Ah Mario; the Superman of video games. He’s the modest, iconic, do-gooder everyone loves. He’s wholesome — a video game character you can bring home to mum for the holidays.
Like Superman, Mario has had his highs and his lows (I’m looking at you Hotel Mario and Bob Hoskins), but his design still remains unsullied and iconic — a character that even your mum and possibly grandparents know.
But he is not beyond criticism. It’s time to weigh in — Using our image annotation system, show us what you love or hate about some of Mario’s many character designs. It could be high praise (“Such grace, such beauty — The moustache that launched a thousand games”) or black-hearted cynicism (‘What kind of weirdo plumber wears white gloves to work and eats fly agaric for fun?’). Tell us in the comments below.
‘There’s always a princess, there’s always a plumber, there’s always a kingdom.’
Comments
13 responses to “Tell Us What You Love And Hate About Mario’s Character Design”
He needs a bigger crotch bulge and nipple armour. It worked for Batman and Robin… didn’t it?
those gold buttons on his overalls aren’t nipple-y enough for you?
I did a reimaging of Mario for fun a while ago: http://puckstudios.com/images/mario_puck_websize.jpg
Not so unsullied now 😛
But seriously – Mario is perfect, I love how his design evolved (like how his moustache is black because it originated as part of his ‘outline’ pixels) and I’m not sure a modern game could come up with a design like Mario today.
Wow, that’s cool 🙂
One that has, *ahem* come to unblock the pipes, if you know what I’m saying.
luigi’s better…
i love the sunshine one, apart from the giant fludd on his back, the short sleeves were a nice touch. also (to my knowledge) the first game you could really customize mario – with a hawaiian shirt and sunnies, so awesome haha
His overalls and their ability to cover the entirety of the cleft of his buttocks make for an unrealistic representation of plumbers.
He has no personality, Aside from an Italian stereotype.
Love: Mario’s majestic moustache.
Hate: The fact that I can’t grow a moustache as amazing.
Im a plumber and I often use finger-less gloves to stop my hands getting ripped about by the many things i have to handle and in some situations I have used latex gloves when using sewer machines. hats are good for when climbing under houses because it stops this getting in year hair or stuff fall off the beams and into your eyes. He is dress quite functional.
Everything. Mario is a creepy, fat little weirdo with a giant moustache. If you saw him in the street you would cross to the other sidewalk, and then kill yourself when you discovered you couldn’t unsee him. He’s like an elder god in human form, you don’t even realise his insidious evil until you find yourself drinking, taking pills, anything to blot out the memory of the world’s most popular sexual predator.
And have you noticed the evolution of the Mario universe? While all of the characters started off pretty basic, as is to be expected, over time they grew. They gained new quirks, their personalities fleshed out. All of them, that is, except Mario. What we see of Mario never grows beyond ‘It’s a me, mario!’ a perpetual do-gooder who only ever expresses one of two emotions – glassy-eyed glee and anger. What are you hiding Mario?
The worst part about him though, is that people say he is cute. Cute? Squirtle is cute. Puppies are cute. Wigglers are cute. There might not be an objective list of what is cute, but there is one defining attribute all cute things should avoid – a thick black ‘stache and an Italian accent. Mario is not cute, he is a monster.
i personally prefer the oldschool mario look, up until the 64 bit era.
He needs to be reimagined for the next generation. Lose the red & blue and replace it with a brown muscle top with stained jeans. The moustache should be replaced with stubble. Instead of shooting fireballs, he should have dual-wielded machine guns. His hat should become an Indiana Jones-like fedora. Finally, “It’s-a me, Mario!” should be replaced by some grunting and swearing.
Then port him over to the XBone. Winner!