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149-448: Initially, the blue shell was impossible to stop or dodge once fired, until Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) and subsequent games allowed ways for the targeted racer to do so, albeit only with combinations of precise timing and specific items. As it is likely to spawn at least once during a race, the power-up item has earned a reputation of frequently destroying a player's lead, or suddenly ruining their chances of winning. Because of this,

298-511: A Mario game for the rest of the world as Super Mario Bros. 2 , before being released in Japan as Super Mario USA as part of Super Mario All-Stars . One of the game's most defining aspects is the four player characters: not only Mario, but Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad are available for single-player gameplay, each with defined character movements: Luigi jumps higher, the Princess can hover in

447-487: A platform game , and sometimes a jump 'n' run game ) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels with uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, gliding through

596-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

745-488: A "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in the genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to

894-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

1043-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

1192-433: A Power Star. In Galaxy 2 , they can also be used to feed some hungry "Luma" characters that can turn into either an item or another planet. The games often feature other tokens found in levels to progress in the overworld, most frequently with the visual motif of a star. They are typically situated in locations that are not readily found or reached, or awarded for completing stunts, or objectives given by NPCs . They include

1341-534: A Super Leaf) and the Tanooki Suit each provide the character with a tail that enables flight. In addition, the Tanooki Suit lets the character spontaneously change into an invincible statue for about five seconds. Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a Hammer Bros. suit, which allows Mario and Luigi to throw hammers as projectiles to defeat enemies at a distance. Other suits in later games in the series include

1490-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

1639-533: A blue shell shortly before reaching the finish line. David Murphy from PCMag and Jamie Andrew from Den of Geek both called the Blue Shell the “Blue Shell of Death”. In 2017, Keith Stuart of The Guardian included the blue shell as one of the "11 greatest video game objects" in history, calling it "the most controversial item in the Mario universe." Calling it "The Great Equalizer" for its enhancement of

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1788-503: A blue shell, such as using a timed boost from a Mushroom item in Mario Kart DS onwards. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , it is possible to use the new Super Horn item to destroy blue shells. A toy model of the blue shell is included in the limited edition package of Mario Kart 8 . A blue-shelled Koopa General (voiced by Scott Menville ) appears in the 2023 film The Super Mario Bros. Movie , obliterating much of

1937-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

2086-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

2235-534: A common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in the United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

2384-611: A few new pre-installed levels, but no online level sharing. Super Mario Maker 2 is a new version of Super Mario Maker with many new items, themes, and enemies, a world-builder, as well as online multiplayer. The game was released on June 28, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch. Super Mario Run is a side-scrolling and auto-scrolling video game released in December 2016 on the iOS platform, then in March 2017 on Android . It

2533-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

2682-488: A fruit that transforms the player into an elephant and a flower that allows the player to create bubbles that capture enemies. When touching a Wonder Flower, the player character experiences strange effects that involve the character and the world being altered. It is the first game to feature Kevin Afghani as the new voice of Mario and Luigi, following the announcement of previous actor Charles Martinet 's departure from

2831-796: A helicopter, train, and mole tank in Yoshi's Island , cars in Yoshi's Island and Maker 2 , and the Koopa Clown Car aircraft in the Maker games. Most items in the Super Mario series appear from item blocks when hit, which originated in Super Mario Bros. and have persisted throughout the series, where the character hits a block to receive either coins or power-ups. Variations include those that are invisible until hit, advice dispensers, produce another block, move, frozen, contingent on

2980-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

3129-629: A level results in a Power Star or Shine Sprite respectively. There are also stages in that game reward a Power Star for collecting eight red coins in a level, worth two normal coins each. In 64 , a blue coin is worth five normal coins. In Sunshine , blue coins act as a side quest when brought to the Delfino Bank and for every ten blue coins deposited, Mario will earn a Shine Sprite. In the Galaxy series, after finishing each game once, stages unlock where Mario or Luigi can collect 100 purple coins to earn

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3278-454: A level. 64 DS contains over 30 minigames that can be accessed independently of the original mode of play. 3D World contains Luigi Bros. , a version of Mario Bros. with two Luigis, and the Switch version of 3D World includes Bowser's Fury , a 3D platformer of smaller size in one enclosed environment. Much of the original Super Mario Bros. music and sound effects have become iconic to

3427-572: A limited time. Its story was continued in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 , which retroactively became the first of a spin-off series, Wario Land . Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was released for the SNES in 1995. To reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by Kamek , the player controls Yoshi as the primary character through 48 levels while carrying Baby Mario. Yoshi runs and jumps to reach

3576-465: A mapped overworld . These locations are not necessarily in a linear order, and the player is occasionally permitted to skip levels or play the game out of order. Completed levels cannot be replayed. The penultimate boss stage in each world is a side-scrolling level atop an airship ("Doom Ship") with a fight against one of Bowser's seven Koopalings . The game introduced a diverse array of new power-ups, including flight as Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi or

3725-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

3874-479: A predetermined path to a single goal. The series often features the option to play as characters other than Mario, usually Luigi. Earlier games have offered an alternating multiplayer mode in which the second player controls Luigi on their turn. Luigi is often only playable by player one in a second, more challenging iteration of the base game, such as in The Lost Levels , Galaxy 2 , New Super Luigi U and

4023-469: A race where everyone was in it until the end". In a 2017 interview with Eurogamer , Kosuke Yabuki, the director of Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 , said that Nintendo has experimented with removing the blue shell from the games, but "it feels like something's missing. Like there's something not quite enough in the game. So for now we've kept it in." Alex Langley's The Geek Handbook names as one of Mario Kart 8 's greatest frustrations, to be hit by

4172-464: A series of cameos, spin-offs, and sequels. Sources have debated on whether Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island , where the player primarily controls a Yoshi carrying Baby Mario, should count as a Super Mario game, with some sources considering it strictly a Yoshi game . Miyamoto responded affirmatively when asked if Yoshi's Island is a Super Mario game, with Tezuka later adding: "When that game debuted, I wanted people to understand that Yoshi

4321-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

4470-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

4619-481: A single entry. In 1999, Next Generation listed the Mario series as number 3 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that, "The depth of the game design was never matched in 2D and has yet to be equaled by a 3D action performer. The gameplay is simply genius – Shigeru Miyamoto wrote the book on platformers." Electronic Gaming Monthly attributed the series' excellence to the developers' tireless creativity and innovation, pointing out that " Sega 's Sonic

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4768-590: A switch, bouncy, etc. The propeller block lets the character spin up into the air and slowly descend, and the Gold Block generates coins through running. A single block is the unit of measurement in the design of Super Mario levels. Player characters can gain extra lives in most of the games. The 1-Up mushroom was introduced in Super Mario Bros. , with the term 1-up subsequently being used generically in other video game series to refer to extra lives. In

4917-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

5066-403: A third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding the play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of

5215-449: A world map. It is a direct successor to the Super Mario Bros. games, bearing the subtitle Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan. Unlike Super Mario Bros. 3 , however, where each world map is separate, the world map here covers the whole game. Some of the levels have hidden alternate exits leading to different areas. New abilities include a spin jump and the rideable Yoshi , who can eat enemies and either swallow or spit them out. Power-ups include

5364-442: Is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario . It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise . At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console . However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms. There are more than 20 games in the series. The Super Mario games are set primarily in

5513-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

5662-559: Is one of the best-selling video games of all time. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) is the first sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. It uses the Super Mario Bros. engine, with additions such as weather, character movements, and more complex levels, altogether yielding a much higher difficulty. The game follows the same style of level progression as Super Mario Bros. , with eight initial worlds of four levels each. At that time, this sequel

5811-418: Is playable in and the first to feature a music track with vocals. After having fallen out of favor by the mid-2000s, open-world "collectathon" 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 had become less common. For example, the 3D adventure game Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (2008) explicitly mocked the perceived tedium of collecting large quantities of tokens. By

5960-523: Is similar in appearance to the Amanita muscaria , with an ivory stalk below a most commonly red and white (originally red and orange) spotted cap. Created by chance, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that beta tests of Super Mario Bros. proved Mario too tall, so the development team implemented mushrooms to grow and shrink Mario. Different variants of mushroom power-ups appear in the series. For example, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels introduces

6109-586: Is similar to the original Super Mario Bros. , Super Mario Land 2 has more in common with Super Mario World , featuring a world map and the ability to move back to the left within levels. There are 32 levels, divided into several themed worlds that each have their own boss. Three power-ups return: the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Super Star. The game also introduces the Carrot power-up, which gives Mario large rabbit ears that let him glide when falling for

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6258-550: Is the Super Mushroom . The Super Mushroom increases the character's size, turning them into a "Super" variant, and allows them to break certain blocks. When hit by an enemy, the character reverts to their smaller size instead of losing a life. When the character is in their "Super" form, most blocks that would contain a Super Mushroom instead offer a more powerful power-up such as the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom

6407-661: Is the first 3D Super Mario game to have the Fire Flower. In Land and Maker 2 , the Superball is a bouncing ball obtained from a Super Flower, which the character can use to defeat enemies and collect coins. The Ice Flower transforms the character into an Ice variant who can shoot balls of ice as projectiles similar to those of the Fire Flower; they freeze enemies in blocks of ice that can be used as platforms or thrown as projectiles, as seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U . In Galaxy ,

6556-399: Is the first official Super Mario game developed for mobile devices . As such, it features simplified controls that allow it to be played with only one hand. In this game, the character runs automatically, with the player controlling the jumping action to avoid hazards. This is achieved by touching the tactile screens these devices are built with. The longer the player touches the jump button,

6705-579: Is the second 3D Super Mario game. It was released in 2002 for the GameCube . In it, Mario and Peach travel to Isle Delfino for a vacation when a Mario doppelgänger , going by the name of Shadow Mario , appears and vandalizes the entire island. Mario is sentenced to clean the island with a water-squirting accessory called F.L.U.D.D. Super Mario Sunshine shares many similar gameplay elements with its predecessor Super Mario 64 , yet introduces moves, like spinning while jumping, and several other actions through

6854-407: The 2D games, the player character (usually Mario) jumps on platforms and enemies while avoiding their attacks and moving to the right of the scrolling screen. 2D Super Mario game levels have single-exit objectives, which must be reached within a time limit and lead to the next sequential level. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the overworld , a map of nonlinear levels that branches according to

7003-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

7152-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

7301-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

7450-676: The New Super Mario Bros. games contain Toad Houses that host skill- and luck-based activities such as shell games . The Land games feature end-of-level minigames for acquiring extra lives. The Battle Mode in the All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Advance series of remakes all feature versions of Mario Bros. as a minigame. Yoshi's Island enables a minigame when certain conditions are met when completing

7599-694: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

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7748-489: The Nintendo Switch . It implements 3D open-world "free-roaming" gameplay in a similar fashion to Odyssey , from which it includes many elements. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 2D sidescrolling Super Mario game announced on June 21, 2023 and released on October 20 of the same year. Playable characters include Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Nabbit and Toadette. New power-ups include

7897-655: The Poison Mushroom , which causes damage when collected; and New Super Mario Bros. introduces the Mini Mushroom, which shrinks the character to miniature size; and the Mega Mushroom, grows the character into a towering, invulnerable giant who destroys enemies and the environment by running through them. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduces suits to the Super Mario series, many of which are based on animals or Mario enemies. The Raccoon Suit (provisioned by

8046-612: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Star Fox (1993). He considered using the Super FX chip to develop a SNES game, Super Mario FX , with gameplay based on "an entire world in miniature, like miniature trains". He eventually reformulated the idea for the Nintendo 64, not for its substantially greater power, but because its controller has more buttons for gameplay. Super Mario 64

8195-475: The fifth-bestselling video game series , behind the larger Mario franchise, the puzzle series Tetris , the Pokémon video games, and Grand Theft Auto . The objective of the game is to progress through levels by defeating enemies, collecting items and solving puzzles without dying. Power-up use is integral to the series. The series has installments featuring both two and three-dimensional gameplay. In

8344-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

8493-506: The "Super Star" in the two Super Mario World games as well as the New Super Mario Bros. games and the "Rainbow Star" in the two Super Mario Galaxy games. Picking up the star makes the character temporarily invincible , able to resist any harm. Use of the item is accompanied by a distinctive music track that appears consistently across most of the games. The player character flickers a variety of colors – and in some games, moves with increased speed and enhanced jumping ability – while under

8642-500: The 3D games in the series starting with Super Mario 64 . The character uses the cannon by jumping into the barrel, aiming themself and being fired at a distant target. This allows the character to progress through a level or reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Many games in the series feature minigames supplemental to the platforming gameplay, usually offering the chance to win extra lives or power-ups. Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3D World feature slot machines . Super Mario Bros. 3 and

8791-547: The 3D games through including more linear levels. It is the first original 3D Super Mario game on a handheld console, since all previous handheld games were either 2D or a port of a previous game. It also brought back several older gameplay features, including the Super Leaf power-up last seen in Super Mario Bros. 3 . New Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in July and August 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. The player, as Mario or Luigi, tries to save Princess Peach from Bowser and

8940-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

9089-530: The Frog Suit, Penguin Suit, Cat Suit, Boomerang Suit, and Bee Suit. Super Mario Maker includes costume power-ups that depict many more characters ( Super Mario Maker 2 includes only a Link power-up). The flower power-ups let the player character shoot projectiles. The Fire Flower, introduced in Super Mario Bros. , transforms the character into a Fire variant who can throw bouncing fireballs at enemies. Galaxy

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9238-549: The Hedgehog series changed very little in its four installments on the Genesis . The Mario series has changed significantly with each new game." The original Super Mario Bros. was awarded the top spot on Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s greatest 200 games of their time list and IGN ' s top 100 games of all-time list twice (in 2005 and 2007). Super Mario Bros. popularized side-scrolling video games and provided

9387-424: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

9536-492: The Ice Flower turns Mario or Luigi into ice and lets him walk on lava or water for a limited time by freezing the surface. Lastly, New Super Mario Bros. 2 ' s Gold Flower lets Mario or Luigi turn bricks into coins and earn bonus coins for defeating enemies. Koopa Shells serve as a major projectile in the series, featuring since the original game. The character can throw them to defeat enemies, collect coins, and activate

9685-627: The Koopalings, with the game's secondary goal to collect one million coins. Several gameplay elements were introduced to help achieve this goal, such as the Gold Flower, a rarer variant of the Fire Flower that turns items into coins. New Super Mario Bros. U , the Wii U follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. Wii , was released in November 2012. It introduces both a Flying Squirrel suit that lets

9834-432: The Mega Mushroom, Blue Shell, and Mini Mushroom. Miyamoto explained that when he was developing Super Mario 64 with Yoshiaki Koizumi , they realized that the title would be more directed towards the "core gamer", rather than the casual, "pick-up-and-go" gamer. After Sunshine , their focus shifted to more accessible, casual games, leading them to develop Super Mario Galaxy with more progression-oriented paths. Galaxy

9983-807: The Power Stars in Super Mario 64 and the Super Mario Galaxy games, Shine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine , Cat Shines in Bowser's Fury , Star Coins in the New Super Mario Bros. series, Star Medals in Super Mario 3D Land , Green Stars in the Galaxy games and Super Mario 3D World , and Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey . In Super Mario Land 2 , there are six Golden Coin tokens that must be collected to finish

10132-668: The Propeller Mushroom, the Ice Flower, and the Penguin Suit. All characters can ride Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2 , released on May 23, 2010, was initially developed as an expansion pack to Galaxy , but was eventually developed into its own game. It retains the basic premise of its predecessor and includes its items and power-ups besides the Ice Flower and Red Star. New power-ups include the Cloud Flower, which allows Mario or Luigi to create platforms in mid-air and

10281-538: The Rock Mushroom, which turns the character into a rolling boulder. The character can also ride Yoshi. The game was released to widespread critical acclaim, getting better reviews than its predecessor. Super Mario 3D Land was released for the Nintendo 3DS in November and December 2011. It was the first attempt to translate the gameplay of the 2D games into a 3D environment, and simplify the control scheme of

10430-663: The Star's influence. While invincible, the character defeats any enemy upon contact with it. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island , the star gives the normally immobile baby Mario the ability to run as well as become invincible. In Super Mario 64 and 64 DS , invincibility is provided when the character becomes metal or intangible. The Mega Mushroom provides temporary invincibility with the addition of giant size and environment destruction (see Power-ups and transformations ). Super Mario level design traditionally incorporates many distributed coins as puzzles, rewards, and guidance through

10579-440: The Super Mushroom, Super Flower, which allows Mario to shoot projectiles, Super Star, and hearts, which give Mario an extra life . The game consists of twelve levels split across four worlds. Reaching the higher of two exits at each level's end activates a minigame where the player can try to get extra lives. Super Mario World was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and consists of nine worlds displayed via

10728-604: The Wing Cap, allowing Mario to fly; the Metal Cap, turning him into metal; and the Vanish Cap, allowing him to walk through obstacles. Super Mario 64 is considered seminal to 3D video games. A remake of the game called Super Mario 64 DS was released for Nintendo DS in 2004 and 2005, adding Yoshi, Luigi, and Wario as playable characters, new abilities, new objectives, multiplayer, and minigames. Super Mario Sunshine

10877-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

11026-516: The air (most commonly seen in the New Super Mario Bros. series). In early Mario games such as Super Mario Bros. , special, well-hidden areas known as Warp Zones contain pipes that allow players to skip several worlds (handfuls of levels) at once. In the New Super Mario Bros. series, pipe-shaped Warp Cannons work similarly to the Warp Zones of the earlier games and are unlocked by finding secret exits in levels. Cannons appear in most of

11175-403: The air for a short amount of time, and Toad is the fastest. Characters here also can pluck items from the ground to throw at enemies. This is also the first Super Mario game to use a life meter, which allows the characters to be hit up to four times before dying. Super Mario Bros. 3 is divided into eight themed worlds, each with 6–10 levels and several bonus stages displayed as locations on

11324-499: The air, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. The genre started with the 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds

11473-463: The basic concept and mechanics that persisted throughout the rest of the series. Super Mario Bros. sold 40.24 million copies, making it the bestselling video game of the whole series. Various other video games of the series were ranked as the best within the series. Games included are Super Mario Bros. 3 , Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 to name a few. Before Super Mario Odyssey , Super Mario Galaxy has been for 10 years

11622-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

11771-430: The best-ranked game on GameRankings . Super Mario is one of the best-selling video game franchises , having sold more than 380 million units worldwide as of 2021 . The first seven Super Mario games (including the first three Super Mario Bros. titles, the first two Super Mario Land titles, and Super Mario World ) had sold 100 million units by March 1993. Platform game A platformer (also called

11920-426: The blue shell has largely come to be seen as one of the best and most famous, yet also one of the most frustrating items in video game history. The Mario series features some visually similar figures which predate the blue shell, such as the red Spinies from the original Super Mario Bros. (1985) and blue Koopa Troopas from Super Mario World (1990). In Mario Kart 64 , racers in 4th-8th place can obtain

12069-455: The blue shell. Since the release of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! , the series sees the blue shell being more common to characters closer to the lead (if the leader pulls away from the rest of the pack), and in all releases prior to Mario Kart 7 , it is unable to hit characters on its way to the lead, as it flies above the track using wings rather than gliding upon its surface. There are few techniques possible in some Mario Kart games to evade

12218-496: The character circumnavigate rounded or irregular planetoids by walking sideways or upside down. The character is usually able to jump from one independent object and fall towards another close object. Though the main gameplay and physics are in 3D , there are several points in the game where the character's movements are restricted into a 2D axis. Several new power-ups appear following the new game mechanics. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) features 4-player co-op and new power-ups:

12367-570: The characters glide through the air, and asymmetric gameplay that allows the player holding the GamePad to influence the environment. In June 2013, New Super Luigi U was released as a downloadable content (DLC) package for the game, featuring shorter, but more difficult levels, starring Luigi as the main protagonist instead of his brother. Subsequently, it was released as a standalone retail game on August 25 in North America. The Nintendo Switch port New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe includes both

12516-548: The characters. Like Super Mario Bros. 2 , it features Princess Peach and Toad as playable characters in addition to Mario and Luigi. Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy is also unlocked later in the game. Miyamoto said that "even though that's a 3D game, it's a little more accessible to everybody." Super Mario Maker is a creation tool released for the Wii U in September 2015 which allows players to create their own levels based on

12665-509: The company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between a quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires

12814-459: The compilation game Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). In Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan), Mario and his companions seek to defeat the evil frog Wart in the Subcon dreamland. Based on a discarded prototype, the game was instead originally released as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic in Japan, and was ultimately converted into

12963-518: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

13112-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

13261-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

13410-562: The elements of struggle and luck, Kotaku ' s Nathan Grayson considered the blue shell to be the most despised, and best, item of the Mario Kart series. Kotaku ' s Yannick Le Jacq considered the blue shell to be the most notable and game-changing among Mario Kart 's "most notorious" items, adding that this made it "a lot more fun" to use in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U too. Nintendo Power called

13559-474: The end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items. In a style new to the series, the game has a hand-drawn aesthetic. The game introduces his signature abilities to flutter jump and produce eggs from swallowed enemies. Yoshi's Island received "instant" and "universal acclaim", according to IGN and review aggregator Metacritic , and sold over four million copies. Yoshi's signature characteristics established in Yoshi's Island would carry throughout

13708-409: The fictional Mushroom Kingdom, typically with Mario as the main player character . He is usually joined by his brother, Luigi , and often other members of the Mario cast. As platform games, they involve the player character running and jumping across platforms and atop enemies in themed levels . The games have simple plots, typically with Mario and Luigi rescuing the kidnapped Princess Peach from

13857-413: The film's depiction of Rainbow Road after shouting "Blue shell!" as a battlecry. In a 2011 interview with Kotaku , Hideki Konno , who directed Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 , was asked about the blue shell's inclusion in the series. He stated that it was introduced in Mario Kart 64 to keep players together due to the limited processing power of the Nintendo 64 and that "we wanted to create

14006-495: The first side-scrolling 2D platform game to feature Mario, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. It was derived through collaboration by Nintendo 's Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka as a successor to the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. , which starred two characters: Mario, the titular character that first appeared in Donkey Kong as the original player character and its sequel where he

14155-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

14304-485: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

14453-582: The functions of blocks. Power-ups are available for Yoshi to breathe fire in World , Yoshi's Island , and 64 DS , breathe freezing air and spit seeds in Yoshi's Island , spit out enemies in the World games, and spit juice in Sunshine . Other power-ups let the character throw bombs, boomerangs, and baseballs and shoot cannonballs. In Odyssey , Mario can possess characters, some of which can launch various projectiles. Flying shoot 'em up gameplay also appears in

14602-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

14751-400: The game. The Warp Pipe is a common method of transportation used in many of the Mario series games. Warp Pipes are most often green but also appear in other colors (early games included silver pipes, newer games have introduced red, green, blue and yellow pipes), and have many uses in the series. Warp Pipes can also contain enemies, usually Piranha Plants, and sometimes launch the player into

14900-437: The gameplay and style of Super Mario Bros. , Super Mario Bros. 3 , Super Mario World , and New Super Mario Bros. U , as well as to share their creations online. Based on existing games, several gameplay mechanics were introduced for the game, with existing ones also available to be used together in new ways. A Nintendo 3DS version of the game called Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS , was released in December 2016. It features

15049-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

15198-419: The genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill

15347-471: The genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games" was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying

15496-403: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

15645-412: The genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms, is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it

15794-496: The higher the character jumps. This game also includes a "Toad Rally" mode, similar to the "VS Boo" mode of Super Mario Bros Deluxe , in which players have to complete a level faster than a computer-controlled Toad. Success in this mode earns the player access to in-game money to spend on customizing the Mushroom Kingdom map, using mechanics similar to FarmVille . This is the first Super Mario game that Princess Daisy

15943-527: The level-long P-Wing allowing flight through a whole level. Bowser is again the final boss. Super Mario Land is the first handheld Super Mario game apart from the Game & Watch conversion of Super Mario Bros. , and was released for the Game Boy in 1989. Like the Super Mario Bros. games, it is a sidescrolling platformer. Mario sets out to save Princess Daisy from the spaceman Tatanga. Items include

16092-440: The level. Coins are often found floating in the air in groups. Most Super Mario games award the player an extra life once a certain amount of gold coins are collected, commonly 50 or 100. Several coin variants exist, such as silver coins, dragon coins, star coins, and more. In 64 , Sunshine , Galaxy , and Galaxy 2 , coins replenish health (and air, when the character is underwater). In 64 and Sunshine , collecting 100 coins in

16241-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

16390-472: The main game and New Super Luigi U , and new playable characters Nabbit and Toadette . Super Mario 3D World , the sequel to 3D Land , was released for the Wii U on November 22, 2013, in North America, and used the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. Co-operative multiplayer is available for up to four players. The game introduced the ability to turn the characters into cats able to attack and scale walls to reach new areas, and to create clones of

16539-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

16688-551: The mid-2010s, however, 3D platformers were aiming to replicate such experiences, including Yooka-Laylee and A Hat in Time . Super Mario Odyssey is a return to the open-world "sandbox" 3D style of gameplay, with "more open-ended exploration like in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine ." It was released in October 2017 for Nintendo Switch . Bowser's Fury is part of the 2021 re-release of Super Mario 3D World on

16837-467: The monochromatic Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2 , instead of a differently colored mushroom, the 1-Up is shown as a heart. Super Mario World introduced the 3-Up Moon. 1-Ups can also be earned through collecting a certain number of coins or playing minigames. Invincibility is an effect first appearing in the three Super Mario Bros. games, where it is granted by a "Starman", an anthropomorphized, flashing star. The star has also been named

16986-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

17135-549: The new Cape Feather, which lets Mario and Luigi fly with a cape, and the P-balloon, which inflates the player character to allow him to float. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was released for the Game Boy in 1992. It introduces Mario's rival, Wario , who took over Mario's castle during the events of Super Mario Land and forces Mario to collect the six golden coins to reenter and reclaim his castle. While its predecessor

17284-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

17433-511: The obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite the top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label

17582-576: The paintings in Peach's castle to unlock later courses and areas. The Nintendo 64's analog stick makes an extensive repertoire of precise movements in all directions possible. The game introduced moves such as punching, triple jumping, and using a Wing Cap to fly. It is the first Super Mario series game to feature Charles Martinet 's voice acting for Mario. Mario must once again save Princess Peach from Bowser. The game's power-ups differ from previous games, now being three different hats with temporary powers:

17731-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

17880-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

18029-418: The player character in several Super Mario games since Super Mario World . In Yoshi's Island and 64 DS , instead of the player character merely riding on Yoshi's back, Yoshi is the player character. Yoshis generally have abilities including eating enemies, flying, and breathing fire. Miyamoto had originally wished for Mario to be able to ride a dinosaur in Super Mario Bros. , but this wasn't possible due to

18178-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

18327-481: The player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along the way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in

18476-498: The player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give the main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in

18625-556: The player's choice. Super Mario World introduced levels with multiple exits. 3D installments in the series have had two subgenres: open world exploration based games and more linear 3D games with a predetermined path. Levels in the open world games, 64 , Sunshine and Odyssey , allow the player to freely explore multiple enclosed environments in 360-degree movement. As the game progresses, more environments become accessible. The linear 3D games, Galaxy , Galaxy 2 , 3D Land and 3D World , feature more fixed camera angles and

18774-993: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

18923-620: The primary antagonist , Bowser . The first game in the series, Super Mario Bros. , released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, established the series' core gameplay concepts and elements. These include a multitude of power-ups and items that give the character special powers such as fireball-throwing and size-changing. The Super Mario series is part of the greater Mario franchise, which includes other video game genres and media such as film, television, printed media, and merchandise. More than 380 million copies of Super Mario games have been sold worldwide, making it

19072-455: The roles in August 2023. The Super Mario series has seen tremendous critical acclaim from both critics and audiences. The series was ranked as the best game franchise by IGN in 2006. In 1996 Next Generation ranked the series as number 5 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", additionally ranking Super Mario 64 at number 1 although stating the rule that series of games be confined to

19221-431: The series and incorporated into modern games. The original Super Mario Bros. theme , composed by Koji Kondo , has become one of the most well known video game themes around the world. Super Mario Galaxy , released in 2007, became the first game in the Super Mario series to feature orchestrated music, which would return in its sequel and other subsequent games such as Super Mario 3D World . Super Mario Bros. ,

19370-546: The series since 1995, New Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo DS in 2006. In it, Mario and Luigi set out to save Princess Peach from Bowser Jr. The gameplay is 2D, but most of the characters and objects are 3D on two-dimensional backgrounds, resulting in a 2.5D effect. The game uses an overworld map similar to those of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe . Some levels have multiple exits. The classic power-ups (Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Super Star) return alongside

19519-456: The series. Mario pilots the armed Sky Pop biplane and Marine Pop submarine in Land . The Koopa Clown Car, aircraft of Bowser and the Koopalings, can sometimes shoot fireballs in Maker . Apart from automated objects in levels that may transport the player character, certain ridable animals and vehicles have appeared that the player controls. Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi has appeared as a mount to

19668-416: The special worlds in 3D Land ; these feature lower gravity and reduced friction for Luigi. Later games allow four player simultaneous play. Other playable characters include Princess Peach, Princess Daisy , Toads , Yoshi , Rosalina, and Nabbit, among others. Characters are sometimes differentiated by special abilities. Mushroom power-ups appear in almost every Super Mario game. The most iconic of these

19817-488: The technical restraints of the system. Poochi is a dog featuring in Yoshi's Island who Yoshi can ride. Plesiosaurs Dorrie and Plessie can be ridden by the player characters in 64 and 3D World respectively, with Plessie serving a larger role in Bowser's Fury . Various vehicles that the player character can control have also appeared. These include a magic carpet in 2 , flying clouds in several 2D games, submarines in Land and Yoshi's Island , an airplane in Land ,

19966-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

20115-459: The title came from the integration of the Super Mushroom into the game. The brothers Mario and Luigi must rescue Princess Toadstool/Peach from Bowser/King Koopa in the Mushroom Kingdom. The game consists of eight worlds of four levels each, totaling 32 levels altogether. Though the worlds differ in themes, the fourth level is always a fortress or castle that ends with a fight against Bowser (or one of his minions disguised as him). Super Mario Bros.

20264-536: The use of F.L.U.D.D. The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from the hub, Delfino Plaza. Mario collects Shine Sprites by completing tasks in the levels, which in return unlock levels in Delfino Plaza by way of abilities and plot-related events. Sunshine introduces the last of Bowser's eight children, Bowser Jr. , as an antagonist. Yoshi also appears again for Mario to ride in certain sections. After no original 2D game releases in

20413-643: The use of a Mushroom to dodge a blue shell a "defining moment" of gameplay in Mario Kart Wii . Maxwell McGee of GameSpot considered the ability to destroy the "dreaded" blue shells with a new item, the Super Horn, to be a particularly exciting feature of Mario Kart 8 . Steve Watts of GameSpot said in 2022 that "the Blue Shell has become synonymous with Mario Kart " and is now an icon within video game history. Super Mario Super Mario (also known as Super Mario Bros. and Mario )

20562-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

20711-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

20860-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

21009-485: Was a final boss , and Luigi , who first appeared in Mario Bros . Super Mario Bros. established many core Mario elements, such as Goombas , Koopa Troopas , Bowser, Peach, and its three power-ups: the Super Mushroom, increasing the character's size and providing an extra hit point , Fire Flower, allowing the character to throw fireballs as weapons, and Super Star, granting temporary invincibility. The "Super" in

21158-505: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

21307-562: Was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of the Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became

21456-480: Was developed over approximately three years, with one year spent on the design concept and approximately two years on production. Production began on September 7, 1994, and concluded on May 20, 1996. Super Mario 64 is the first 3D and open world game in the series, and a launch game for the Nintendo 64 home console. Each level is an enclosed environment where the player is free to explore in all directions without time limits. The player collects Power Stars from

21605-473: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

21754-423: Was launched in 2007 for the Wii . It is set in outer space , where Mario or Luigi travel between " galaxies " to collect Power Stars, earned by completing quests or defeating enemies. It introduced motion controls to the series. Each galaxy contains a number of planets and other space objects for the player to explore. The game's physics system gives each celestial object its own gravitational force, which lets

21903-537: Was not released outside Japan since Nintendo of America did not want the Super Mario series to be known to players outside Japan for frustrating difficulty. It remained inaccessible to a steadily broadening market of American video game players, becoming stylistically outdated by the time the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 could be eventually delivered to America. The game later debuted outside Japan in 1993 as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in

22052-426: Was part of the Mario world, and that be conveyed whether through title or gameplay. To me, it's part of the Mario series, but today's Yoshi games? They've changed from those origins, so I think it's okay to think of Yoshi living in his own universe. You can think of it separately from Mario's world." In the early 1990s, director and producer Shigeru Miyamoto had conceived a 3D Mario design during development of

22201-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

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