Who is the most famous video game character of our generation? If you said Mario then you are correct. Mario has been on the scene for over fifteen years now and is a oldtimer in the game. This is because of the great Mario games, there are even Mario games online. He is very recognizable and there is not any other character who looks like him.

He has an older brother named Luigi who is a skinnier version of Mario. He also has many friends who stick by his side. Princess Peach, quite possibly the love of his live, is a bubbly but very smart friend.

Mario has been in great games, but also in some really bad ones. Nintendo has been experimenting with many video game genres, from role playing games to racing games. Some of these Mario games failed miserably, but some where pleasantly and astonishingly good. So great in fact that many sequels where spawned.

Mario Kart 64

Everybody knows that Mario Kart 64 is one racing game that took racing to a different level, not the next level, but a different but good one. Many copy cats have appeared like Sonic Drift and a Crash Bandicoot racing games. But none of them hold a candle to the Mario Kart games. Mario Kart 64 is one of those games that you can play with your family or at a party. It is easy to get into and start playing.

Super Mario World

Mario has had huge success with the platform games, so huge that it opened doors to other genres of games that Nintendo tested with. One of these classical games is Super Mario World.

This game set the bar high and it became the standard to which other games where compared. The game introduced us to Yoshi, which is one of the best sidekicks to have. This game is also a very huge game, which means hours of fun.

Mario 64

Somehow Nintendo keeps doing it, because when the jump from 2D to 3D happened, Mario again set the standard for 3D platform games with Mario 64. The controls, level design, graphics, camera control, and much more is what makes this game a classic. It was also a long game with many secrets and Easter eggs in it.

Nintendo tries to experiment with many different type of games when they use Mario and his friends. The reason is clear as daylight. Throw Mario on the cover of any video game and you instantly will sell a couple of copies. If the game is great, then they have expanded into a different genre that they can make more money in, but platform games are where Mario is the best.

So what will happen in the future? Well let’s look at the past. Since Shigeru Miyamoto knows that the Mario brand is profitable, he will continue to develop new Mario games like Mario World 2 and also try to get Mario to do other things that the competition is too afraid to try doing.