Life isn't much good at being fair, and it's terrible at baking cookies. But it's great with lessons on perspective, and Lord knows it excels at making you feel old.
I thought I had young gamers figured out. I would sometimes stand in the Arrivals lobby of the airport and wait for a travel-weary grandma to shuffle in with outstretched arms. Once her grandson or granddaughter shrieked with recognition and charged, I'd stand between the two with a large poster of Mario. One hundred percent of the time, grandma was abandoned for a hug with the Mario poster.
I conducted this experiment to determine how recognisable Mario actually is, and also because I like making grandmothers cry. In conclusion, Mario is easily pointed out by the very young and the very old, and everyone in between—but not every aspect of Mario's character is acknowledged universally.
When we think of Mario, we think of a fat Italian guy who wears a hat and loves to bounce around saying, “Woo-hooo!” But Mario is more than a long-time Princess rescuer: he's also a master of shape-shifting. Every new adventure gives him some kind of alterform: a frog, a raccoon, a ghost, a Superman, etcetera, etcetera. Knowledge of these disguises and a twenty-second elevator ride taught me that just because Mario is so easy to point it in a crowd, it doesn't mean his image has remained consistent among gamers of all ages.
A couple of years back, a friend made me a Frog Mario button. I put it on my purse and never had the good sense to remove it, so it's still there. A few days ago, I was riding the elevator up to my apartment, and an eight-year-old kid who boarded with his dad noticed my button.
He said, “It's Luigi!”
Interesting take, I have to admit: when you see something green and vaguely Mario-ish, you may as well default to Luigi. I said, “No, but you're close.”
He looked at me, confused.
“It's Frog Mario.”
You know that stare kids give you when you start speaking to them in tongues?
His dad said, “I think he's too young for that.”
“I was your age when I first played Mario 3,” I told the kid. He looked conflicted. No doubt he hears “When I was your age” as often as we grown-ups hear, “You're past due on this pornography bill,” and he's likely tired of it. On the other hand, no young boy wants to pass up a conversation about Super Mario.
He said, “I like New Super Mario Bros! See, I was fighting Bowser, and there was this fire, right, and--”
Dad interrupted. “But who actually finished the game?”
The kid pointed to his dad.
He was still talking as he was pulled out of the elevator. Until that moment, it had never occurred to me that a young kid might not realise the significance behind Frog Mario, or Raccoon Mario, or even Caped Mario. Despite revivals on the Game Boy Advance and the Virtual Console, he belongs to the retro game community. That's okay, because without change, there is no survival...and Bee Mario is almost as fuzzy and cute as Tanooki Mario. Almost.
Related Links:
Brave New Super Mario World
Super Mario World is Terrifying!
Super Mario's Warp Whistle Mishap