We can hardly believe it's already been 30 years since that short Italian plumber and his brother Luigi first captured our attention.
Gamers have gone along with him as he collected coins, ate mushroom that gave him special abilities, leaped over carnivorous plants, and battled with King Koopa, all to rescue his Princess.
Yes, Mario may be a game veteran by now, but we can't help but keep coming back to Super Mario.
In celebration of the iconic game's 30th anniversary, here are 30 fun facts we've dug up about Mario and his crew.
1. Mario was originally named Jumpman. When it came time to rename him for the U.S. release of the game, as Nintendo's U.S. Office was brainstorming possibilities, their landlord, Mario Segale, interrupted their discussions. Thus, Super Mario was named after him.
2. Even before he was named Jumpman, Mario was known as Mr. Video. Even before that, his name was "Ossan," which roughly translates to "middle-aged man."
3. American voice actor Charles Martinet has been providing the voices of Mario, Wario, and Luigi since 1995.
4. In 1983, Mario was voiced by Peter Cullen, who also voiced Optimus Prime, when Mario appeared in Saturday Supercade's Donkey Kong shorts.
5. Mario has appeared in more than 200 video games across multiple Nintendo platforms.
6. You know all those blocks that Mario breaks through to get coins, power ups, and the like? According to the official instruction guide for Super Mario Bros, those blocks were formerly inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, which the Koopas turned into blocks when they invaded.
7. Nintendo owns the porn parodies of Mario Bros.: Super Hornio Brothers and Super Hornio Brothers 2.
8. Mario was originally supposed to be more of a badass action hero toting a beam gun and rifle, and riding a rocket.
9. Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario's creator, wanted him to be able to ride a dinosaur after the very first Super Mario Bros. game was produced. However, it would take technology six years to be able to make Miyamoto's dino-riding vision a reality.
10. Mario's look was also dependent on the technology of computer graphics. His hat hides his hair, which was difficult to render realistically. His big mustache also allowed designers to hide his face.
11. For years, many gamers thought that our favorite video game hero was depicted just moments before his death in the original game cover artwork for Super Mario Bros., where he was seen as about to hit face-first onto a stone wall and down into Bowser's lava pit. However, Miyamoto busted this myth when he was promoting Mario Maker.
12. A study that looked at games that promoted pro-social or antisocial behavior found that playing Super Mario Sunshine could make you a more helpful person.
13. Another study found that playing Super Mario 64 helps with orientation, memory formation, fine motor skills, and strategic planning – so who said video games were bad for you?
14. Bullet Bills and Torpedo Teds, Mario's underwater foes, are said to be inspired by the movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
15. Super Mario was ahead of its time with gender equality. Birdo, as stated very plainly in the official manual for Super Mario Bros. 2, is a "guy who thinks he's a girl," making him one of the first transgendered characters in the video gaming universe.
16. The Chain Chomps are able to break free once they chomp on their chains at least 49 times.
17. The Chain Chomps were also inspired by a traumatic childhood event for Miyamoto, who was often chased by a neighborhood dog until it would be yanked back by a chain on its collar.
18. The Ghostly Boo characters meanwhile were based on the wife of the game's co-designer Takashi Tezuka. The wife was known as a quiet and demure woman. However, she suddenly blew up on Tezuka in anger over how much time he was spending away from home and working on the game. Therefore, the Ghostly Boos are small and seemingly harmless when Mario faces them then they grow big and menacing when he turns away.
19. The Whomp characters from Super Mario 64 were modeled after mythological Japanese beings called "nurikabe" or wall ghosts, which cause travelers to get confused and lost at night.
20. A survey conducted in the early 1990s revealed that American children recognized Mario more than they did Mickey Mouse.
21. The failed 1993 Super Mario movie was one of the first films to be made based on a video game. It starred Bob Hoskins as Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa.
22. It is said that Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman was also interested in playing the role of Mario for the movie because his children were fans of the game.
23. Bowser, according to Nintendo's official magazine, is married to a mysterious lady named Clawdia Koopa. Could she be the real mother of Bowser Jr.?
24. Almost everybody knows that Mario made his first appearance as Jumpman in 1981's Donkey Kong game, but he would not return to his roots until Donkey Kong was released for Game Boy.
25. On some flag-jumping levels to get bonus points, if Mario jumps over the flag, he can continue going on and on down an endless scrolling brick road to nowhere, unable to turn back, until time runs out and Mario dies.
26. Mario was originally supposed to be a carpenter. Check out what other odd jobs Mario has had over the years.
27. Mario and Luigi do not have last names. According to Miyamoto, in an interview with Game Informer in 2012, Mario only has one name, just like Prince or Madonna.
"Just like Mickey Mouse doesn't really have a last name, Mario is really just Mario, and Luigi is really just Luigi," he said.
28. Super Mario 3D on Wii U is a 1702MB download. The original game was able to fit in a 256KB NES cartridge.
29. Captain Lou Albano, a pro wrestler, played Mario in the television series The Super Mario Brothers Show.
30. Princess Peach was not referred to by that name until 1993's Yoshi's Safari. Before that, she was known as Princess Toadstool.
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