Happy Birthday, Mario! [Plumber turns 25]

Mario is the most identifiable character in the video game history, making innumerable appearances in games that not only see him star as the protagonist, but also as a race car driver, street-fighter, basketball player, snowboarder and all-round brilliant sportsperson. His cameo appearances(often included in games as 'Easter Eggs') are world famous as well.

Created by acclaimed game designer Shigeru Miyamoto back in 1981, Mario would make his debut as a video game character that same year as 'Jumpman', in fact, he would turn 29 this year, but he would make his first appearance as the main protagonist in Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo's NES console only five years later. While Platforming games were not entirely uncommon at the time, they often lacked complexity and depth. Super Mario Bros. would change all of that with a gameplay system whose fundamental mechanics form the basis for platformers of today, a whole 25 years later.

What's new for Mario? Well, with the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 he has reinforced his position as the video game industry's undisputed champion thanks to a Metacritic aggregate of 97. One of the highest rated games of all time, Super Mario Galaxy 2 develops on the hugely successful Super Mario Galaxy adding features such as co-operative gameplay(a huge hit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii), the ability to ride the dinosaur Yoshi and dozens of new, exciting power-ups. But it looks like Mario is not planning another adventure any time soon. His next appearance will be at the 'Game of the Year' awards at the end of the year, when Super Mario will collect with his trademark non-chalance.

Happy birthday,Mario! and thanks for the number finger-breaking, yet fun hours in front of our TV sets.

This post was written by: Sridhar

Sridhar is a professional blogger, social media enthusiast and a huge twitter addict. Follow him on Twitter