Ever since Mario first appeared in Nintendo’s Donkey Kong in 1981, he has been a fan favorite in the world of video games. Over the past three decades, Mario has appeared in over a hundred titles on numerous platforms as fans grew up alongside their favorite bearded (well, most of the time) Italian plumber.
For many casual Mario players, it seems like each game is an independent story filled with action and adventure. However, the hardcore players at Scorpigator Films have put together a Super Mario Timeline using clues from the various games to tell the full biography of Mario, the hero of Mushroom Kingdom.
Because of arcade-style titles such as Mario Kart and Mario Party, the Mario franchise seems to have little story line behind the games. However, this YouTube video is here to demystify just that.
According to this particular theory, Mario’s story began in a series of Yoshi’s Island games, in which Mario was born and grew up in the Mushroom Kingdom.
However, for reasons unknown, by the time he became an adult, he and his brother Luigi were already residing in Brooklyn, New York. The manuals for some games go so far as to say the brothers grew up in Brooklyn even, but the exact details were often unclear.
At some point in time, Mario found pipes that could take him back to the Mushroom Kingdom, and thus began his adventures to save Princess Peach, the part of the canon that is most familiar to most players.
Over several games, the main antagonist Bowser repeatedly attempted to kidnap Princess Peach and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, but his plans were always foiled by Mario.
Eventually Bowser gave up, and peace was restored in the Mushroom Kingdom, leading to a series of games that did not feature any real story line, such as Mario Kart and Mario Party.
In fact, it was hypothesized that Mario and Luigi had such a windfall in Super Mario Bros. 2 that he had enough money to purchase toy companies and racing teams – which resulted in the Mario Kart series.
However, the lack of adventure could not satisfy Mario and eventually he set out to rescue Princess Daisy. Upon returning to Mushroom Kingdom, he found that Wario had invaded his land, leading to Wario Land and other entries in the Wario game series. The story ended here, with Mario exiling himself from his homeland due to his love and thirst for adventure.
You can catch the detailed full story here:
Do you agree with this Mario timeline, or would you have come up with an alternative version?
Source/Images: YouTube