On September 13, 1985, the world first got a glimpse of one of videogamekind’s greatest heroes. Super Mario Brothers was released in Japan on the Nintendo Family Computer. Although Mario traces his roots to 1981’s Donkey Kong, I discovered that Nintendo’s Japanese wing considered yesterday to be his 20th birthday. Here is their website, in Japanese of course (I don’t understand a word of it): Happy! Mario 20th
Congratulations, little guy. You have given me much joy and fun over these past two decades. Keep on fighting Bowser, saving the Princess, and starring in fun games.
well SUPER Mario may be 20, but regular Mario has been around since 1981.
I think the bigger birthday here is 20 years since the NES in America. That system single-handedly made the video game industry revive, giving it a second chance after the various Atari/Coleco systems practically ruined it, and the industry that the NES built is still going strong.
I pointed that out in the OP. Of course, it took a bit of evolution for the original Mario (or Jumpman, as he was known) to become the Super Mario we know today. Mario can have two anniversaries, I’m sure. Donkey Kong was very important as it showed that Nintendo could hold its own on two coasts- in Japan and the United States. Nintendo was one of the first Japanese companies to found an American division to distribute its own arcade games in the United States, and Donkey Kong was a big hit in both Japan and America.
That’s a good point, too. After the decline of the Atari 2600, it was a bad time for video games. Here comes this Japanese company with a new machine, and everyone thinks they are crazy. But they were successful. And Mario was there. SMB, among other successful games, helped the NES become a success, and created one of the most memorable characters in video game history, perhaps the most recognized in history. (Or at least maybe number two after Pac-Man. In the early 1990s, it was discovered that more American children could recognize Mario than Mickey Mouse.)
Happy 20th, NES. Happy 20th, Super Mario Bros. May the princess not be in another castle…or something.
Wow. Twenty years of Mario…that unfortunatley means that nintendo has been using the same captured-princess storyline for twenty years. Seems like a long time to spend flogging a dead horse, eh?
