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A red, dual-screen device pictured closed; in the corner is a red M inside of a white circle.
A Mario themed Nintendo DS Lite.

The Mario video game franchise consists of platform games and other genres (including role-playing games and party games) published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and AlphaDream. Most Mario games have either been released for the arcade or Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles.

The main series in the franchise is the Super Mario platform series, which follow Mario's adventures in the fictional world of the Mushroom Kingdom. They typically rely on Mario's jumping ability to allow him to progress through levels. Mario has been featured in 200 games of various genres, and the Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time with over 250 million games sold worldwide.[1] The franchise was originally conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto as a replacement for the failed Radarscope arcade game. For a full list of video games featuring Mario, see List of Mario video games.

Origins

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Donkey Kong

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Main article: Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong arcade cabinet

After the commercial failure of Radar Scope, Nintendo's company president referred to Shigeru Miyamoto to create an arcade game to save the company. Miyamoto came up with the idea of a game in which the playable character has to make his way through an obstacle course consisting of sloped platforms, ladders and rolling barrels. Miyamoto named the game Donkey Kong, and its main protagonist "Jumpman". Donkey Kong is an early example of the platform genre. In addition to presenting the goal of saving the Lady, the game also gives the player a score. Points are awarded for finishing screens; leaping over obstacles; destroying objects with a hammer power-up; collecting items such as hats, parasols, and purses (presumably belonging to the Lady/Pauline); and completing other tasks. The game was surprisingly successful.[2] "Jumpman" was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas;[3][4] his namesake was Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America's office/warehouse, who barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment.[5][6] Eventually Jumpman's name was internationally and permanently changed to Mario. The success of the game spawned several ports, and a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr., which is Mario's only appearance as an antagonist. Donkey Kong 3 did not feature Mario. Donkey Kong has established his own unique franchise outside the Mario universe, starting with Donkey Kong Country and has spawned many sequels and spin-offs (such as Diddy Kong Racing).

Mario Bros.

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A later arcade game, Mario Bros., introduced Mario's brother, Luigi. The objective of Mario Bros. is to defeat all of the enemies in each phase. The mechanics of Mario Bros. involve only running and jumping. Unlike future Mario titles, players cannot jump on enemies while they are invulnerable to attack. Each phase is a series of platforms with four pipes at each corner of the screen, and an object called a "POW" block in the center.[7][8] Both sides of every phase feature a mechanism that allows the player to go off-screen to the left and appear on the right, and vice versa.[8] The game has since reappeared in various forms, including as a minigame in Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario Advance series, and reimagined as Mario Clash.

Main series

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Main article: Super Mario (series)

Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 Super Mario Land Super Mario World Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Super Mario 64 Super Mario Sunshine New Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Galaxy New Super Mario Bros. Wii Super Mario Galaxy 2 Super Mario 3D Land


Mario Kart

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Main article: Mario Kart

The Mario Kart franchise began in 1992 with Super Mario Kart for the SNES, and is currently the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise, having sold over 50 million copies worldwide.[9][10][11][12][13]

Mario Party

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Main article: Mario Party

In 1999, the Hudson game Mario Party was released for the Nintendo 64. Seven numbered sequels have since been released, along with Mario Party Advance and Mario Party DS. Mario Party is a (multiplayer) party game featuring Mario series characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigames.

Puzzle games

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Dr. Mario

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After the Game & Watch game Mario Bombs Away, the first Mario non-platform game, Dr. Mario, was released in 1990. Dr. Mario is a Tetris-like game, featuring a grid that starts out partially filled with viruses of three colors (red, yellow, and blue) that Dr. Mario must destroy with falling pills. Dr. Mario has been re-released/remade for nearly all Nintendo game consoles.

  • Dr. Mario (video game)
  • Dr. Mario 64
  • Dr. Mario Express
  • Dr. Mario Online Rx
Mario's Picross

Mario Paint

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Main article: Mario Paint

Mario vs. Donkey Kong

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Main articles: Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: March of the Minis, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

Sports Games

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See also: List of Mario series sports games

Throughout its life, Nintendo has released many titles in various Mario sports series.

  • Mario Golf
Main articles: Mario Golf, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and Mario Golf: Advance Tour
  • Mario Tennis
Main articles: Mario Tennis, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, and Mario Tennis 3DS
  • Mario Strikers
Main articles: Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged
  • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

In 2008, Mario and his friends appeared alongside characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series in the sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, developed by Sega. A follow-up, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games was released in 2009, and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games was released between November 2011 and February 2012.

Mario RPG's

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Main article: Mario role-playing games

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

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Main article: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Paper Mario

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Main article: Paper Mario (series)

The Paper Mario series began when Paper Mario was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000.

  • Paper Mario
Main article: Paper Mario
  • Super Paper Mario
Main article: Super Paper Mario
  • Paper Mario 3DS
Main article: Paper Mario (Nintendo 3DS)

Mario and Luigi

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Main article: Mario & Luigi (series)

The Mario & Luigi series began with the release of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

  • Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Main article: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
  • Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Main article: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
  • Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Main article: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

LCD games

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Main article: LCD games in the Mario series

Nintendo has released several Mario and Donkey Kong LCD video games for the Game & Watch console. Eleven were released between 1982 and 1994. Nintendo also licensed the release of six LCD games for Nelsonic's Game Watch line between 1989 and 1994.

Educational games

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Main article: Educational games in the Mario series

In the early 1990s, many educational games were released in the Mario series. Few of these games were platformers; most sought to teach skills such as typing, mathematics or history. They are not officially recognized by Nintendo, despite being officially licensed. The games were developed independently by Software Toolworks, Interplay and Brainstorm. Nine educational games were released from 1991 to 1996.

Recurring Characters

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Several characters from the Mario series have gone on to spawn their own franchises including Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi among others.

Luigi

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Main article: Luigi
  • Luigi's Mansion

Luigi had the lead role in Luigi's Mansion, an action-adventure game in which Luigi searches for Mario in a haunted mansion. A sequel, Luigi's Mansion 2, was announced for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system on June 7, 2011 at E3.

Peach

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Main article: Princess Peach
  • Super Princess Peach

In 2006, Princess Peach starred in her first solo game in which Peach must save Mario, Luigi, and several Toads. Super Princess Peach was released for the Nintendo DS and introduced the new character Perry featured later in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series.

Wario

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Main article: Wario
  • WarioWare
Main article: List_of_Wario_video_games § WarioWare_games
  • Wario Land
Main article: List of Wario video games § Wario platforming games

Yoshi

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Main article: Yoshi

Yoshi's debut was in Super Mario World (1991) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System[14] as Mario and Luigi's sidekick (a role he has often reprised), and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He has also appeared in many of the spin-off Mario games including the Mario Party, the Mario Kart, and the Super Smash Bros. series, as well as in other various Mario sports titles. Yoshi also appears in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) as the characters' companion and steed, similar to his original debut role in Super Mario World.[15]

  • Yoshi's Island*
Main articles: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and Yoshi's Island DS
  • Yoshi's Story
  • Yoshi's Universal Gravitation
  • Yoshi Touch & Go
  • Yoshi's Island DS
  • Yoshi
  • Yoshi's Cookie
  • Yoshi's Safari

Bowser

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Main article: Bowser

Donkey Kong

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Main article: Donkey Kong

Separate from Nintendo consoles

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This is a section of games developed by other companies without Nintendo involvement. These games are not officially recognized by Nintendo despite being officially licensed.

Hudson

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Hudson Soft released two games based on Mario Bros. and another similar to Super Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. Special is a video game released in 1984 for the Japanese computers NEC PC-6001mkII, NEC PC-6601, NEC PC-8801, FM-7 and Sharp X1. It is a remake of the original Mario Bros., with new stages, mechanics and gameplay.

Punch Ball Mario Bros. is a video game released in 1984 for the Japanese computers NEC PC-6001mkII, NEC PC-6601, NEC PC-8801, FM-7 and Sharp X1. It is similar to the original Mario Bros., but featured a new gameplay mechanic of "punch balls", small balls which Mario and Luigi can kick into enemies to stun them, instead of hitting them from below, as in the original.

Super Mario Bros. Special is a video game released by Hudson Soft in spring 1986 for the Japanese NEC PC-8801.

Currently, Hudson has been responsible for developing the Mario Party series.

Philips

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Two games were planned for development by Philips Interactive Media for use on its CD-i machine: Super Mario's Wacky Worlds and Hotel Mario. Only Hotel Mario was released; Super Mario's Wacky Worlds was eventually cancelled. Philips was given permission to use Nintendo characters in CD-i games due to their taking part in developing an unreleased add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).[16] Hotel Mario did not gain much success, with Nintendo rarely acknowledging it as part of the Mario series.[17][18]

Super Mario's Wacky Worlds is a cancelled video game planned for the CD-i, developed by NovaLogic, which attempted to duplicate the gameplay of Super Mario World. Though the game sprites are based on those in Super Mario World, the level design is based on Earth locations rather than Dinosaur Land. Due to the limitations of the CD-i, several features could not be included in the game, such as large numbers of sprites on the screen, Mode 7 and many visual effects. The nature of the pointing device controller also provides difficult controls for Mario, as the game has the default controls of running and jumping.

Hotel Mario is a puzzle game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media for the CD-i in 1994. The primary characters of the game are Mario and Luigi, who must find Princess Peach by going through seven Koopa Hotels in the Mushroom Kingdom. Every hotel is divided into multiple stages, and the objective is to close all doors on each stage. The game has been criticised as one the worst Mario-centred games, mainly because of its cut scenes and simple gameplay.[19][20]

In other media

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The Mario franchise includes many comics, manga and TV series based on the games. Most were released in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and have since become obscure. Mario, Luigi and Peach have made cameo appearances in two sports games, one being NBA Street Vol. 3. The series also launched two films, the anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen released in 1986 and the live-action film Super Mario Bros. in 1993. The latter was widely considered to be a flop; it lost a large amount of money at the box office.[21]

Television

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[[:File:Super Mario Bros Super Show Title.PNG|thumb|250px|right|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! title card]]

Further information: List of Mario television series

Saturday Supercade was an animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS, beginning in 1983. Each episode comprised several shorter segments featuring video game characters from the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Donkey Kong, Mario and Pauline (from the Donkey Kong arcade game) were featured in the show.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is the first American TV series based on the Mario NES and SNES games. It was broadcast in syndication from September 4 to December 1, 1989. The show was produced by DiC Entertainment and was distributed for syndicated television by Viacom Enterprises (full rights have since reverted to DiC through Nintendo).

King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was a live action children's television show broadcast in Southern California during the holiday season of 1989/1990. The show starred King Koopa (also known as Bowser), the main antagonist of the Mario series. The 30-minute program was originally broadcast during the after-school afternoon time-slots on Los Angeles-based KTTV Fox 11.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is the second TV series based on the Mario NES and SNES games. It aired on NBC from September 8 to December 1, 1990. Based on the Super Mario Bros. 3 video game, the cartoon shows Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad fighting against Bowser Koopa and his Koopalings, who went by different names on the show. Like the previous Mario cartoon series, the animation was done by Sei Young Animation Co. Ltd, however this show was co-produced by Reteitalia S.P.A., hence the slight differences in character design.

Super Mario Challenge was a show which aired on The Children's Channel. It ran from 1990 to 1991 and aired at 4:30 p.m. every weekday. The presenter, John Lenahan, was a lookalike of Mario, and dressed in his clothes. Two guest players had to do tasks, all of which involved playing the Mario video games Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 and, after its release in 1991, Super Mario Bros. 3. Rounds included challenges to see which player could complete a level in the fastest time and who could collect the most gold coins on a certain level.

Super Mario World is an animated television series loosely based on the SNES video game of the same name. It is the third and currently last Saturday morning cartoon based on the Mario series. The show was originally aired on Saturday mornings on NBC in the 1991–92 season. It was featured in a half-hour time slot with a shortened version of Captain N: The Game Master. Episodes of Super Mario World were later shown as part of the syndication package Captain N and the Video Game Masters. Afterwards, the series was split from Captain N altogether and shown in time-compressed reruns on Mario All-Stars.

Anime

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Main article: Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (スーパーマリオブラザーズ ピーチ姫救出大作戦!, Sūpā Mario Burazāzu.: Pīchi-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!, literally, "Super Mario Bros.: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!") is a Japanese anime film released on July 20, 1986. Directed by Masami Hata and produced by Masakatsu Suzuki and Tsunemasa Hatano, it stars Mario and Luigi, who get stuck in a Famicom video game, in which they must save Princess Peach from Koopa. A manga adaptation of the film was published in Japan around the same time as the film's release.

Three OVAs, based on Momotaro, Issun-bōshi and Snow White, were released in 1989. These generally featured Mario as the hero, Peach as the damsel and Bowser as the villain, with other Mario characters playing supporting roles.[22]

Film

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Main article: Super Mario Bros. (film)

Super Mario Bros. is an American and Canadian 1993 adventure family comedy incredibly loosely based on the video game of the same name. The film follows the exploits of Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo) in a dystopia ruled by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). It was the first live-action major motion picture to be based on a video game. The film's plot features Mario and Luigi as the main protagonists, Mario leading the team with Luigi developing a romance with Princess Daisy.

The film is widely considered to be a flop, losing a lot of money.[21] The film received negative reviews from critics and fans alike and was denounced by critics as "cheesy" and lacking any sort of coherent plot. On the television show Siskel & Ebert, the film received two thumbs down.[23] This is the second least successful Nintendo video game film adaptation, behind Pokémon Heroes.

Comics and manga

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The Mario franchise has spawned several comic books and manga since its creation.

Super Mario-kun (スーパーマリオくん, Sūpā Mario-kun) is a manga series written by Yukio Sawada (沢田ユキオ) and published by Shogakukan. It is serialized in CoroCoro Comic. It contains many characters and scenarios from Mario games, such as Super Mario World and Paper Mario. Having just hit its 41st volume, Super Mario-kun is the longest-running Mario-series manga to date. It continues to release new volumes to date. Another consistent manga series based on various Mario games is a work written and drawn by Hiroshi Takase (嵩瀬ひろし) and published by PikkaPika Comics that is, somewhat confusedly, also called Super Mario-kun (スーパーマリオくん, Sūpā Mario-kun). It is currently at five volumes and stopped due to the author's death in 2006

The Nintendo Comics System was a series of comic books published by Valiant Comics in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with Nintendo, featuring characters from their video games and the cartoons based on them. Valiant's Super Mario Bros. comic books were based on the three main Mario games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. The Mario line was renewed for 1991 with two different books—Super Mario Bros. and Adventures of the Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Adventures (SUPER MARIO ADVENTURES マリオの大冒険, Mario no daibōken[24]) is an anthology of comics, drawn in a Japanese manga style, that ran in Nintendo Power magazine throughout 1992, featuring the characters from Nintendo's Mario series and based loosely on Super Mario World.

Immediately following the end of Super Mario Adventures, Nintendo Power concluded the epic with a ten-page story based on Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins titled Mario VS Wario, which ran in their January 1993 issue and was later reprinted in the graphic novel.

Merchandise

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Mario has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial),[25] in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy.[26]

Concerts and performances

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The Super Mario Bros. theme has been featured in many concerts, including "PLAY! Chicago",[27] the Columbus Symphony,[28] the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live,[29] Play! A Video Game Symphony,[30] and others.

The Video Games Live concert featured the theme performed by Koji Kondo.[31]

Reception

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Sales

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References

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  1. ^ "Italian Plumber More Memorable Than Harper, Dion". CNW Group. 2007-12-13. Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  2. ^ Nintendo Power. No. 61. Nintendo. June 1994. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Video Game: Donkey Kong, Nintendo". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  4. ^ "Video Game: Donkey Kong, Karateco". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  5. ^ "10 Mario Fun Facts!". Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  6. ^ "History of Mario". Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  7. ^ Nintendo (1983). "pg. 5". Mario Bros. manual. Nintendo Entertainment System. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ^ a b Nintendo (1983). "pg. 8". Mario Bros. manual. Nintendo Entertainment System. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ "All Time Top 20 Best Selling Games". 2005-05-23. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  10. ^ "Japan vs. US Sales". IGN. 1999-11-30. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  11. ^ "Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  12. ^ "Nintendo of America 2004 Annual Report" (PDF). 2004. p. 42. Retrieved 2007-01-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Matt Casamassina (2007-07-25). "Nintendo Sales Update". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference ignbio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Official Website". Nintendo.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  16. ^ "SNES-CD Profile". N-Sider. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  17. ^ Cowan, Danny (2006-04-25). "CD-i Games: Nintendo". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  18. ^ Workman, Robert (2007-12-12). "Mascots Gone Wild: Nintendo Characters' Worst Moments (Hotel Mario)". GameDaily. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  19. ^ Hotel Mario instruction book. Philips Interactive Media. 1994. p. 3. PP0260 GA.
  20. ^ Whitehead, Dan (2007-03-09). "The History of Mario". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  21. ^ a b Super Mario Bros. (1993)
  22. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2011-08-30). "There Were Worse Mario Cartoons Than the American One". Kotaku.
  23. ^ "Siskel & Ebert".
  24. ^ "Super Mario Adventures Official Nintendo Comic Book (Paperback)." Amazon.com. Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  25. ^ Weiss, Jodi & Kahn, Russell (2004). In 145 Things to Be When You Grow Up. Princeton Review Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 0-375-76369-4. Google Book Search. Retrieved on November 6, 2009.
  26. ^ "Nintendo's Shining Star: The History of Mario". GameCubicle. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  27. ^ "Super Mario Bros. and Zelda composer Koji Kondo to attend PLAY! Chicago". Music 4 Games. 2006-04-14. Retrieved 2009-02-13.[dead link‍]
  28. ^ "Symphony piles up points with video-game concert". The Columbus Dispatch. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  29. ^ "Mario & Zelda Big Band Live". The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  30. ^ "I hear a video game symphony". Pop Journalism. 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  31. ^ "Super Mario Bros. Composer Koji Kondo Interview". 1UP.com. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
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