[BLOG] Memories Of Mario: Celebrating 30 Years Of The Plumber

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Digmbot
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[BLOG] Memories Of Mario: Celebrating 30 Years Of The Plumber

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Mario is 30 years old! Can you believe it? His catalog of games is impressive. He’s arguably the most popular and recognizable video game character ever. To celebrate, we at Sanitarium.FM have gotten together and searched the dusty cobwebs of our addled little brains for our earliest or best Mario memories! Read on and marvel at how ancient some of us are!



Digmbot

I first saw Mario in a Pizza Hut. It was one of those sit down machines that had Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong on it. I drove my mother absolutely crazy to get the quarter I needed to play it. I even called her to confirm her irritation level for this article. She was mad. Ever since then, I’ve loved the franchise. I’ve played every core game and Mario never ceases to make me smile. The sheer pleasure of the pitch perfect platforming controls, the music, the incredible ingenuity of the levels.



There’s a reason everyone holds up the plumber as the gold standard of platformers. He practically created the sidescrolling platformer. He damn sure DID show everyone else how to transition to 3D. And the Mario Galaxy games are a master’s course on how to evolve level design so that nothing ever feels stale. In short, to me playing a Mario game is an exercise in the most simple joy of gaming. Tight gameplay, wonderful levels and pure fun.



Never change Mario. Never change. Except for the movie and cartoon. Never do that again. PLEASE. *turns up bottle of whiskey*



Lonesamurai



Although I’ve known of Mario since the early years of gaming, especially seeing Mario in movies and other geek culture (including news reports of video games rotting kids brains and being too violent (yeah, fuck you Mortal Kombat!), my first experience of playing Mario was actually Super Mario 3 at a friends house.  Before that I was relegated to my Atari until I could afford my own console.



I was actually well ensconced in the SEGA camp though, going from Master System and Mega drive (Genesis) upto the Saturn and Dreamcast, but I had friends and housemates with Nintendo’s through the years and played all the various incarnations.



One of my fondest Mario memories was working at GAME when the DS version of Mario 64 was released and we marvelled at the power in such a small handheld unit.



Of course, then there are the EPIC memories of drunken Mario Kart games at college...  But sober memories of DOOM, Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 1 during my networking classes, so yeah, there are some good hazy memories of Mario too.



But I am still a Sonic fanboy, screw Mario!



Also, love the movie!  RIP Bob Hoskins!  



~ Lone



PredictedCyborg



I remember growing up in the 90s seeing ads for Mario games from my earliest days of watching children’s television. To me as a kid Nintendo = Mario and playing Mario was an excellent and cool way to show off to your friends. Never got to be one of those cool kids though. The Mario cartoon is one I grew up watching though as a very little cyborg although god knows I don’t remember any of it anymore.



First time I got to play any Mario game was when Sunshine was releasing, playing a demo of the first level in a shop. Shame I didn’t have a Gamecube then because I did enjoy it. I’ve played demos of various other Mario games over the years too, mostly the handheld console versions and I’ve never really shown a great level of skill at them… although with practice maybe I could be better.



Also I used to entertain a section of a lunch club I was a part of as one of the ‘responsible older kids running things’ in high school by joining them for the daily Mario Kart DS races. The local wi-fi signals were great and although I can’t claim to have been the best player of that game, I wasn’t half-bad at it.



Crimsonshade



One of the things I will admire about Mario now that he celebrates the mature age of 30 is that, unlike some of the other popular video game mascots from time past that still remain around today, Mario has never really made a false step or been grossly mistreated by those who direct him now. (Crash! Sonic! Mega Man! WHYYYY?!?) Part of this is probably down to his versatility - an Italian plumber who also moonlighted as a carpenter in his earlier days, Mario has the skills to adapt to all kinds of different lines of work, and Nintendo’s various experiments over the years have cemented him as a man of many talents - yet, at the same time, his core series of games have remained steadfastly rigid and unmistakably “Mario” for his entire lifespan, while still managing to introduce enough subtle new tweaks that no two games ever feel the same. My personal favourite game is Super Mario Bros. 3 (which I have never actually completed, embarrassingly…); but the recent reboots - starting from the DS Era with New Super Mario Bros, all the way through to Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS - all reaffirm to me why I still maintain a fondness for Mario in my heart.



Still, I won’t forgive Nintendo for the movie; or for creating Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels. That game’s a bastard. (He says after dying for the hundredth time playing the Wii Virtual Console port…)



Shelby



One of my earliest memories of Mario was snatching the controller out of Digm’s hands when he was trying to finish a difficult section of Super Mario 64. I thought it was the best game ever, because I could watch him fail in glorious 3D. Since then, Mario has given me countless ways to make him miserable. So thank you Mario. I’ll kill you last.



So evil… - Crimsonshade



RattlinMan



1996 or 1997 I think. My memory is extremely fuzzy but what I remember for sure is that on countless occasions before I reached double digits in my age, is that I would always endeavour to steal my sister's Game Boy (one of the older, chunkier models that could knock someone out) and sneak back to my room and by lamplight try and fail ENDLESSLY to get even a third of the way through Super Mario Land 2. I seem to recall my favourite levels were the ones that included a lot of green jelly...at least I assumed it was green, yeah I’m gonna go with green, but that was only because they were so easy. But of course I would get found out and yelled at for borrowing the Game Boy without permission, even parental permission wouldn’t stop me from gaming back in those days. Oh what a maverick I was when I was a child. But yeah, Super Mario Land 2, Game Boy like a brick, theft and green jelly.

I’m hungry now. For green jelly.

  • RattlinMan


Scarlet_Dragon



I wasn’t going to add to this sycophantic Mario-fest as I didn’t grow up with Mario. But needs must, and I’m not allowed to decline; so here goes.

I grew up with Sonic the Hedgehog. My family had a Mega Drive and I loved that over-heating black box of arguments so much. It brought me closer to my brother and father, and then further away again, when I lost.



I was the kid on the playground who argued against Mario. I couldn’t stand that mushroom eating, high jumping, red bastard. I didn’t want to go to the other children’s houses to play the newest incarnation of racing game or princess saving simulator. But I still couldn’t escape him.



I was very young when the film came out and it still scares me to this day. I didn’t enjoy it, and even my Mum later admitted it was crap and she shouldn’t have exposed her children to that filth.



I finally gave into the Mario craze 3 years ago. It was a dark night, and much alcohol was consumed. As anyone who finds themselves in that situation, you trust your friends. So one who shall rename nameless (Chris!) pulls out an old-style GameCube. I loved that silver box. It had so much Zelda nostalgia, I could cry. But then, those bastards put Mario Kart on, thrust the controller in my hand and whispered “play”. A character was already loaded, so with palms sweating, and bile rising in my gullet, I tried my best. But alas! All my years of Sonic platforming could not prepare me for the severe game-shafting I was subjected to that night. I was the laughing stock of the group for weeks to come. So, my first game of Mario involved not only my closest friend’s betraying me, but also the beautiful GameCube forsaking me.



Happy fucking Birthday you red bastard!



-Scarlet_Dragon



-Digmbot

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