Mario (character)

Mario is the main protagonist of the Mario franchise and Nintendo's flagship mascot. He is one of the most famous and recognizable video game characters. During his adventures, Mario uses his trademark jump and combat abilities to defend the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom and the world from villains such as Bowser. Mario made his first overall appearance in the Donkey Kong arcade game, but his first Sega-related appearance is in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

During the 1990s, prior to Sega becoming a third-party game developer, Mario was the main video game mascot rival of Sonic the Hedgehog in the real world. Both Mario and Sonic are featured in the Mario & Sonic series, where they and other characters from their respective franchises all compete in various Olympic activities. Mario is also featured in every game of Super Smash Bros. series, in which Sonic did not appear until Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Early rivalry
Nintendo was once business rivals with Sega; this rivalry peaked during the 16-bit era (Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis). As such, Nintendo and Sega often attempted to put each other down through their games. In the Mario franchise, examples include Sonic's shoes appearing at the "No Hopers" bin in the Cranky's Video Game Heroes contest in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (later removed from the Game Boy Advance version) and the blue hedgehog enemies of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island named Harry Hedgehog.

In a commercial for the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, Bernita Stokes, President of Humans Against Genesis (H.A.G.), criticizes the game by saying, "Why can't he be more like that nice boy Mario?" while an animated Sonic is seen on the cover of the box mimicking her (probably hinting that Sonic always had some resentment towards Mario). Sonic then blows a raspberry at her and runs out of the box and into the TV screen which makes her angry, calling him a little brat.

Another Sonic the Hedgehog commercial features a salesman at a video game store, trying to sell a Super Nintendo Entertainment System with Super Mario World, both newly released at the time, to a customer at its launch price of $199.95. The game is shown alongside a Sega Genesis playing Sonic the Hedgehog, being sold for $149.99 USD. The speedy action of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Sega Genesis's lower price grabs the customer's attention, so the customer decides to buy the Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog game, disappointing the salesman.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Mario first appears as a playable character in both the Wii version and Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, where he is an All-Around type character, giving him balanced statistics in all categories. He appears in the opening of the Wii version at the start with all of the other athletes, as well as in the 100m.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Mario returns as a playable character in both versions of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. In the Wii version, Mario appears in the opening with all of the other athletes at the start and end, as well as competing in Snowboard Cross. The game also features an outfit based on Mario for Miis to wear, as well as ones based on Bee Mario and Fire Mario. In the Nintendo DS version, Mario can also be used as one of the playable characters to explore Winter Island and Dream Island in Adventure Tours mode, as well as being one of the first two to be selectable in events, along with Sonic.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Mario returns as an All-Around type character in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, appearing in the opening with the other athletes at the beginning, competing in Trampoline, Dream Hurdles and Dream Uneven Bars, and with Sonic on top of Big Ben. The Mii outfits return from the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, as well as the addition of two based on Propeller Mario and Penguin Mario.

In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, Mario is included in the Heroes group, which allows him to only compete in certain Events. In the Story Mode, Mario first appears in Stadium Blues, where he and Luigi defeat a pair of Fog Imposters, and later find and destroy a Fog machine, clearing up the Main Stadium. Mario and Luigi head to Hyde Park with Toad to check that Peach and the others staying there are alright, before moving on to the British Museum, where they meet up with Sonic and Tails to clear the fog from there. After finding out some information about the source of the fog, the group splits up, and Mario and Toad find Wario challenging Dr. Eggman, who they later follow to see destroying another fog machine. They make their way back to the Main Stadium to meet up with the others, and Mario helps save Cream from the Fog Imposters when the Phantasmal Fog returns, before heading to Stonehenge to try to find the lid of the Fog urn. The group return to London after finding out that Bowser and Dr. Eggman are hiding inside Big Ben, and after defeating more Fog Imposters, Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails head there to confront them. When they arrive, they find that Bowser and Dr. Eggman have been powered up by the Phantasmal Fog, but Mario and Sonic defeat them and seal the fog back into the urn. The group then all head back to the Main Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. A badge of Mario can also be obtained from the badge machine.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Mario reappears in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, once again as a playable All-Around type character. All of the Mii costumes based on Mario from the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games return as well.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Mario reappears in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games once again as an All-Around type character. The Mario outfits return from the previous two installments, but now must be collected in separate head and body parts which each have their own set of bonus statistics. In the Nintendo 3DS version, he, Sonic and the Mii are the only characters that can be used for all events. In the Road to Rio mode, Mario's disappearance causes a disagreement between his and Sonic's gyms, though it is later revealed that Mario was missing due to investigating the theft of his and Sonic's Olympic medals from a museum. Mario is playable as an All-Around character in all events in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition, but has recommended events of 100m and Long Jump.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Mario reappears in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 once again as an All-Around type playable character. In the story mode, he, Sonic, Bowser, Dr. Eggman, and Toad get sucked into a game system featuring 8-bit graphics and are transported back in time to the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. While in the game system, Mario uses his 8-bit appearance first used in Super Mario Bros. To return to the real world, the five characters need to win gold medals in Olympic events. Mario is also an All-Around type playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario makes his third appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series as a playable fighter and the first alongside Sonic the Hedgehog. He is available from the start, like in any other Super Smash Bros. title. There are several trophies and stickers of Mario in the game.

In gameplay, Mario is an average sized middle-weight character that possesses fast and low lag attacks across his moveset, as well as a strong capacity for combos. Additionally, Mario's Cape works as an noteworthy gimping and disrupting tool, his Fireball is an effective and useful projectile, and even an effective out of shield option in his Super Jump Punch. However, Mario has also some weaknesses due to the game's overall mechanics. For example, nearly all of his attacks have poor reach. He is also easily gimped, and he has poor KO potential despite having them improved after Super Smash Bros. Melee. As a result of the latter, he has no other effective finishers outside of his forward and up smashes, which makes it difficult for him to score a KO. Lastly, his rather standard abilities are outshined by the abilities of most characters.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Mario is one of the many characters from the World of Trophies that got caught up in the schemes of Tabuu and his minions, whom they would work to defeat together.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Mario made his fourth appearance as a playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series. There are several trophies of him in both games, some of which are shared between both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U version and others being exclusive to the respective version.

In this game, Mario is a middleweight character. While still a balanced character, he has received notable improvements in several areas in comparison to his previous appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series (partially due to the changed gameplay mechanics). Most of his moves are lacking many forms of lag, making him fairly difficult to punish in the face of most of the cast. Also, despite lacking in utility, his combo game is the most potent it has ever been. He also has a versatile moveset with various advantages, his dashing and air speeds are faster, his recovery has improved (despite being linear), and his jump is higher. However, he still has a number of weaknesses: his overall range is below average, he is ineffective when it comes to out-camping other characters, his damage output has been lowered, and he lacks consistent KO setups. In fact, his average abilities and skills do not allow him to get the advantage over other opponents fast enough. Also, several of his key techniques, while having received improvements in certain areas, have also had some advantageous mechanics removed. Still, Mario retains a lack of overall lack of severe weaknesses.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario made his fifth appearance as a playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series. There are also several spirits of him.

In gameplay, Mario is a short, middleweight character. Also, like in previous Super Smash Bros. titles, Mario's attributes have undergone another overhaul. However, in comparison to other returning fighters, Mario has not received many direct changes. Regardless, the changes made to the game's mechanics have impacted Mario to a higher degree, as they slightly heightened his learning curve, yet made his play style more rewarding. Overall, Mario has received a slight decrease in certain areas without any mayor updates to his skillset.

In the Adventure Mode of the game, "World of Light," Mario was one of the many fighters that stood up to the threat of Galeem and his army of Master Hands. When Galeem began capturing the fighters, Mario was defeated off-screen. Thus, the fighters (aside from Kirby, who had managed to escape) were held captive by Galeem so that he could clone them and create puppet fighters for evil spirits to control. During the Adventure Mode, several puppet fighters of Mario are used for spirit battles. An evil version of Mario can be fought and defeated so that the true Mario can be awoken and join the fight to defeat Galeem and later Dharkon.