"The Super Mario games follow Mario's adventures in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, usually with Mario as the player character. He is usually joined by his brother, Luigi, and occasionally by other members of the Mario cast. As in platform video games, the player runs and jumps across platforms and atop enemies in themed levels. The games have simple plots, typically with Mario rescuing the kidnapped Princess Peach from the primary antagonist, Bowser. The first title in the series, Super Mario Bros., released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, established gameplay concepts and elements prevalent in nearly every Super Mario game since. These include a multitude of power-ups and items that give Mario special magic powers such as fireball-throwing and size-changing into giant and miniature sizes.The Super Mario series is part of the greater Mario franchise. This includes other video game genres as well as media such as film, television, printed media and merchandise. Over 310 million copies of games in the Super Mario series have been sold worldwide, as of September 2015, making it the best-selling video game series in history." -Excerpts taken from Wikipedia
The Original NES version of
Super Mario Bros.
Original version of Mario from the NES title.
Mario and his brother Luigi as they appear in the title New Super Mario Bros.
"The object is to progress through levels by defeating enemies, collecting items, and solving puzzles without dying. Power-up use is integral to the series. The series has had instalments featuring both two- and three-dimensional gameplay.In the 2D Super Mario games, the player character (usually Mario) jumps on platforms and enemies while avoiding their attacks and moving to the right of the scrolling screen. 2D Super Mario game levels have single-exit objectives, which must be reached within a time limit and lead to the next sequential level. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the overworld, a map of nonlinear levels that branches according to the player's choice. Super Mario World introduced levels with multiple exits. The gameplay of the 2D games is recreated by the New Super Mario Bros. sub-series.Levels in 3D games are less linear, allowing the player to walk around freely, and close quarters fights are incorporated. As the game progresses, more areas become accessible. Each 3D level is an enclosed world in which the player is free to wander in all directions and discover the environment and gather Power Stars or Shine Sprites to open more areas of the overworld." -Wikipedia
A screenshot from one of the later games,
Super Mario 3D World.