Mario Games

Game description

The Mario Games franchise has become a long running and iconic game series in the Video Game Industry. The character, Mario (as well as the supporting cast of characters included), and video games named there after, were created by Shigeru Miyamoto and developed by the video game company behemoth Nintendo. Mario himself has been featured in over 200 video game titles and is one of the most successful characters in the industry.

Displayed as a short stubby Italian plumber, the goal of most of the renditions of the video games created under his name is to complete a course under a specific amount of time. As the decades passed since his debut in 1981, Mario has become a character that signifies the evolution of the video game indsutry, old and new.

Online, there have been many flash games rendered to mimic the gameplay style of the original Mario and Super Mario titles. With a huge selection of flash video games online, there is no limit to the amount of play time possible for gamers of all ages.

The Super Mario series contains a side scrolling action feature. Mario will start at the very left of the course going through obstacles to reach the finish line. Brick-like boxes can be jumped on and / or destroyed by jumping on top or from the bottom (Mario most probably has a really hard head). The same boxes containing a question mark will generally contain powerups or coins which can be collected to increase the overall points at the end of the game.

Most of the Mario games start with the antagonist, Bowser (a Half Turtle Half Dragon Hybrid), who kidnaps Princess Peach. Our protagonist, Mario, who is in love with Princess Peach, decides to set out in the world and take the Princess back from the evil clutches of Bowser. In Mario’s way will be obstacles and enemies. There are the Koopas who are short brown mushroom characters. And there are also turtle henchmen with or without wings. In the beginning, Mario can only jump. This is his attack and evade ability. To attack, he must jump on top of his enemy. Another way is to attack from the bottom of a brick block with the enemy on top of it. However, from some of the Pipes which are part of the obstacle course, is a giant carnivorous flower. This plant will kill Mario even if he is jumping on top of the plant. These are the beginning enemies, and as the games progress, more enemies with upgraded powers will be introduced to the gamer.

To aid Mario’s quest are objects which increase Mario’s powers. The Red Mushroom, for example, will make Mario twice his original height. He will not die as fast as when he is in his original stubby version. The Green Mushroom will give him a Level Up, which will increase his heart points. When Heart Points are completely deleted, it’s game over. So it is helpful to have as many of these as possible. Another power-up of notice is the fire flower. Which gives Mario the ability to shoot fire projectiles at his enemies.

Other games to take note are Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Super Mario RPG. These add an interesting twist to the Mario-verse and keep Mario games fresh.