Mario

Watch A Super Mario Bros. Aquarium Get Built From Scratch

If I ever decide to buy fish, I’ll have to consider this incredible aquarium by Kelsey Kronmiller. “I started in about a year ago, after my good friend showed me a similar tank and challenged me to make one….so I did,” said Kronmiller to me over email. “I originally wanted to go with the underwater…

Super Mario Bros. Screenshot Recreated with 14,000 Toothpicks

Who knew toothpicks could be such a good substitute for 8-bit graphics? I sure didn’t. Twitter user BitBlt Korry recreated the Super Mario Bros. start screen with painted toothpicks. As you can see, some of the toothpicks stick out further, giving the tableau’s front some cool depth. [Photos: BitBlt_Korry] This little hidden Mario is a…

The very talented Marinko Milosevski looks back at Super Mario 64 with his latest poster. As usual, you can acquire a print through Marinko’s website—but if you’d prefer to just look, you can find the poster in its full glory below. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest,…

The Man Who Does The Impossible in Super Mario 64

Before the world knew him as Mario, Nintendo’s iconic plumber had a simpler name: Jumpman. That name makes sense, when you think about it: Mario is defined by his ability to jump. But lately, I’ve become fascinated by the people who play—and beat—Super Mario 64 without jumping a single time. Heck, sometimes they don’t even…

What Made Super Mario 3D World So Great

We all know Super Mario 3D World is super rad. Just how rad is it? YouTuber Mark Brown took a look at the modern classic for his semi-regular “Game Maker’s toolkit” video series, and makes a case for putting 3D World in the time-honored “totally hella rad” category. That might not be the name of…

Mom Honors Pledge, Plays Mario With Son On Wedding Day

As if weddings weren’t sweet enough. When The Toast’s Mallory Ortberg (formerly of Gawker) asked this question last year, she got what turned out to be one half of a reply. The other half came this week, with an update. If they were late, at least they had an awesome excuse. (via nrvalleytime @ NeoGAF)…

World’s Best Peter Griffin Cosplayer Tries A Mario Speedrun

That sounds like something a headline generator would come up with, but I promise you, this is a real thing that happened. In this clip, Robert Franzese (aka Real Life Peter Griffin) takes on Super Mario Bros. and beats it in under an hour. Slow by professionalspeedrunner standards, impossibly fast by Peter Griffin standards. Weird…

Five Ways We Can Improve Climbing In Video Games

Climbing in video games is not broken. Climbing in video games is doing just fine. No-one is complaining about it and no-one has a problem with it. Except me. Me: a person who climbs regularly. Me: a person who plays a lot of video games. Me: a person with no game design experience and only…

Nintendo’s Official Rules On What Color Mario Must Be

Press the Buttons (via Fast Co.) recently got their hands on something very special: a copy of Nintendo’s Style Guide, a 1993 document that sought to formalise all kinds of weird Nintendo-related mascot matters, like what exact colour Mario’s and Samus’ outfits have to be. It’s as obsessive as it is fascinating. Mario’s famous overalls,…

Mario, I Don’t Recognize You Anymore

We’ve already seen Mario without his moustache. But via 2ch, let’s see that again. And minus the hat. And while we’re at it, ditch those overalls, put on a t-shirt, and wear glasses. It looks like the actor Nintendo hires to play Mario in his off hours. To contact the author of this post, write…

Nintendo Is So Annoying About Smartphones

You know what would be cool? If Nintendo released its old games on smartphones. Instead, Nintendo has another plan: Releasing more smartphone games on the 3DS. Oh. In a recent interview with the Nikkei, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo will be remaking more smartphone games on the Nintendo 3DS. Iwata added that the…

Dude Beats A Super Mario World Record Five Times In One Week

You thought that near-impossible Super Mario World glitch completion time was fast? It was just the beginning. While the guy who first demonstrated the glitch, SethBling, has whittled his world-record-setting completion time all the way down to 3:07.2, he’s been completely blown out of the water by another player who goes by the handle Dotsarecool.…

Wyatt Cenac’s Got a Theory About Mario and Princess Peach 

“Luigi is a man who lives in fear of constant Bowser attacks… I think his fears are misplaced.” If anybody should be afraid in comedian Wyatt Cenac’s weird version of the Mario universe, it’s Princess Peach. In the debut episode of The A.V. Club‘s new game show Pick A Choice—hosted by my good friend and…

Man Plays Super Mario World with His Nose

And pretty well, mind you. But he does play Super Mario World by using his nose to blow into a musical instrument. NicoNico user Wakou does this by using a program called Audio Pad, which allows him to control Mario with sound (which is why he doesn’t talk during the video, because any noise impacts…

It Takes Nine Minutes To Break Down The Amazing Super Mario Timeline

There are a lot of Mario games out there. Though most of these games aren’t particularly story heavy, some people have still set out to try to place these games in chronological order in an effort to make a single Mario timeline. Here’s the latest crack. If you include every single Mario game you can…

Taken vs Mario: Don’t Steal Princesses

The Taken movies are OK! If you think they’d be better swapping out Liam Neeson for Mario, though, you might want to watch this very well-done fan trailer. “I will-a find you…and I will-a jump on your head”.

Watercolors Really Bring Out the Beauty in Mario Characters

Who would’ve thought a Piranha Plant could look so majestic? Over the past week or so, Seattle-based artist Olechka has been doing Mario-themed paintings. She’s done paintings on pretty much everything, actually, from memes to TV show characters—if you like these Mario pieces, make sure to check out the Olechka Art & Design website for…

Charity Speedrunner Has Mastered One of My Favorite Games Ever

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was the first role-playing game I ever played, and it took me years to beat it when I was a kid. Then this guy did it in under three hours. This week’s Awesome Games Done Quick 2015 charity speedrunning marathon has featured some really cool runs, including…

Mario in Puzzle & Dragons is a License to Print Money

How do you make even more money off of one of the most popular game franchises? Add a dash of gaming’s most iconic character, that’s how. GungHo Online Entertainment just announced today an upcoming collaborative game on the Nintendo 3DS, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. While it looks like Puzzle & Dragons with…

Dude Smashes The Mario Bros. World Record

Tom Votava’s score of 4,678,440, a Mario Bros. world record that has stood since 2009, has been smashed by Florida man Steven Kleisath, who earlier today set a new high score of 5,424,920. Having been playing the game since the mid-80s, Kleisath’s score was set on an original coin-op machine. “I feel amazing,” he told…