The Diversity of Mario Games

The Mario series is remarkably varied — far more than a single run-and-jump platformer. Here is a tour through some of the games that shaped it.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It arrived a few years before the NES; its first home version appeared on the Atari 2600 in 1982. A major hit, it sold around a million copies and was ported to many platforms. It spawned several sequels and was among the earliest platform games ever made — and the first to feature both Donkey Kong and Mario. The player controls Mario, then known as Jumpman, climbing a series of platforms to rescue his girlfriend Pauline (originally called "Lady") from Donkey Kong, all while jumping over the barrels the ape rolls down at him.

Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. is an arcade game from Nintendo, released in 1983. It featured Mario as the first player and Luigi as the second in a two-player mode. As the successor to Donkey Kong and the predecessor to Super Mario Bros., it cast the brothers as plumbers clearing pests out of the pipes in the sewers beneath New York.

Super Mario Bros.

In Super Mario Bros., Mario sets out to rescue Princess Peach Toadstool from King Bowser Koopa. Bowser has used dark magic on the Mushroom Kingdom, turning its Toad citizens into bricks and other objects — and only the Princess can undo the spell, which is why he has captured her. In two-player mode, the second player takes control of Mario’s brother Luigi whenever the first player loses a life.

Yoshi

Yoshi is a puzzle game for the NES and Game Boy starring Yoshi, Mario and Luigi. Known in Japan as Yoshi no Tamago ("Yoshi’s Egg") and in Europe as Mario & Yoshi, it has the player control Mario or Luigi as they clear falling pieces by stacking matching ones together.

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart is a racing game for one or two players (two-player being split-screen). Before a race you choose one of eight characters — Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Toad, Donkey Kong Jr. and Koopa Troopa — then pick one of four cups, each with five courses. Points are awarded by finish position, and the drivers with the most points across the five races win the cup. Later Mario Kart games expanded to eight and even twelve racers at once.

Beyond these, the series branches into sports and party spin-offs such as Mario Tennis and Mario Baseball, and many older titles have been re-released for newer Nintendo hardware — proof of just how diverse the Mario family of games has become.