Super Mario Bros. busts through 35 years ago this week

Back in the 80s', there were big divisions in this country. Some people were in the Atari camp, while others relished their Colecovisions and Intellivisions. And there were even those Commodore 64 hold outs. Though, I wasn’t friends with those weirdos.

In 1985, things changed across the board. On September 13th of that year, Japanese computer company Nintendo released Super Mario Bros.

It first became popular in the U.S. on the Atari home gaming systems but two years later the game went international. Soon kids around the world were ditching their old consoles and jumping on the NES bandwagon. The game was bundled with the new Nintendo Entertainment System (along with Duck Hunt), which helped many find the joy of busting bricks and kicking turtles.

The main character of the game, Mario, was already known to kids far and wide, who had been pumping quarters into Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. at their local arcade. Super Mario Bros. became a smash and helped propel the Nintendo Entertainment System to the top of the home video gaming industry. The game went on to sell over 40 millions copies worldwide.

In fact, a 1990 survey found more American kids found “Mario” more recognizable than Mickey Mouse.

Happy birthday, Mario!





Todd Hollst

Todd Hollst

Listen to Todd weekdays from 4 PM to 7 PM on The Eagle.

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