Bowser is responsible for the vast majority of the Mushroom Kingdom's invasions, and almost always appears as the final boss, who consistently attempts to put an end to the escapades of Mario and his friends. His arch-nemesis is Bowser, the king of the Koopas, a race of evil-driven anthropomorphic turtles. The main protagonist of the franchise, the titular Mario, is a fictional Italian-American plumber who serves as the hero of a realm called the Mushroom Kingdom, which he endeavors to defend by traversing through stages filled with obstacles and enemies. The franchise revolves around the adventures of an extensive cast of recurring characters. 2.12 Games not manufactured by NintendoĬommon elements Plot, themes, and universe CharactersĪ promotional poster showing elements of the Mario franchise's fictional setting of the Mushroom Kingdom, and several of its major characters including, from left to right: Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Wario, Princess Daisy, Donkey Kong, Toad, Princess Peach, Mario, Bowser, Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Boo, Waluigi, Koopa Troopa, and Piranha Plant.It has sold more units than any other franchise in video game history, and become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. As the flagship franchise of Nintendo, Mario has gained massive critical acclaim and recognition throughout the world, with some of its games being considered to be among the greatest video games ever made. The franchise has also been licensed into other media, such as television series, anime, comics (including manga), children's books, and a critically lampooned feature film and spawned various YouTube videos as well as a theme park attraction. In total, over 300 video games are included in the franchise, which combined have sold over 500 million copies. Mario games of other genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, role-playing games such as the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, and several educational games. The two brothers use their trademark jumping ability to help them progress through levels, while also making use of power-ups of various kinds.
The main series in the franchise is the Super Mario series, consisting of platform games that typically involve Mario and his brother Luigi working to save the Mushroom Kingdom and its ruler, Princess Peach, from the villainous Bowser and his Koopa Troop. Most Mario games have been released for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onwards.
The games are primarily developed and self-published by Nintendo internally, with some games in the franchise being developed by other companies under Nintendo's supervision, such as Hudson Soft, Camelot Software Planning, Intelligent Systems, and Retro Studios among others. The franchise was created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and its first installment was the arcade game Donkey Kong, released on July 9, 1981. It centers around the fictional character Mario, an Italian plumber who serves as the hero of a realm called the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mario franchise is a media franchise consisting of video games published and produced by the Japanese company Nintendo. If it were not for this blindingly spectacular creation, digital entertainment as we know it today would not exist.” - Hideo Kojima, Nintendo Power Volume 230, November 2010 “Super Mario is equivalent to the Big Bang of our gaming universe. Mario Super Mario Advance Mario Party Mario Kart Mario Golf Mario Tennis Mario Baseball Mario Strikers Mario Artist Mario Discovery Luigi's Mansion Mario & Sonic Mario + Rabbids Wrecking Crew Super Mario Paper Mario Mario & Luigi Mario vs.