The words GAME OVER or that iconic coin sound. Today we look beyond the video game character to examine the journey of a cultural symbol that spans generations.
On 13 September 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System didn’t just release Super Mario Bros, the company’s most iconic game, outsold only by Mario Kart 8/Deluxe with over 76 million copies; it also launched its hero, Mario, to fame and worldwide recognition.
How does an eighties plumber become a timeless Nintendo symbol? To understand his meteoric rise from character to brand, we need to ‘jump’ back to the beginning.
Mario grew out of Jumpman, at the time a carpenter and a big arcade favourite, created by Shigeru Miyamoto to take on the gorilla in Donkey Kong (1981). He’s the same character with a different name and job. His new role as a plumber fitted better with the sewers, pipes and underground levels he had to navigate.
Mario’s values, such as courage, perseverance, teamwork, trust, fighting for a fairer world (embodied by Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom), the resilience to take a fall and the strength to get back up, make him an everyday superhero players can relate to. That’s part of his success too: the link between the ordinary and the extraordinary world of fantasy.
The Mario series holds the title of best-selling video game franchise of all time. The Mario brand’s exceptional longevity in the market is directly linked to its ability to adapt to new technologies and keep reinventing itself. New graphics, carefully crafted worlds and innovative gameplay mechanics (in 2015 it let players create their own levels).
Nintendo launched Super Mario Bros, but it was this game that catapulted the entertainment company and Mario himself, who went from icon to global brand.
Today the Mario character is a brand that has sold all kinds of merchandise, not just games, landed major collaborations, with Lego for example, and has theme parks in Japan and the United States.
Mario represents the commercial success of an idea that grew into a memorable, high-impact brand, thanks above all to its ability to connect with its audience, adapt to other platforms and formats, and inspire.
