Super Mario

Nintendo · Since 1981

Gaming's most successful franchise, spanning platformers, kart racers, RPGs, and sports games. Mario debuted in Donkey Kong (1981) and has appeared in over 200 games across every Nintendo platform.

The Mario franchise began in Donkey Kong (1981), where the character was called Jumpman before being renamed Mario in Donkey Kong Jr. (1982). Super Mario Bros. (1985) established the side-scrolling platform game as the dominant console genre and sold 40 million copies — the best-selling game in history until Wii Sports surpassed it. The franchise's extraordinary breadth — mainline platformers, the kart racing series, RPG spin-offs, puzzle games, party games — reflects Nintendo's willingness to use the Mario brand as a creative canvas rather than preserving it as a single genre. Super Mario 64 (1996) defined 3D game design so completely that its camera and movement systems are still referenced as benchmarks. No franchise in gaming history has maintained equivalent commercial and critical performance across five decades.