number of successors. In 1991, Super Mario Land, the series' first handheld installment, was released for the Game Boy, directed by Gunpei Yokoi rather than Miyamoto. The series would later transition into 3D in 1996 with Super Mario 64. Later, after the release of Super Mario Sunshine, the series would return to the 2D gameplay style with the New Super Mario Bros. series, currently spanning four games across four platforms.

The platforming titles have also spun off into their own distinct series. In 1992, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was released, which introduced Wario, a rival character for Mario. Wario would go on to be the star of the game's sequel, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, with future sequels using the Wario Land moniker. In addition, Yoshi, Mario's dinosaur partner in Super Mario World, would be the starring character in a number of puzzle games before the 1994 game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, which spawned the Yoshi's Island series of platforming titles.

Spin-off games

Mario Kart

Mario Party

Role-playing games

In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Developed by Squaresoft, the game is a turn-based role-playing game that also features elements of Super Mario platforming games, and features pre-rendered 3D graphics. The game features Mario on a quest to find the seven Star Pieces and restore the Star Road, so that One notable feature of the battle system compared to other games is the addition of "timed hits"; by pressing a button at the right time, the player will be able to deal more damage then normal while attacking, or take less damage when an enemy attacks. While a sequel was never released, two spiritual successor series would later be developed.

Paper Mario is a series of role-playing games set in a "pop-up book"-style world, featuring 2D incarnations of the characters in 3D environments. Since the release of the original Paper Mario in 2000, five games have been released in the series to date, with most of them featuring a distinct style of gameplay. Similar to Super Mario RPG, the games generally use a simplified turn-based battle system and feature an "action command" system similar to timed hits.

Starting with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in 2004, the Mario & Luigi series marks the second role-playing series. The games use a more stylized, hand-drawn appearance compared to other Mario games, and generally feature a more comical tone compared. The primary gameplay has players controlling both Mario and Luigi using individual buttons (A and B, respectively). Since the original game, five Mario & Luigi titles have been released, each of them featuring their own individual gameplay gimmicks.

Other games

In 1994, Philips released Hotel Mario for their Philips CD-i media player. Developed by Fantasy Factory, Philips was able to obtain the rights to the Mario license as part of a deal between them and Nintendo to create a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game features Mario traveling across a series of hotels, in which the goal is the close all the doors on each stage. Two additional games, a Super Mario World pseudo-sequel named Super Mario's Wacky Worlds and an FMV edutainment game Mario Takes America, were also in development for the system, but were cancelled.

Other media

Television / animation

Mario's first animated appearance would be in the 1983 animated series Saturday Supercade, produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and featuring cartoons based on various popular arcade games. One of the show's segments is based on Donkey Kong, which stars Mario and Pauline as they travel across the country chasing the escaped Donkey Kong.

Between 1989 and 1991, animation company DIC Entertainment would produce three animated cartoon series based on the games. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! aired for 65 episodes between September and December 1989. The show featured both live-action segments starring Mario and Luigi as plumbers in Brooklyn, and animated segments loosely based on Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 showing the brothers' adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom; on Fridays, however, an episode of The Legend of Zelda cartoon would air as that episode's animated segment. Between September and December 1990, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 aired for 26 episodes, more directly based on the game. Fully animated, the show features Mario and Luigi defending the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa and his seven Koopalings. Finally, Super Mario World originally aired from September to December of 1991 for 13 episodes, and showed Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool's adventures in Dinosaur Land, alongside newcomer Yoshi.

Film

A live-action film adaptation of the series simply titled Super Mario Bros. was released in theaters in May 1993. Produced by Lightmotive and starring Bob Hoskins as Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, Samantha Mathis as Daisy, and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa, the movie involves the brothers discovering a parallel universe where the dinosaurs lived and evolved, with King Koopa seeking to merge the two dimensions back into one by reuniting a shard of the meteorite with the rest. The shard, however, is kept by Daisy, who is actually the rightful princess of the alternate world. The film was critically panned, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 14% of critics gave the film a positive review, and a financial failure, grossing only $20 at the box office on a budget of $48 million, but has since gained a cult following.

In February 2018, it was announced that Nintendo had partnered with Illumination to produce an animated film based on the Super Mario franchise. The film is being produced by Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto, and will be distributed by Universal Pictures.[3] The film will release in theaters on April 7, 2023.[4]

Literature

Other appearances

Several Super Mario characters appear as playable characters within the Super Smash Bros. series. Mario and Luigi have appeared since the original title, Peach, Bowser, and Dr. Mario were introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Rosalina and Bowser Jr. were introduced in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. (While other series regulars such as Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong also appear, they are counted as characters from their own franchises.) A number of stages and items based on the various aspects of the franchise also appear.

Games published by Nintendo

Game JP release NA release EU release AUS release KOR release Platform
00
2D platform games
Super Mario Bros. 1985 1985 1987 1987 2008 Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels 1986 2007 2007 2007 2016 Famicom Disk System
Super Mario Bros. 2 1992 1988 1989 1989 2008 Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom
Super Mario Land 1989 1989 1990 2011 2016 Game Boy
Super Mario Bros. 3 1988 1990 1991 1991 2008 Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario World 1990 1991 1992 1992 2008 Super Nintendo
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 1992 1992 1993 2011 2016 Game Boy
New Super Mario Bros. 2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 Nintendo DS
New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2009 2009 2009 2009 2010 Wii
New Super Mario Bros. 2 2012 2012 2012 2012 2012 Nintendo 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. U 2012 2012 2012 2012 N/A Wii U
New Super Luigi U 2013 2013 2013 2013 N/A Wii U
Super Mario Maker 2015 2015 2015 2015 N/A Wii U
Super Mario Run 2016 2016 2016 2016 2017 iOS / Android
Super Mario Maker 2 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 Nintendo Switch
00
3D platform games
Super Mario 64 1996 1996 1997 1997 N/A Nintendo 64
Super Mario Sunshine 2002 2002 2002 2002 2002 Nintendo GameCube
Super Mario Galaxy 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2 2010 2010 2010 2010 2011 Wii
Super Mario 3D Land 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 Nintendo 3DS
Super Mario 3D World 2013 2013 2013 2013 N/A Wii U
Super Mario Odyssey 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Bros. Wonder 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 Nintendo Switch
00
Mario Kart series
Super Mario Kart 1992 1992 1993 2010 N/A Super Nintendo
Mario Kart 64 1996 1997 1997 1998 2008 Nintendo 64
Mario Kart: Super Circuit 2001 2001 2001 2001 N/A Game Boy Advance
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! 2003 2003 2003 2003 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Kart DS 2005 2005 2005 2005 2007 Nintendo DS
Mario Kart Wii 2008 2008 2008 2008 2009 Wii
Mario Kart 7 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Kart 8 2014 2014 2014 2014 N/A Wii U
Mario Kart Tour 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 iOS / Android
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 Nintendo Switch
00
Mario Party series
Mario Party 1998 1999 1999 1999 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario Party 2 1999 2000 2000 2000 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario Party 3 2000 2001 2001 2001 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario Party 4 2002 2002 2002 2002 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party-e 2003 2003 ?? ?? ?? e-Reader/GBA/TCG
Mario Party 5 2003 2003 2003 2003 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 6 2004 2004 2005 2005 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party Advance 2005 2005 2005 2014 N/A Game Boy Advance
Mario Party 7 2005 2005 2006 2006 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 8 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 Wii
Mario Party DS 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 Nintendo DS
Mario Party 9 2012 2012 2012 2012 2013 Wii
Mario Party: Island Tour 2014 2013 2014 2014 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party 10 2015 2015 2015 2015 N/A Wii U
Mario Party: Star Rush 2016 2016 2016 2016 2017 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party: The Top 100 2017 2017 2017 2017 N/A Nintendo 3DS
Super Mario Party 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 Nintendo Switch
Mario Party Superstars 2021 2021 2021 2021 N/A Nintendo Switch
00
Role-playing games
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 1996 1996 2008 2008 N/A Super Nintendo
Paper Mario 2000 2001 2001 2001 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga 2003 2003 2003 2003 N/A Game Boy Advance
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door 2004 2004 2004 2004 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time 2005 2005 2006 2006 2010 Nintendo DS
Super Paper Mario 2007 2007 2007 2007 2009 Wii
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story 2009 2009 2009 2009 2011 Nintendo DS
Paper Mario: Sticker Star 2012 2012 2012 2012 2013 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team 2013 2013 2013 2013 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam 2015 2016 2015 2015 2016 Nintendo 3DS
Paper Mario: Color Splash 2016 2016 2016 2016 N/A Wii U
Paper Mario: The Origami King 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 Nintendo Switch
00
Sports games
Golf 1984 1985 1986 N/A N/A NES
Golf 1989 1990 1990 N/A N/A Game Boy
NES Open Tournament Golf 1991 1991 1992 2012 2008 NES
Mario's Tennis 1995 1995 N/A N/A N/A Virtual Boy
Mario Golf 1999 1999 1999 1999 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario Golf 1999 1999 1999 1999 N/A Game Boy Color
Mario Tennis 2000 2000 2000 2000 N/A Nintendo 64
Mario Tennis 2000 2001 2001 2001 N/A Game Boy Color
Mobile Golf 2001 N/A N/A N/A N/A Game Boy Color
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour 2003 2003 2004 2004 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Golf: Advance Tour 2004 2004 2004 2004 N/A Game Boy Advance
Mario Power Tennis 2004 2004 2005 2005 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Superstar Baseball 2005 2005 2005 N/A N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Tennis: Power Tour 2005 2005 2005 2005 N/A Game Boy Advance
Super Mario Strikers 2005 2005 2005 2006 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 2006 2006 2007 2006 N/A Nintendo DS
Mario Strikers Charged 2007 2007 2007 2007 2010 Wii
Mario Super Sluggers 2008 2008 N/A N/A N/A Wii
Mario Sports Mix 2010 2011 2011 2011 N/A Wii
Mario Tennis Open 2012 2012 2012 2012 2013 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Golf: World Tour 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash 2016 2015 2015 2015 N/A Wii U
Mario Sports Superstars 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Tennis Aces 2018 2018 2018 2018 2018 Nintendo Switch
Mario Golf: Super Rush 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 Nintendo Switch
Mario Strikers: Battle League 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 Nintendo Switch
00
Other games
Mario Bros. 1983 1983 1986 2006 2008 Arcade
Mario Paint 1992 1992 1992 N/A N/A Super Nintendo
Mario Paint BS Ban ?? N/A N/A N/A N/A Satellaview
Mario Paint Yuushou Naizou Ban ?? N/A N/A N/A N/A Satellaview
Mario & Wario 1993 N/A N/A N/A N/A Super Nintendo
Mario's Picross 1995 1995 1995 1995 N/A Game Boy
Mario's Super Picross 1995 N/A 2007 2007 N/A Super Famicom
Mario Artist: Paint Studio 1999 N/A N/A N/A N/A Nintendo 64DD
Mario Artist: Talent Studio 2000 N/A N/A N/A N/A Nintendo 64DD
Mario Artist: Communication Kit 2000 N/A N/A N/A N/A Nintendo 64DD
Mario Artist: Polygon Studio 2000 N/A N/A N/A N/A Nintendo 64DD
Mario Pinball Land 2004 2004 2004 2004 N/A Game Boy Advance
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix 2005 2005 2005 2005 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Super Princess Peach 2005 2006 2006 2006 N/A Nintendo GameCube
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker 2014 2014 2015 2015 N/A Wii U
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle 2018 2017 2017 2017 2018 Nintendo Switch
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 Nintendo Switch
Princess Peach: Showtime! 2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 Nintendo Switch
00
Ports and remakes
Super Mario All-Stars 1993 1993 1993 1993 N/A Super Nintendo
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World N/A 1994 1995 N/A N/A Super Nintendo
BS Super Mario USA 1996 N/A N/A N/A N/A Satellaview
BS Super Mario Collection 1997/1998 N/A N/A N/A N/A Satellaview
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe 2000 1999 1999 1999 2016 Game Boy Color
Super Mario Advance 2001 2001 2001 2001 N/A Game Boy Advance
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 2001 2002 2002 2002 2002 Game Boy Advance
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 2002 2002 2002 2003 N/A Game Boy Advance
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 2003 2003 2003 2003 N/A Game Boy Advance
Famicom Mini: Mario Bros. 2004 N/A N/A N/A N/A Game Boy Advance
Classic NES Series: Super Mario Bros. 2004 2004 2004 2004 N/A Game Boy Advance
Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario 2004 2004 2005 2005 N/A Game Boy Advance
Famicom Mini: Super Mario Bros. 2 2004 N/A N/A N/A N/A Game Boy Advance
Super Mario 64 DS 2004 2004 2005 2005 2007 Nintendo DS
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis 2009 2009 2009 2009 N/A Wii
Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 Wii
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS 2016 2016 2016 2016 N/A Nintendo 3DS
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 Nintendo Switch
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions 2017 2017 2017 2017 N/A Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey 2018 2019 2019 2019 N/A Nintendo 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe 2019 2019 2019 2019 2019 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario RPG 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 Nintendo Switch
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2024 2024 2024 2024 2024 Nintendo Switch
00
Crossovers
Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium 1987 N/A N/A N/A N/A Satellaview
Itadaki Street DS 2007 N/A N/A N/A N/A Nintendo DS
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 Wii/Nintendo DS
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 Wii/Nintendo DS
Fortune Street 2011 2011 2011 2012 N/A Wii
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games 2011 2011 2011 2011 N/A Wii / Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games 2013 2013 2013 2013 N/A Wii U
Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 Nintendo 3DS / Wii U / Arcade

External links

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The Super Mario series on other NIWA Wikis:
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SmashWiki
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StrategyWiki

References

  1. Top Selling Title Sales Units. Nintendo. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. Super Mario Maker has sold 1 Million units around the world. Nintendo (September 30, 2015). Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  3. Illumination and Nintendo Begin Development on Animated Film Based on the World of Super Mario Bros. Nintendo (February 1, 2018). Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  4. Corporate Management Policy Briefing /Nine Months Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ending March 2019. Nintendo (February 1, 2019). Retrieved February 1, 2019.


Super Mario series logo
Platformers
2D
3D
Ports and remakes
Multiplayer-focused games
Mario Kart
Mario Party
Sports
Other games
Role-playing
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario • 64 • + Puzzle League • Online Rx • Express • Dr. Luigi • Miracle Cure • World
Mario vs. Donkey Kong Mario vs. Donkey Kong • March of the Minis • Minis March Again! • Mini-Land Mayhem! • Minis on the Move • Tipping Stars • amiibo Challenge
Crossover games
Misc.
e-Reader applications (Mario Party-e) Free Challenge: Cast Away Mario!  • Mario's Mallet  • Daisy's Rodeo!  • Fast Feed Yoshi!
Wonder Challenge: Lakitu's Luck, Spinister Bowser
Duel Challenge: Bolt from Boo, Time Bomb Ticks!, Wario's Bluff, Balloon Burst!
Applications I Am a Teacher: Super Mario Sweater • Mario Calculator • Mario Clock • Photos with Mario • Shitamachi Ninjou Gekijou (Satellaview magazine)
Related NIWA Wikis:
Super Mario series: Super Mario Wiki icon English Super Mario Wiki icon • MarioWiki icon German MarioWiki icon • Super Mario Wiki (Italian) icon Italian Super Mario Wiki (Italian) icon
Super Mario 64: Ukikipedia icon Ukikipedia Ukikipedia icon


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