Super Mario

Bowser at His Most Precious

This digital painting, created by veteran artist TsaoShin, will be used to demonstrate art techniques at today’s Anime Boston 2016 convention. It’s also amazingly cute. Once you’re done obsessing over Bowser’s widdle pink bandaid or his pet baby Chain Chomp, you may want to check out TsaoShin’s DeviantArt gallery for some more great fanart. Here’s…

In Japan, Nintendo is trying to trademark its iconic “coin sound” from Super Mario. It’s hard to believe that they haven’t already!

Every Single Second Matters In This Kaizo Mario Maker Level 

Kaizo Mario stages are famed for being grueling, nearly impossible levels that require pixel-perfect precision—and yes, players are definitely making some for Mario Maker, too. Take, for instance, “Salty Sagan’s Bomb Spaghetti.” The level is so bonkers it can be hard for the viewer to fully understand how Mario is getting through the stage at…

Mario Maker’s New  Pokémon Costumes Are Perfect

The original starters from Pokémon Red and Blue are now available in Mario Maker, and I think it’s safe to say Nintendo nailed them. Look at the cute sprites. The on-point animations. THE SOUND. When you get the appropriate mystery mushroom, that distinctive Pokémon jingle plays. Nevermind the usage of the original Red & Blue…

Fan Makes Cool Paper Versions of Classic Game Scenes

The very first stage of the original NES Castlevania, the spooky Ghost House from Super Mario World, our first battle with Bowser in Super Mario Bros. Scenes we probably all remember and encountered one way or another, from the NES days, that Mark Green resurrected with brilliant dioramas. His pieces are basically 3D papercraft versions…

Speedrunner Crushes One Of The Hardest Super Mario Bros. 3 Hacks Ever

In mid-2015, an intrepid modder called Obitus1 released one of the hardest Super Mario Bros. 3 hacks ever. Now, watch speedrunner mitchflowerpower absolutely kill it. Named Kaizo Mario Bros. 3. in honor of the infamous Kaizo Mario World series, this set of 19 levels is filled with near-impossible jumps, devious tricks, and items that you…

The State of the Wii U In 2015

The Wii U had a tough 2015. Nintendo can boast that they’ve released some of the most excellent exclusives of the year, yes, but with their next console looming in the horizon, it’s hard not to feel like 2015 was a transitional period. This is part of our 2015 “State of” series, a look at…

Mario Maker Players Are In An Arms Race To Make The Hardest Level Ever

There’s a brutal competition being waged in Mario Maker right now, and it’s inspiring people to make the most hellish Mario Maker courses they can think of. It all started with a course named “Pit of Panga: P-Break.” Uploaded last month by PangaeaPanga, Pit of Panga was so intentionally grueling, it made grown men cry…

Mario Faces The Final Boss

Better get to that super star real quick. Before that sneaky Thwomp gets there, preferably. Grosnez is a professional illustrator from France, and this is a fantastic piece of Mario fanart. Not much else to say there. There’s a few more gaming -related pieces from Grosnez below; his DeviantArt gallery has more pics, mostly in…

This November, Nintendo is releasing “Mario hanafuda” cards in Japan. Previously, they released Super Mario character-themedhanafuda cards via Club Nintendo (R.I.P.). These latest sets are priced at 2,500 yen (US$21).

A New World Record For Beating Super Mario Bros. As Fast As Possible

I invite you to feast your eyes on an expert playthrough of the original Super Mario Bros. Somehow, a speedrunner known as Darbian manages to blaze through the old-school classic in whopping 4:57.627. To put this into context: the last world record for the “any percentage” clearance of Super Mario Bros. was 4:57.69. That was…

Why The Latest Number One Mario Maker Course Is Such Garbage

Here, captured in a three second GIF, is the entirety of the current top-rated Mario Maker course. It’s hilariously bad. How in the world did it climb the ranks, then? The answer is in the course title, which is written in Japanese: It says “I will play the courses of everyone who likes this,” according…

Mario’s Voice Actor Plays Mario Maker, And It’s A Trip

You’ve probably heard Charles Martinet countless times while traversing the Mushroom Kingdom. But it’s something else entirely to watch the man behind Mario actually play Mario. Nintendo Life recorded Martinet doing all the Mario sounds live while playing Mario Maker, something which you simply must witness: I love how happy he seems playing Mario Maker,…

Someone Made A Kendrick Lamar Super Mario Bros. Mash-Up

Made by an Australian Soundcloud user victorylaptop, it’s the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta”, mixed up with the classic 8-bit theme of Super Mario Bros., and it just works perfectly. It’s not a proper mash-up without a pun, so the track is called… Kendrick Lamario Bros. To contact the author of this post, write…

Creator of ‘Hardest Super Mario World Level Ever’ Says Copyright Crackdown Gutted His YouTube Channel

Some of the most impressive Super Mario creations took years to make—and now they’re gone, at least on YouTube. Earlier this month, speedrunner Alex “PangaeaPanga” tweeted that his YouTube channel had been “wrecked.” Taking a closer look, I noted that even the popular video titled Item Abuse 3—which was billed as the “hardest Super Mario…

Luigi Tries To Beat Mario In A Live-Action Mario Kart Short

Luigi on an electric longboard and a city turned into a Mario Kart course full of dangerous elements. The folks at CorridorDigital made a pretty neat live-action short film about Luigi trying to beat Mario’s time trial score. Impressive effects for a YouTube video! And this is how they made it: To contact the author…

Watch Me Play Super Mario Maker

Today, I am going to attempt Mario Maker’s “100 Mario challenge,” a mode where you are given 100 lives to clear a set number of courses created by other players. Who knows what I will find? (Probably not the princess. She’s never at the castle. Jerk.) If you’d like, you can watch me undertake this…

The Best  Super Mario Maker Levels (So Far)

Super Mario Maker is largely in the hands of reviewers, entertainers, and YouTubers right now—but even so, we’re already starting to see some fantastic user-created levels. I recorded myself playing through a few favorites, including: A level where mushrooms are your worst enemy. A bullet hell level. A roller coaster. A level with a goomba…

A Game About Killing ‘Mario’

Mario is the ultimate video game hero, beloved by families the world over. Let’s kill him. Kill The Plumber is as close as the game’s developer could get to Fucking Murder The Shit Out Of Mario without risking a lawsuit. I mean, that character looks audaciously similar to Mario. And the art style! I’m kinda…

The Way Nintendo Used To Make Mario Levels

Did you know: old-school Mario games were drawn out on graph paper by designers like Shigeru Miyamoto? It’s pretty cool! During Nintendo’s E3 Digital Event, Miyamoto shared graphs and original design docs of older Super Mario games. It’s amazing. You can watch Nintendo explain the older design process here, around the :38 second mark. Or, if…