Why Mario is Still the Most Important Video Game Franchise

Mario has sustained his popularity for a long time

Mar. 10 is Mario Day and in honor of his day, lets all get reminded on the many reasons why Mario’s franchise is still the most important video game franchise in history.

Back in 1985, when Super Mario Bros. first debuted on the NES and Famicom systems, Mario began to become a household name. Since then he has remained a pop culture icon that both parents and children can easily recognize. He is not some lost pop culture icon that “kids these days will never know” because he is just as popular as he was then as he is now.

The franchise appeals to a wide variety of players

Mario and all of his spinoffs are popular with players of all different ages and skill levels. Mario is such a diverse character, that he can be the star of a variety of different games that appeal to many different groups of people, from racing games to turn-based RPGs. The traditional Mario games are fun for casual gamers and the Paper Mario entries in the series cater to those who enjoy RPGs.

Because of this, Mario is one of the few great social lubricants that allows people of all ages and all walks of life come together and bond over a shared love of Mario. That is, until we start talking about the technicalities of the walking animations of the Goombas and then we stop making sense to casual players. 

Mario games are reminders that local multiplayer is still fun

Games like Mario Kart and Mario Party are the ultimate local multiplayer games. Local multiplayer support is losing popularity with every passing year. Despite this, new Mario titles like Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D world include local multiplayer for their games. It pays off in the end as these games are still incredibly fun and popular despite the emergence of online multiplayer.

Mario games like these are reminders that the best way to play games with your friends is to cram into a living room together and end decade long friendships over blue shells. In the end, we all know it is not online multiplayer that destroys friendships, it is backstabbing Princess Daisy stealing your stars in Mario Party.

Mario was first for a lot of us

Mario was the first game ever played for a lot of us. He got a lot of players interested in video games and he still does to this day. With new Mario games still being made, it is likely that our children’s first video games will star Mario. When you think of it, Mario is the perfect start for any gamer.

You fall in love quickly at a young age and as your tastes grow, he will grow with you. If become a gamer who prefers racing games, Mario will be waiting for you with a Wii Wheel in his hand. Grow into a gamer who likes RPGs, and Mario will flatten himself and wait for you in all of his 2D glory. Enjoy bringing misery and pain to those you care about? Well, Mario just so happens to have an invitation for you to his party.

Even if you grow into a gamer who does not have time for games anymore, well Mario understands and is available on the 3DS for you to play on the go. Mario is our first and he stayed with us as we grew.

He was the start of a lot of our gaming careers and was the inspiration for a lot of games that came after him. For that, he will always have special places in our hearts. We owe a lot to Mario. Let’s celebrate today and honor Mario for the icon that he is and know that because of him, new gamers are born every day.

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