Since his introduction, Super Mario has shaped not only the video game industry but popular culture as well.

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This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

This March 10, the gamer community celebrates the Mario Bros., the iconic Nintendo game. In English, the date is abbreviated as #Mar10, a label that evokes the name of the titular plumber.

Japanese company Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. for the eight-bit platform Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), also known as Famicon. That day, digital home entertainment was revolutionized.

In their almost 40 years of life, Mario and his brother Luigi have done much more than just entertain people. Here are some of Mario’s highlights:

1. He saved the video game industry

After the success of companies like Atari, consoles began to lose quality, and consumers moved away from them. Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo reversed this trend by introducing a high-quality product with different levels.

It sold more than 40 million copies.

2. He turned into a live-action character

Mario’s first television show was born with “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show,” which combined live action with cartoons. Captain Lou Albano played the live-action character Mario. He has appeared in various cartoons, animated films and even in a live action film with Bob Hoskins that had a poor reception at the box office.

3. He’s more popular than Mickey Mouse

According to a study by Marketing Evaluations in the ’90s, the Italian plumber was more recognized by children than Disney’s flagship mascot.

4. Mario’s hat was designed a certain way for a reason

Mario’s design is not due to Shigeru Miyamoto’s predilection for Italian characters. In reality, the designers of the original game put a cap and mustache on Mario because it was difficult to design hair and mouths with the technology of the moment.

5. Mario is a “super brand”

Mario has been in over 200 games and is the most popular and best-selling video game franchise of all time. In fact, at least 31 of its titles have sold more than a million copies since 1995. What’s more, the Super Mario series alone has sold more than 262 million units worldwide.

Mario has appeared in so many games that he received the Guinness Record recognition in 2008 as the most prolific video game character of all time.

What do you think of this character?