Ian Grogan does the 80s

This week's guide to Mario Bros., the most famous video game icons

By: Ian Grogan

Posted: 5/16/08

Recently I had an epiphany. How can I write a column and not address one of the few things that actually survived the '80s: the Mario Brothers! They are arguably the most recognizable video game duo. Mario is the most popular for appearing in more than 200 games in his few decades as a hero, and Luigi as his taller, younger companion.

In 1981, Shigeru Miyamoto needed a protagonist for his new arcade game, "Donkey Kong," featuring Mario's pet monkey. Miyamoto needed someone who could show the overgrown ape barrels and fireballs are a weak defense, so he introduced the world to the "Jumpman," later to be known as Mario.

Jumpman was a short, mustached bandit who ran around in a jumpsuit thwarting Donkey Kong's unknown evil plans for the princess. He had very few motions, left, right, jump, hammer and climb. Your objective was to stop at nothing to reach the top of the level to rescue the damsel in distress. To some this would be considered the classic hero scenario. The catch is that Donkey Kong is doing everything in his power to stop you, which made your mission increasingly difficult.

In "Donkey Kong," Jumpman was referred to as a carpenter. But when the next arcade game came out, the twins were dubbed plumbers. The first we see of Mario and Luigi working together is in the 1983 classic, "Mario Bros." New enemies were introduced to the brothers; enemies such as the Shellcreepers, crabs, Fighter Flies and Freezies. The land was an astounding place with a series of tubes that enemies popped out of, and it was up to you to stop them.

With the success of "Mario Bros." and the new system, NES, the only plan of action was to put forth a game known as "Super Mario Bros." This game was to be the best-selling game of all time, pushing the twins further into the spotlight.

The idea of the game was to rush through the Mushroom Kingdom to catch up to the new character, Bowser, who has pulled a Donkey Kong and stolen the princess for his unknown purposes. Bowser had an army of Goombas and Koopa Troopas which all tried to stop your process, easily being destroyed by mainly stomping on their heads. You also got an assortment of "powerups" such as mushrooms and fireballs, a well-equipped arsenal to destroy the invaders of the Mushroom Kingdom. This was set in stone to be the twins', and even Nintendo's, best game ever.

A spin-off movie loosely based on the game was released in 1993 and bombed at the box office. The film had big-name stars, but gamers were disgusted at its incoherent plot and poor adaptation of the game. There were also a few cartoons that ran for 91 episodes, collectively, on three different shows: "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show," "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" and "Super Mario World."

Years went on, and the duo went on to star in many sequels of games, all revolving around the brothers Mario and that menacing Bowser. The characters have also been hidden in many other games such as "Mike Tyson's Punchout," "Metal Gear" and even "Zelda."

The duo worked with other characters such as Peach, Yoshi, Toad and Bowser in the racing game "Mario Kart" and later down the road got more physical in "Smash Bros."

Along the way the two adopted more and more enemies as they fought to save the Mushroom Kingdom and other places. Other than Bowser, a famous enemy of the twins was Wario, the evil Mario doppelganger and the final boss in 1992's "Super Mario Land 2."

While they may have moved on with technology, their looks may have changed and personalities may have been created, let's not forget the '80s birth of the Mario brothers, the most dominant duo of the gaming industry and saviors to us all.

Ian Grogan

diversions@dailybarometer.com