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[Geno]

I had to write an informative speech for, you guessed it, speech class. This is the end result. It's a VERY BRIEF history on Mario games. I'm presenting tomorrow. Please let me know how it is:

In 1981, a mechanical wonder graced the world with its presence, and introduced the world to a character more recognized than even Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. One could say it provided many people with hours of barrels, jumping, giant monkeys, and many, many wasted quarters. Of course, I speak of the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. The main character of said game is none other than the world-famous Jumpman. Well, that’s what he was called back in the day of old. Of course, he’s more commonly referred to today as Mario. I am here to give a brief history of this timeless character.

The best way to begin is with how this marvelous man with the sweet ‘stache got his name. Let’s travel back 27 years, and pretend to sit in on an old Nintendo board meeting. A powerful man bursts in, demanding his long overdue rent. It’s the landlord: Mario Segali. Well, you can guess how it rolled after that.

Mario’s first appearance was in the arcade game Donkey Kong, as I mentioned before. The goal was to leap various barrels and scale ladders in order to save the unnamed princess –who would later be known as Toadstool, or Peach – from the monkey menace, Donkey Kong. It was a smash hit in the United States. Nintendo released Donkey Kong Jr. later, and I bet you wouldn’t expect to see it, but Mario was the villain of the game. His third appearance was once again in the arcade, in which his brother, Luigi, took on his first mission. The game was conveniently named Mario Bros.

In 1985, with the release of the first Nintendo home system – The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short – a game of epic proportions filled the world’s homes, and won the hearts of millions. I speak of Super Mario Bros. I know that most of you have enjoyed this game, or at least played a cheesy internet rip-off of it. Its story was fairly non-existent, but its point was clear: jump on turtles, nab some ‘shrooms, and save the princess from the clutches of the evil King Koopa… We know him now as Bowser. This game single handedly stole the video game market, selling 40 million copies, making it the best-selling game of all-time.

Mario’s success would continue with quite a few sequels. Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 would follow the first, and continue onto five more systems. With the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, Mario was given more life – and colors – in Super Mario World. Super Mario World wasn’t the only title to appear on the SNES. Super Mario Kart took racing games to the next level. Crazy little races involving dangerous weapons such as bananas, turtle shells, or stars took place on colorful tracks. This game revolutionized racing games, and had a good amount of sequels. A large amount of new faces were revealed on the Super Nintendo, including Mario’s noble steed, Yoshi.

After the continued success of the Super Nintendo, and Sony’s release of the Playstation, Nintendo had to make a game that would dominate the competition. With the release of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, a very special game was right by its side. With a flick of the power switch, and the words, “It’s-a me, Mario!”, Sony was vanquished. Super Mario 64 stormed the market, forever revolutionizing and redefining video games.

It would be years before Mario would have another adventure, but in this absence, many spin-offs were brought into the field, such as Mario Kart 64, Mario Tennis, Mario Party 1, 2, and 3, Mario Golf and Paper Mario. Super Smash Bros. was later released, bringing Mario into the fighting scene.

In 2002, Mario went tropical in Super Mario Sunshine, in which an evil version of the mustachioed plumber vandalized a beachfront town, forcing Mario to take the blame and literally clean up afterward. While the game sold well, it fell short of its predecessors. After its release, Mario took another trip to into the spin-off word. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Superstar Baseball, Super Mario Strikers, Mario Party 4, 5, 6, and 7, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and Mario Power Tennis filled in the gap until Nintendo’s next, more motion-based system.

In 2006, Nintendo turned the tables of the game world with the release of its Wii console. Mario would have to wait almost a year before he reappeared in a major game. Once again, fillers were put in to pass the time. These games contained Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Party 8, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, and Super Paper Mario. After the long wait, one of the Wii’s most anticipated gems was delivered to the world: Super Mario Galaxy. Once again, Mario revolutionized gaming, and brought the Wii out of its predicament of not having enough satisfying games.

But, with all this success, one has to ask: What defines a Mario game? Well, it’s quite simple. Actually, maybe not. Mario games connect with the player, they don’t just serve as a source of entertainment. They bring out the fun-loving person in all of us, and we seem to become one with the character. We may not feel the pain when a big block falls on his head, or when he falls into a pit of molten lava, but we care about the characters. We want to save Princess Peach. She’s been taken from us, and we need to save her, or else we’ll lose to the enemy! Not on our watch! When someone has played Mario games his or her entire life, he becomes a part of them, almost literally.

Mario has grown and changed over the years, from a tiny, fat, two-dimensional arcade character to the symbol of video games, and one of the world’s most famous icons. He has brought with him the enjoyment of millions and the envy of his rivals. Mario, in the end… Hell, there will never be an end to Mario. He’ll always live on in the hearts of millions for years to come.