Five Super Mario facts every video gamer should know


Mario remains one of the most iconic characters in the gaming world, and his games are as popular now as they’ve ever been. He has moved beyond being a gaming mascot, and every video gamer is familiar with the princess-saving Nintendo plumber. However, it appears Mario has been keeping some pretty interesting facts from us for all these years.

This modest platforming title from Nintendo has a surprising amount of history and interesting facts which we’re going to unravel in this post. This is great news for hardcore fans. So, jump on these Super Mario facts and get to know every snippet of Mario trivia.

Mario’s Donkey Kong connection

Super Mario was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto, and was also featured in the 1981 arcade platformer title, Donkey Kong. In 1977, Nintendo hired Miyamoto as a graphic artist whose task was to design the game. This was after the company’s numerous coin-ops had failed to impress fans in the lucrative arcade marketplace.

Miyamoto built Donkey Kong leveraging the hardware behind the previous arcade title dubbed Radar Scope, which vanished later in the US without a trace. He omitted the shooting theme and included an ape and rolling barrels. The game turned out to be a natural success.

Five Super Mario facts every video gamer should know

Mario started as a carpenter

Originally, Mario was a carpenter and not a plumber. He first appeared as a carpenter in the Donkey Kong arcade game, with a mission to save his girlfriend who was held hostage by Donkey Kong at the top of a building. Since the game took place at a construction site, making Mario a carpenter made more sense. Later on, pipes became an essential part of the games, so he was eventually turned into a plumber.

He wasn’t always named Mario

Mario was initially called Jumpman. However, when the folks in Nintendo’s office were brainstorming a better name for the game, there were frequent interruptions from a landlord named Mario Segale. And just like that, the game was christened Mario.

Mario was a villain

We all tend to think of Mario as a hero. But in reality, he was a villain whose past was pretty dark. Donkey Kong was actually Mario’s pet in the original Donkey Kong game. Sadly, Mario was so mean to him that he opted to imprison Mario’s girlfriend on the rooftop. It appears Mario never learned, even after that incident, because we saw him return to his upsetting ways in Donkey Kong Jr. The main mission of Donkey Kong Jr. is to rescue his dad, who Mario has locked in a cage.

Five Super Mario facts every video gamer should know

The Minus World

One Mario game contains a secret Minus World, an unexpected glitch you’ll be surprised to hear about. It’s known as World 36 in the game, but it might also be referred to as World -1 or Minus World. You’ll find this secret world at the end of the game’s World 1-2, which is close to the pipe that enables you to exit the level.

To reach this world, you’ll need to stand atop the pipe and break the two bricks located directly above you. Then, turn around and try jumping into the pipe in reverse motion. It’s preferable to duck while you jump, although it isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get there on the first attempt.

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