Mario Games - Reception and legacy

Mario in Kungsbacka, Sweden

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be the most famous video game character in history. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 200 million copies (201 million as of 2009), making it the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Mario was one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Link and Sonic the Hedgehog.[56] Mario was the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In the 1990s, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon having starred in numerous television shows, comic books, and in a feature film. He has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials, in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy.[58] Nintendo of Japan produced a 60-minute anime feature starring Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released outside of Japan. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured a live-action series of skits starring former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts. Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in Kungsbacka, Sweden, named after Mario. Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo Mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases). In a poll conducted in 2008, Mario was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, outranking characters such as Cloud Strife and Solid Snake. In popular culture Mario's theme music in Super Mario Bros., composed by Kōji Kondō, is highly recognizable. Mario has inspired many unlicensed paintings and short films, which have themselves been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Former NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux was given the nickname "Super Mario" by the media during his career. Mario Williams, the #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, was also given the nickname "Super Mario", as was pro-cyclist Mario Cipollini. German international footballer Mario Basler was affectionately referred to as "Super Mario" by fans and the media. Other sportsmen who received this nickname include the Brazilian soccer player Mário Jardel,[68] famous for his jumps and headers, and current Inter striker Mario Balotelli. Mario was also seen in a Got Milk? commercial around the time Super Mario 64 was released.