Shigeru Miyamoto has offered Mario some life advice to celebrate the fact that he has turned 35 years old.
2020 marks the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. series, even though he technically debuted four years earlier in the Donkey Kong arcade game. He went on to become one of the most influential and iconic video game characters of all time, despite his unflattering design.
Mario is appearing in a number of Switch games in 2020, so Nintendo is heavily promoting his 35th anniversary. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was recently interviewed by CNN and he was asked about what advice he would like to give Mario for his 35th birthday. Miyamoto had this to say.
"Living in a way that's true to yourself is more enjoyable than being in competition with others. You'll be keeping plenty busy, so don't forget to work out and keep your mustache well-groomed."
Mario doesn't have a problem with worrying about competition, considering his defeat of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic is the one who guest stars in Nintendo games, while Mario continues to appear in critically acclaimed titles that sell millions of copies worldwide. The workout advice is more warranted, considering that Mario never seems to lose weight, even though he runs and jumps all of the time. There are zero worries that Mario's mustache will ever lose its luster.
Those who were born after the rise of Mario probably take a lot of the design elements of the series for granted, especially as they're so ingrained in modern culture, but it truly is a bizarre franchise when you look at it from the outside in. This is a series about a chubby Italian plumber in overalls who fights turtles and dragons while growing in size after eating mushrooms. The different elements of the Mario series were partly defined by the hardware limitations of the era, and we're just so used to them that we don't question their weirdness. The Mario series became popular due to its incredible gameplay and level design, which is why fans love it so much, and why it's likely to stick around for another 35 years.
Source: CNN