User:Blake/Mario

Appearances
right|thumb|256px|Mario in [[Super Mario Bros., one of the first games he starred in]]

1981-1990
Mario debuted under the name "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. He is shown as a carpender that has a pet ape. The carpenter mistreats the ape, so Donkey Kong escapes and kidnaps Jumpman's girlfriend, originally known as the Lady, but later named Pauline. The player must take the role of Jumpman and rescue the girl. He was first named "Mario" in the arcade game Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, the only game in which he has ever been portrayed as an antagonist. In the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. Mario and his younger brother Luigi are portrayed as an Italian-American plumbers who have to defeat creatures that have been coming from the sewers below New York.

In Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), where Mario saves Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa. To save Princess Toadstool, Mario conquers the eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom by going to the castle in each to defeat a minion of King Koopa. To reach each castle, Mario battles through three "sub-worlds" by defeating or avoiding King Koopa's henchmen. If Mario successfully fights his way through the castle and defeats the minion, a Mushroom Retainer is freed. Inside the eighth castle, Mario has a final fight with King Koopa and frees Princess Toadstool. Later, in Super Mario Bros. 2, the player could choose between Mario and his friends Luigi, Toad, or Princess Peach. Each character possesses unique abilities, with Mario being the most evenly-rounded. In Super Mario Bros. 3 Mario embarks on a quest to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser and travel across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World. Mario is introduced new power-ups that augment character abilities.

1989-1992
In Super Mario Land a mysterious alien named Tatanga appears and hypnotizes the inhabitants of Sarasaland. He kidnaps Princess Daisy in order to marry her. Mario then sets out to rescue her from Tatanga, traveling through the four geographical areas of Sarasaland defeating his minions along the way. He finally corners Tatanga in the skies of the Chai kingdom, bringing down his alien warship and rescuing Daisy. Mario stars in a puzzle game called Dr. Mario, released in 1990. In this game, Dr. Mario throws vitamins that the player must align in order to destroy the viruses that populate the playing field.

In Super Mario World the story begins with Mario and Luigi taking the princess for a vacation in Dinosaur World sometime after the events of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Princess Peach is kidnapped by Bowser, and needs to be rescued by Mario and Luigi. In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, which takes place immediately after the original Super Mario Land, Wario has put an evil spell over Mario Land while Mario was away in Sarasaland, renaming the area Wario Land. The inhabitants are now brainwashed into thinking that Wario is their master, and Mario is their enemy. Wario's motive behind this sudden attack was to take control over Mario's castle in order to have a palace of his own. In order to stop Wario, Mario must find the 6 Golden Coins throughout Mario Land to gain access to his castle.

1995-2002
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a stork carries two babies across the sea, but the evil Magikoopa Kamek emerges, and steals Baby Luigi, and Baby Mario falls onto an island in the middle of the sea, called Yoshi's Island, home to all Yoshis. He lands on a green Yoshi, and Mario and the rest of the Yoshi gang must journey through the game's six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and the stork back from Baby Bowser and Kamek.

right|thumb|256px|Mario's [[3D computer graphics|3D debut was in Super Mario 64.]] Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64. The story begins with a letter from Princess Peach inviting Mario to come to her castle for a cake she has baked for him; however, when he arrives, Mario discovers that Bowser has invaded the castle and imprisoned the princess and her servants within it using the power of the castle's 120 Power Stars. Many of the castle's paintings are portals to other worlds, in which Bowser's minions keep watch over the stars. Mario searches the castle for these portals to enter the worlds and recover the stars. He gains access to more rooms as he recovers more stars, and will have to traverse three obstacle courses leading to a battle with Bowser. Defeating Bowser the first two times earns Mario a key for opening another level of the castle, while the final battle releases Peach. Peach rewards Mario by baking the cake that she had promised him.

In Paper Mario Mario tries to reclaim the seven Star Spirits, who have been incarcerated in playing cards by Bowser and Kammy Koopa. Their combined power is required to negate the effects of the Star Rod, which makes Bowser invincible. Once Mario rescues all of them, he uses their assistance to defeat Bowser and rescue Peach.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Toadsworth, and Princess Peach are taking a vacation. A villain resembling Mario, known as "Shadow Mario", vandalizes the entire island with graffiti, and Mario gets blamed for the mess. Later on, Mario is ordered to clean up Isle Delfino, while saving Princess Peach from Shadow Mario. Mario cleans up the island with a device called FLUDD invented by Professor E. Gadd. Afterward, Mario, Peach and the others then begin their well-deserved vacation.

2006-present
Mario went to 2.5D in New Super Mario Bros. At the beginning of the game, Princess Peach and Mario are walking together when lightning suddenly strikes Peach’s castle nearby. As Mario runs to help, Bowser Jr. appears and kidnaps her. Realizing what has happened, Mario quickly rushes back and gives chase. Mario ventures through eight worlds pursuing Bowser Jr. and trying to rescue the kidnapped princess. In the game’s final sequence, Mario rescues Princess Peach, who kisses him on the cheek.

In Super Mario Galaxy Mario is invited to the centennial Star Festival when Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom and rips Peach's entire castle from its foundations and lifts it into outer space. Mario is catapulted across the cosmos and awakens on a small planet. On the planet he meets a mysterious woman called Rosalina and her companion stars, the Lumas who tells Mario that the Power Stars have all been stolen by Bowser. Mario sets off on an intergalactic adventure across the universe to reclaim the Power Stars.

Other Mario games
Mario games of other genres include the educational game Mario Paint, which was released in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Mario Pinball Land for the Game Boy Advance. 1996's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the first Mario role-playing game; six games have followed: Paper Mario, for the Nintendo 64; Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, for the Game Boy Advance; Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, for the Nintendo GameCube; Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, for the Nintendo DS, Super Paper Mario, for the Wii, and Mario & Luigi RPG 3 for the nintendo DS

Several other sub-series of Mario video games have been released. The Mario Kart franchise began with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and is currently the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise. Other Mario sports games include the Camelot-developed series Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and, respectively, the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, the Hudson-developed Mario Party series began on the Nintendo 64. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and are playable with up to four players. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is a collection of twenty-four events based on the Olympic Games.

In other media
right|thumb|[[Solid Snake and Mario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl]] Apart from his platform-game appearances, Mario has appeared in many other games, and has made guest appearances in non-Mario games, such as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! where he is a referee. Mario has appeared in non-platform games as the protagonist of other successful series. These games are published by Nintendo, but developed by another company, such as Hudson Soft or Camelot Software Planning. Mario has even appeared as a playable character in NBA Street V3 and SSX on Tour, both from Electronic Arts. In some appearances, he is not an in-game character: in both The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario appears on a portrait, and in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes he and Yoshi appear as small statues. He also appears in the Game & Watch games

Mario has appeared in every game of the Super Smash Bros. series. Mario has retained his balanced abilities even when fighting characters from other series. He brought with him many items, stages, and characters to compete in the tournament. Mario's alter-egos Dr. Mario and Metal Mario followed as well.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! television series and live-action film based on the video game series called Super Mario Bros. brought the character into the TV and film entertainment realms. The show starred "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario, and the film starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film, and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were also created.