Email: I hate magical Mario

Hello Mr Malstrom, long time I didn’t write.

I was reading the post about the branding of Mario Games as “Mario Games”. And I can’t stop thinking of that infamous rebranding of games comes with the Recon I told you about long time ago.

You know, when Normal-Guy Mario became Magical Mario. The one with the Fire Elemental Super Powers and, for some reason, it’s the Badass Leader of all Nintendo Badasses. It’s especially weird with Smash Brothers Brawl, where he’s basically commanding an army of Mercenaries, Robots, Knights and pink stuff. And it’s like… not weird. When it is! (That without accounting Mario Galaxy, where he helps GOD)

It’s like they thought we liked Mario because the amazing things he can do, and not because he’s more like an Avatar and we can consider him anything as we like. And because he saves princesses.

I’m going to tell that once and I hope you don’t mind that much: I hate Magical Mario. The personality of Mario before was the one we can choose, but now it alien to me.

No idea why I’m tell you this. But well, I hope you don’t really mind.

In a televised interview back in the 80s or early 90s, Miyamoto explained Mario’s appeal (he had David Sheff standing right there) was that he was not superman. If he fell from long heights, he could die. He had a mustache and overalls so he wasn’t the wealthiest person. He was always identified as the Italian plumber.

Above: Mario was depicted as a regular guy who got caught up in a fantastical wonderland.

Above: In this 1980s documentary on Nintendo, start at 3:55, and you will hear the definition of Mario.

Above: Mario was never depicted to have special powers. If anything, Mario only used the special powers he found in the wonderland. It was the Magic Mushroom that made Mario big, not Mario himself. It was the fire flower that made Mario shoot fireballs, not Mario himself.

Above: Note how Mario was in a space ship. Mario cannot breathe in space.

Above: Now Mario is a Superman. He can fly around with no power-ups. He can breath in space. Strangely, the Toads need a spaceship but Mario doesn’t!

This may seem like a strange complaint to the reader. But Mario used to be the ‘Everyman’. He was the referee in Punch-Out and Tennis, and he found his way in many games. What made Mario unique was that he wasn’t superman. But now, he is superman. He is much less cool because of that.