Originally, Miyamoto wanted to create a character similar to Popeye. The story of how Mario came to be is proper wild as well. Mario was created by the legendary Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto. To summarize, Mario’s first appearance was Donkey Kong, but he wasn’t the Mario we know and love until Super Mario Bros. He’s probably bitter after being whopped by someone named Jumpman. Speaking of renames, did you know the original Donkey Kong isn’t the same Donkey Kong you play as in Donkey Kong Country and beyond? The original Donkey Kong became Cranky Kong in those games. In it, the villainous Donkey Kong has kidnapped Jumpman’s then-girlfriend known only as Lady, who was later named Pauline. The Donkey Kong game took its cues from the movie King Kong. He wasn’t even called Mario either! Back then he was simply known as Jumpman due to his power of, well, being able to jump. In fact, Mario’s first appearance came two years earlier in 1981’s Donkey Kong. or the two-player battler Mario Bros., both of which were released in 1983 on the same day. What Game Did Mario Appear in First?īelieve it or not, Mario’s first appearance wasn’t in Super Mario Bros. So in short, Mario’s age currently sits in the region of 24 to 25 years old. In that version of the game, there’s an unlockable Mario trophy that includes an interesting nugget of info that reads: His age is around 26 years old. This 24 to 25 region also appeared in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. “When a character is born and it becomes known to the world, the setting is decided in detail, such as ‘What is your favorite color?’ ‘What is your favorite food?’ But we hadn’t decided on anything else aside from the fact that he’s about 24-25 years old.” “I think it was good that we didn’t put any weird restrictions on it,” says Miyamoto. Again, vague, but we work with what we’ve got. If that sounds a little vague, it’s intentional.īack in the day, Mario creator and superstar developer Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview with Nintendo that Mario is somewhere in the region of 24 to 25 years old.

Old games Super Mario Bros