Mario: Difference between revisions

|lastappearance = ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario & Luigi: Brothership}}'' (2024)

For over 30 years afterward, Mario would star in many games for various Nintendo systems. Mario and his accompanying franchise can be viewed as Nintendo's thematic tileset with which to create games of a whimsical, colorful, and light-hearted nature. Mario himself is meant to be a character anyone can enjoy playing as and can fit well as a protagonist figure and/or main balanced character in many genres of games. To this end, he is not portrayed as a character that undergoes development like what players would see from a character within an expansive story, but rather a character defined by the player's actions with a few defining traits of his own, such as his cheerfulness, whimsy, desire to help others, and humorous high-pitched Italian accent provided by Charles Martinet. As such, Mario is a semi-silent protagonist, who is sporadically depicted speaking coherent English sentences. In contemporary ''Mario'' games, most of his vocalizations are grunts, yells, and the occasional catchphrase, such as "Mama Mia!", "It's-a me, Mario!" and "Let's-a-go!", although he is shown to speak at length in some spin-off games and official interviews. Likewise, while Mario largely serves as a "everyman" protagonist to fulfill any role as needed to be, he has shown plenty of characterization; for instance, the ending of ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Odyssey}}'' has Mario comfort his longtime nemesis, Bowser, after Peach rejects both of their marriage proposals, showing him to be a selfless person who sees the best qualities in others. As an everyman character, the optimistic protagonist and the flagship character for both his series and company, Mario is inherently easy for players of his various games to appreciate, and he is usually the most balanced playable character in any game he appears in. While Mario's definitive, Martinet-voiced depiction was codified by ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario 64}}'', to the extent that Martinet's successor {{iw|mariowiki|Kevin Afghani}} would effectively perform impressions of Martinet's voices for Mario (and Luigi), most auxiliary media prior to that game (such as a trio of animated series produced by the now-defunct {{iw|mariowiki|DIC Entertainment}} and [[mariowiki:Super Mario Bros. (film)|the 1993 live-action film]]) provided different portrayals of the iconic plumber, typically as a mild caricature of a working-class Italian-American with a gruff Brooklyn accent, some elements of which were portrayed in [[mariowiki:The Super Mario Bros. Movie|the 2023 animated film]].  

Genres of games in which Mario appears in a playable role include the traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer ''Super Mario Bros.'' and its various sequels; the famed Super NES launch platformer ''[[Super Mario World]]'', which introduced [[Yoshi]] as a trustworthy mount of sorts for Mario; and ''{{iw|mariowiki|New Super Mario Bros.}}'' and its respective sequels, which are revivals of the ''Super Mario Bros.'' series' gameplay. Mario has also had various 3D platforming adventures, such as the seminal ''Super Mario 64'' adventure game launched for the [[Nintendo 64]], followed up by ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Sunshine}}'' for the [[Nintendo GameCube]], ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Galaxy}}'' for the [[Wii]], ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario 3D World}}'' for the [[Wii U]], and ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario Odyssey}}'' for the [[Nintendo Switch]]. In addition to each of these games being critical successes, ''64'', the ''Galaxy'' duology and ''Odyssey'' in particular are considered among the greatest and most influential games of all time. Spin-off titles include the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Kart|series}}'' series of power-up and obstacle course-based racing games, a long-running series of multiplayer-based party games named ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Party|series}}'', and various series of ''Mario''-themed sports titles, such as ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Golf|series}}'' and ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario Tennis|series}}''. There have even been RPG spinoffs, namely ''{{iw|mariowiki|Super Mario RPG}}'', the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Paper Mario|series}}'' series, and the ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario & Luigi|series}}'' series. Finally, there is the puzzle-based spin-off game ''{{iw|mariowiki|Dr. Mario|game}}'', which sees Mario use {{iw|mariowiki|Megavitamin}}s, a medicine of his own creation,<ref>"''I have just developed a new vitamin that should be able to take care of it. I sure hope this stuff works!''" - ''Dr. Mario'' NES instruction booklet, page 3.</ref> to combat {{iw|mariowiki|virus}}es. In addition to being the debut of its [[mariowiki: Dr. Mario (series)|own spin-off series]], this game also saw the eponymous {{iw|mariowiki|Dr. Mario}} become [[Dr. Mario|a playable character]] in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

Mario returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. Unlike in ''SSB'', his design has been updated to appear almost exactly like his Nintendo 64 render artwork, instead of his in-game appearances in ''Super Mario 64'' and ''Mario Party''. Like his fellow [[veteran]]s, Mario has now received a [[side special move]]. In his case, it is [[Cape]], which can [[reverse]] the direction an opponent is facing upon contact, [[reflect]] projectiles, and even assist with his recovery. Although {{SSBM|Luigi}} has been de-cloned to semi-clone status, Mario nevertheless received another full clone in ''Melee''. In this case, his [[Dr. Mario|doctor persona]] from the ''Dr. Mario'' series appears as [[Dr. Mario (SSBM)|a playable character]] with a few different attributes.  

In addition to retaining a useful projectile in Fireball and a potent combo game, Mario's overall frame data has become faster, while his edge-guarding potential, grab game and mobility have each improved in certain ways. Cape's reversal property can [[gimp]] recoveries, while his new forward aerial is capable of [[meteor smash]]ing. Like the rest of the cast, Mario has received a pummel, up throw and down throw; in addition to expanding his grab game's options, the latter two are useful for [[chain grab]]bing. Lastly, the implementation of [[wavedash]]ing improves Mario's approach.  

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Aside from his nerfs, Mario retains a few noticeable weaknesses. His unimpressive overall range makes him susceptible to disjointed hitboxes, and thus forces him to typically use his all-rounder playstyle instead of his newfound pressure-oriented one when fighting characters with such hitboxes. In addition, Mario's now-serviceable recovery is still burdened with linearity.  

Mario's cap is available as headwear for Mii Fighters.  

==In other languages==

**In ''Ultimate'', while Mario's [[fighter number]] (01) would otherwise suggest him even more strongly to be the game's definitive main character, his status as the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series' mascot has been shared with {{SSBU|Link}} to a noticeable degree such as with advertising ''Ultimate'', presumably due to the latter's popularity expanding thanks to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series and his own home series' continued critical and commercial success. However, Mario still has noticeably more prominence as evidence with him appearing front & center on the Home Menu icon for ''Ultimate'', appearing as the main fighter on the How to Play video, controls menu, & the Techniques section of the Help menu, where he appears on almost all of the common techniques clips.