Mario Brothers--of the Super variety

Observe now the image I have chosen for my desktop wallpaper. A simple image, representing simple game. Yet this image captures the essence of, perhaps, the most famous video game of all time. One almost pities Mario forever frozen in midair, with what may be the final steps before reaching the first castle and coming that much closer to his goal.

Jumping, of course, is a key move in the game--Mario cannot go far without it. This image shows a pose Mario takes often--he is usually in the air longer than on the ground. The Goombas marching angrily back and forth portray the friendly hazards along the way, and the warp pipe shows a classic means of skipping over levels. We can never know what hides behind that Surprise Box...a growth mushroom? A Coin? Maybe even a beanstalk!

But to the heart of my discussion. One immortal question has long plagued my mind--just what genre does Mushroom Kingdom fal under? Other games are obvious in this respect--Metroid is Science Fiction, Zelda is fantasy. The original Platform Mario brothers, or the game Donkey Kong, boasting Mario's first appearance, were too short to require a "genre", but Super Mario brothers had an elaborate, if unusual, world to play in.

The presence of princesses, castles, and even a "dragon" (if Boswer can be called one) would imply a fantasy, and evil mushrooms and turtles could fit this mold. Yet one finds it hard to justify the existense of plumbers in this place. Bullets, bombs, and elevators would almost qualify the game as modern day or science fiction.

Various sequels to this game take different approaches. Super Mario Brothers 2 and 3 take a fairy-tale-like view of Mushroom Kingdom, with random, strange creatures abundant. Various Mario RPGs take a strong stance either on fantasy or science fiction, or a strange cross between the to. Luigi's Mansion even takes an almost suspenseful or horror theme, with ghosts being the main enemies. The Super Mario Brothers film is not mentionable in polite society.

So what conclusions can we draw? As always, the end decision is this--Mario lives in a world of his own--one that has never been matched by any other game, nor will it ever be. As has been the rule since 1981, when Mario first appeared in the arcades in Donkey Kong, we do not ask questions. We just...play...the game...