'I've been playing it for as long as I can remember': Cult video game 'Super Mario Bros.' turns 40

"Without Mario, my life would be completely different" : Kikai, a collector of objects related to the mascot of Japanese video game giant Nintendo, is celebrating his 40th anniversary this year, as is the first console adventure of the mustachioed hero. Released in Japan on September 13, 1985, "Super Mario Bros." revolutionized the industry, notably being one of the first titles to have his character evolve horizontally in a colorful universe. "My father bought the game and I've been playing it for as long as I can remember," Kikai, a Japanese man who lives near Tokyo and who has collected "20,000 to 30,000 objects" related to Mario in his office, tells AFP. Figurines, stuffed animals, rugs...

In this collector's collection, the plumber's round, jovial face is everywhere. Like him, several generations of players have fallen in love with this character created by the Japanese Shigeru Miyamoto and first appearing in 1981 under the name "Jumpman" in the arcade game "Donkey Kong" . He officially became Mario in 1983 with the "Mario Bros." arcade machine and then rose to fame thanks to "Super Mario Bros." , a worldwide success released on Nintendo 's Famicom console (NES in Europe) and sold over 40 million copies.

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"It's a happy accident because, initially, this character was not at all intended to become a video game icon," emphasizes Alexis Bross, co-author of the book "Mario Generations." Blue overalls to make him stand out better, a red cap to avoid having to animate his hair... Initially, the character created was "purely functional, with very strong technical constraints," since Mario was then only composed of a few pixels on a screen.

This initial aesthetic has inspired a street artist from Lyon , France, for over 15 years, whose mosaics mixing the Nintendo hero with the magician Gandalf or Darth Vader are flourishing in cities around the world. "Finding elements of my game console in the street is bringing things that are immaterial into reality. I found it quite crazy," the 39-year-old who calls himself In The Woup, a Mario mask screwed onto his face to preserve his anonymity, told AFP.

"Mario Kart" , "Mario Golf" , "Mario Tennis" : the character has had many adventures and variations, with his brother Luigi and his enemy Bowser, even embodying the transition from 2D to 3D video games at the time of the release of the Nintendo 64 in 1996. Gradually, he will establish himself as a "transgenerational" and "reassuring" figure, says Alexis Bross. "He is an average man, very close to us, who originally has no power and is a little frozen in time."

Faced with current hits like "Fortnite" and "Roblox," games that are particularly popular among young players, Mario is benefiting from "parental nostalgia," who continue to buy and play with their children, explains Rhys Elliott, an analyst at Alinea. Aware of this situation, Nintendo has just launched a range of clothing and accessories for toddlers in Japan. This wave of derivative products ranges from backpacks to luxury watches, including Lego . Mario is even available in amusement parks in Japan and the United States. In cinemas, "Super Mario Bros.: The Movie," released in 2023, was one of the biggest successes of recent years, grossing more than $1.3 billion. A sequel is planned for 2026.

But at 40, he's done playing the hero who rescues the princess in her castle in exchange for a kiss. Faced with the emancipation of Nintendo's female characters, now heroines of their own titles, Mario "is adapting to new audiences and following the movements of society a little bit," observes Alexis Bross. While waiting for a new 3D opus of the plumber's adventures - the last one dating back to 2017 with "Super Mario Odyssey" - he hopes to see the emergence of "an absolutely new idea that would mark a new milestone in the history of video games."