1. While developing Luigi, for the original Mario Bros., memory limitations meant the character had to be a duplicate of Mario, so Shigeru Miyamoto differentiated the second character by applying the color palette from the shellcreeper to the sprite.
2. There are a possible 256 hidden, glitchy levels on the original Super Mario Bros. cartridge that can be accessed by swapping it out with a Tennis cartridge while the game is running.
3. According to urban legend, Mario as he’s depicted on the original cover of Super Mario Bros. is moments from running into a wall, falling into lava, and dying. But, according to Shigeru Miyamoto this is not the case.
4. The clouds and bushes in Super Mario Bros. are the same graphic, just with alternate color palettes.
5. Mario had many names before he was “Mario". He was “Jumpman” and before that he was “Mr. Video” and before that he was just “Ossan,” which translates to middle-aged guy.
6. The user manual for Super Mario Bros. states that when the Koopas invaded the Mushroom Kingdom, they transformed the inhabitants into bricks, which implies that Mario is killing people with every brick he smashes.
7. Mario runs and swims the real world equivalent of 3.4 miles during the course of Super Mario Bros.
8. Wario and Waluigi get their names from the Japanese word warui (悪い), which translates to “bad.” Their names are meant to be portmanteaus of “Bad Mario” and “Bad Luigi.”
10. Or it may be because Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic in Japan, and didn’t become a Mario game until the characters were added when the game was brought to America.
11. In fact, the manual included with Super Mario Bros. 2 mistakenly included several images from Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic that never appeared in the American version of the game.
12. Yoshi was meant to be included as a mount for Mario in the NES-era games, but technological restrictions wouldn’t make it possible until six years later with the release of Super Mario World.
13. The slab-like Whomp enemies that slam down in front of (or on top of) players in the Mario games are thought to be inspired by the path blocking Nurikabe spirit from Japanese folklore.
14. The Koopa Kids from Super Mario Bros. 3 are all named after popular musicians:
Iggy Koopa is named after rock star Iggy Pop
Larry Koopa is named after U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
Lemmy Koopa is named after Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead
Ludwig Von Koopa is named after composer Ludwig van Beethoven
Morton Koopa Jr. is named after country singer and TV personality Morton Downey Jr.
Roy Koopa is named after the bespectacled Roy Orbison
Wendy O. Koopa is named after punk rocker Wendy O. Williams
15. Confirming a popular fan theory, Shigeru Miyamoto agreed in an interview that Super Mario Bros. 3 doesn’t actually happen, and is all just a theater performance being put on by the characters.
16. The last bit of World 3 in Super Mario Bros. 3 is meant to resemble the islands of Japan, and the castle is placed on the real-world location of Kyoto, home of Nintendo HQ.
17. The endless staircase in Super Mario 64 uses an auditory illusion called a Shepard tone to give the impression that the music endlessly goes higher in higher in pitch, causing a sense of unease.
View this video on YouTube
18. The rabbit in the basement of the castle in Super Mario 64 got it’s name, MIPS, from the “Microprocessor Without Interlocked Pipeline Stages” found in the Nintendo 64’s CPU.
19. MIPS was one of the first characters developed for Super Mario 64, and was originally only meant to be used for testing character models and camera angles, but the designers liked the rabbit and chose to leave it in.
20. Nintendo was forced to provide protective gloves to everyone who purchased Mario Party because of injuries sustained while using their palms during certain mini-games leading to blisters, friction burns, and lacerations.
21. Composer Kazumi Totaka, who has written the music for many Mario games (as well as many other Nintendo Games) hides his signature 19-note melody in almost every game he composes the music for, including Mario Paint, Luigi’s Mansion, and Mario Kart 8.
22. The red mushrooms from Mario games are based on actual Amanita muscaria mushrooms, which can cause hallucinogenic effects when consumed, including micropsia, a perceptual phenomena that makes the intoxicated person feel larger than their surroundings.
23. According to one of his creators, Yoshi is actually a Koopa, and his “saddle” is actually a small shell.
24. Nintendo encouraged the director of Wreck-It Ralph to include a Mario cameo in the film, but they ultimately decided to leave him out because they couldn’t find a natural spot to include him.
25. The popular Wii-U game Splatoon was nearly a Mario game, but Shigeru Miyamoto decided he was more interested in launching a new IP instead.
26. According to a 1992 character guide, Yoshi’s full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas.
27. And Mario is not human, but a species called Homo Nintendonus.
