• 15

    Mario’s Original Profession Was Carpentry

    Mario’s first appearance was in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. Here, he was a carpenter working construction on the building that Donkey Kong escaped to the top of. His profession was later changed to plumber when pipes and sewers became a focus of the original Mario Bros. arcade game. *Bonus fact* Popeye was supposed to be the star of Donkey Kong, but Nintendo couldn't get the rights to the character. When they finally got the rights, they made the now classic Popeye arcade game.

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  • 14

    The Super Mario Land 2 Bear Was a Gameboy Camera Mascot

    In Super Mario Land 2’s Mario Zone, you can find a bear rolling around atop a ball. This is the only time this enemy has shown up in the Mario series, but he has shown up in other Nintendo titles. When the GameBoy Camera was connected to the Gameboy Printer, this bear would roll around on the screen while your pictures were printing.

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  • 13

    Super Mario Land 2’s Mario Zone Was a Toy Advertisement

    The Mario Zone of Super Mario Land 2 has a very overt toy theme to it. However, at certain points in the level you can find the letters N & B on the walls. N & B was a toy manufacturer in Japan and Nintendo sold some of their toys before entering the video game market.

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  • 12

    Bowser’s Fireball Is Backwards

    If you look closely at Bowser’s fireball sprite, the trailing flames of the fireball are actually pointing forward. Meanwhile, the lighter fiery part of ball itself is at the back!

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  • 11

    Mario Was Named After a Nintendo Office Landlord

    When Mario first made his appearance, he was only known as Jumpman. His name was changed to Mario after Mario Segale, the landlord to Nintendo’s first American office/warehouse. Nintendo was supposedly late on rent and Segale looked the other way, trusting them to pay him at a later date. In thanks, Segale was forever immortalized as the namesake for the most popular video game mascot of all time.

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  • 10

    The Clouds and Bushes in Super Mario Bros Use the Same Sprite

    When you have limited memory and colors to work with, you have to get innovative. In this case, the clouds and the bushes in Super Mario Bros. are actually the same sprite! The only difference is their color and the amount of the sprites that you can see.

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  • 9

    Several Mario Games Never Actually Happened

    Most of you know that Super Mario Bros. 2 is just a dream by now. But did you know that Super Mario Bros. 3 never happened either? The game opens to a curtain rising and the levels of the game have platforms bolted into the background. This all supports the theory that Mario 3 was actually a stage play, put on for the player. Further supporting this theory is the fact that all levels go black at the end, as if Mario was walking offstage. Several other games, such as the Mario Party series, take place in dreams, games, tournaments, or non-canonical timelines as well.

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  • 8

    Mario Is Dying on the Super Mario Bros. Cover

    Examine the original Super Mario Bros. cover for a second. Mario is in the middle of a jump, pressed up against a wall, with lava underneath him. The only way this could possibly happen is if Mario was falling downward toward the lava as there is no platform underneath him. Thus, Mario is on his way to an unfortunate death in the SMB cover shot.

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  • 7

    Super Mario Bros. Had a Sequel That Wasn’t Super Mario Bros. 2 or The Lost Levels

    We talked a lot about Super Mario Bros. 2 and The Lost Levels on this list, but there was an earlier Super Mario Bros. sequel that came out before both of them. The sequel was called Super Mario Bros Secret and it was released for the NEC-PC8801 and Sharp X1 series of Japanese PCs by Nintendo and Hudson Soft. The game brought back barrels, fire enemies from Donky Kong as well as the flies, icicles and crabs from the original Arcade version of Mario Bros. It also introduced several new power-ups including the hammer, which performed the same function it did in Donkey Kong; the clock, which would add more seconds to the stage timer; and, believe it or not, the first introduction of the P-Wing, which would allow Mario to act as if he was swimming through air.

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  • 6

    Nintendo Wanted Mario to Ride a Dinosaur in the NES Days

    Shigeru Miyamoto wanted Mario to ride a dinosaur way back when Super Mario Bros. first released, but the Nintendo’s technical limitations wouldn’t allow it. Miyamoto never gave up on this dream, however, and when the SNES came out, Yoshi was introduced.

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