The Mario Brothers Family Tree

Mario is easily Nintendo's most famous mascot, and maybe even the world's most famous video game character. In addition to his own titles, he has been seen in countless other Nintendo games. This list contains only the highlights of a very long and prolific career.

1981 - Donkey Kong - Mario must save his girlfriend from the big, stubborn ape!

1982 - Donkey Kong Junior - In Mario's only appearance as a game villain, he has exacted his revenge and caged Donkey Kong. Now it is up to Junior to set his daddy free!

1983 - Mario Bros. - Mario gets a starring role, and a brother, Luigi. Together, Mario and Luigi must clean up a sewer filled with all sorts of creepy crawlies.

1984 - Mario Bros. Special - An updated take on the arcade game, released for Japanese-exclusive game consoles.

1984 - Punch Ball Mario Bros. - Another variant on the arcade game, released for the same consoles as Mario Bros. Special.

1985 - Super Mario Bros. - This is the game that made Nintendo a household name in video game consoles, established the 2D platformer as its own genre, and rescued an ailing industry, all pretty much single-handedly. A "Vs." arcade game, two sequels and many, many imitations followed.

1985 - Wrecking Crew - In this puzzle game for the NES, Mario must destroy 100 levels' worth of objects without trapping himself. After the NES game's release, Nintendo turned this into arcade game Vs. Wrecking Crew, featuring 2-player simultaneous play.

1989 - Super Mario Land - Mario goes portable in this Game Boy title. The game plays similarly to Super Mario Bros. but has its own unique levels. Two sequels followed, one of which introduced a new enemy to Mario, named Wario.

1990 - Dr. Mario - While Nintendo struck gold with their licensing of Tetris, they also came up with their own Tetris-inspired puzzle game. Mario gets his medical degree and takes on a bottle full of nasty viruses. The NES, Game Boy and arcade versions were all released in the same year, with the arcade game being the last in Nintendo's 2-screen "Vs." series.

1990 - Super Mario World - Mario goes 16-bit in this launch title for the Super Nintendo. He also gets a new friend, a big-nosed dinosaur named Yoshi. One sequel followed.

1992 - Super Mario Kart - Mario gets his own go-kart racing game for the SNES, and ends up launching yet another successful sub-franchise across multiple consoles. Afterward the industry decided every famous video game character needed to appear in a go-kart racing game, and Mario himself got additional "Kart" titles on later systems.

1992 - Mario Paint - Less a game and more a virtual toy chest and art studio, Mario Paint launched a series of SNES titles with support for the console's mouse controller.

1993 - Mario's Time Machine - Mario gets educational as he chases enemy Bowser through time in a game not entirely unlike Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?

1993 - Mario Is Missing! - Luigi gets his first solo starring role in this educational game, giving lessons in geography as he searches for his lost brother.

1993 - Mario and Wario - This Super Famicom title, released only in Japan, has Wario dropping different items on Mario's head, after which Mario tries to blindly find his way to brother Luigi for rescue. Players use the mouse to help Mario fumble his way along.

1993 - Mario's Early Years - A series of three games for the SNES were even more overtly educational than previous titles. The three games were subtitled Fun with Letters, Fun with Numbers and Preschool Fun.

1994 - Hotel Mario - Mario even made an appearance on the Phillips CD-i thanks to this puzzle game. Like most CD-i games, Hotel Mario was not very well received.

1994 - Donkey Kong - At first this Game Boy title looks like a port of the arcade game, but it soon reveals itself to be a much more elaborate puzzle game. Once the original four screens from the arcade game have been conquered, players are challenged to solve 97 additional screens with all new mechanics.

1995 - Mario's Game Gallery - This lesser-known collection of five games like checkers and backgammon for the PC and Macintosh is most notable for being the first title to give Mario a voice, beating Super Mario 64 by a year.

1995 - Mario's Picross - This number-puzzle game for the Game Boy was the first in a series of "Picross" titles. Poor reception of the first title lead to the rest of the series getting released only in Japan.

1995 - Mario's Tennis - Mario had cameoed in several Nintendo sports games by this point, including Tennis on the NES, but this time he had top billing in this launch title for the Nintendo Virtual Boy. The game did about as well as the rest of the Virtual Boy line-up, and is not well-remembered today. Later Mario would turn up in tennis games for other systems like the Nintendo 64 and the Game Boy Color.

1995 - Mario Clash - A Virtual Boy 3D take on Mario Bros.

1996 - Super Mario 64 - Mario was well in the habit of launching new Nintendo game consoles by now, and this was his big title for the Nintendo 64. He also found a voice and a third dimension in this expanded take on platformers like Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World.

1996 - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - This late release for the SNES was developed by Square, famous for the "Final Fantasy" series, and combines elements of those role-playing games with more traditional Mario game play.

1998 - Mario Golf - Just like he did with tennis, Mario first appeared in an earlier Nintendo golf game but now gets his own title in the sport, this time on the Nintendo 64. Additional golf games with Mario were later released for the Game Cube and the Game Boy Advance.

1998 - Mario Party - A massive collection of mini-games intended for multi-player party play, Mario Party became a hit and spawned a continuing series of titles across the Nintendo 64, the Game Cube and the Wii.

1999 - Super Smash Bros. - Perhaps the most enduring Nintendo 64 title is this fighting game that brought together characters from every Nintendo franchise, including Zelda, Kirby and Pokemon. Several sequels have followed, all of which have done quite well for themselves.

2000 - Paper Mario - In this role-playing Nintendo 64 game, Mario goes 2D again, sort of, and is again challenged to rescue Princess Peach from frequent nemesis Bowser. Yet another sub-franchise was born with this game, with additional "Paper Mario" titles appearing on the Game Cube and the Wii.

2001 - Super Mario Advance - The first in a series of games for the Game Boy Advance that really do little more than repackage past Mario hits for portable play. The first includes both Super Mario Bros. 2 and the original non-super Mario Bros. Actually Mario Bros. would appear in every "Advance" title, leading some critics to accuse Nintendo of laziness.

2002 - Super Mario Sunshine - Mario's landmark title for the Game Cube, and another 3D platformer similar to Super Mario 64.

2003 - Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga - In this Game Boy Advance RPG, the Mario Bros. must work even more cooperatively than before to rescue Princess Peach's voice from the evil Cackletta. Two additional "Mario and Luigi" titles have appeared on Nintendo portables since this release.

2004 - Mario vs. Donkey Kong - The two heavyweights spar directly for the first time since 1994's Donkey Kong for the Game Boy. Similarly to that earlier game, Mario must solve puzzles to rescue "Mini-Marios" kidnapped by the big ape. A sequel appeared on the Nintendo DS two years later.

2004 - Mario Pinball Land - After tennis and golf, Mario was given even more competitive games to star in, including games about pinball...

2005 - Mario Superstar Baseball - ...and baseball...

2005 - Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix - ...and dancing...

2005 - Super Mario Strikers - ...and even soccer!

2005 - New Super Mario Bros. - Mario takes on a side-scrolling adventure for the first time in over ten years. This Nintendo DS title was incredibly successful, leading to sequels on the Wii and the Nintendo 3DS.

2005 - Mario Hoops 3-on-3 - Oh, Mario got a basketball game, too.

2007 - Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games - The two rival mascots team up in this ode to the Summer Olympic Games. Additional Olympic titles followed, along with a Sonic appearance in the Wii's entry to the "Super Smash Bros." series.

2007 - Super Mario Galaxy - Mario's marquee title for the Wii sends him on another 3D platforming adventure. A sequel followed in 2010.

2010 - Mario Sports Mix - Square Enix pits the Mario crew against each other as well few "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" characters, in sports like volleyball, dodgeball and hockey.

2011 - Super Mario 3D Land - Despite the title, this platformer actually combines both 2D and 3D platforming.