Nintendo’s favorite little plumber first made an innocuous debut as a carpenter named Jumpman in the original Donkey Kong game, and since then he’s appeared in too many games to even count. Tennis, golf, kart racing, RPGs, fighting games – you name a genre and Mario has been there and done that. While the complete gaming history of our mustachioed friend is almost too epic to cover, there have really only been a handful of proper “Super Mario” console games in the classic platforming series. For this “History of” piece, we’ll be ignoring the spin-off games and the handheld titles and focusing strictly on the main entries in the series. Let’s kick things off with the original classic –

Super Mario Bros.

NES - 1985

This was the first time we got to experience the Mario universe in its full form, and it still lives on as an absolute classic to this day. In this first of many Super Mario titles, your goal was one that would repeat itself many times – you’ve got to save Princess Toadstool from the evil King Koopa. It’s up to you – or you and your brother Luigi – to run, jump and swim your way through 8 worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom as you fight enemies like turtles, walking mushrooms, autonomous cannons, flying fish and some seriously deadly squid.

With only 8 short worlds consisting of 4 sub-levels each (not counting Minus World, of course) there was no save system in this game so you’ve got to beat it in one shot. Of course, there are a series of warp pipes in the game that will help you tear right to the end. And, just in case you weren’t already aware, you can continue after a game over by pressing A + Start when you select 1 or 2 players for a new game. Super Mario Bros. is an absolute classic Nintendo game, and it’s now available for download through the Wii’s Virtual Console – and just for the record, the continue trick still works.

Super Mario Bros. 2

NES – 1988

Often regarded as the strangest of the Mario Brothers games, many people may not realize that this was not originally a Mario game. Originally released in Japan as a title called Doki Doki Panic on the Famicom Disk System in Japan, this face-lift version of the game was released in North America and Europe as a replacement for the original Super Mario Bros. 2 which had been deemed too difficult for American audiences. The gameplay is wildly different from any other Mario Brothers game, but it did introduce staple characters like the Shy Guy (the ones in the masks), Pokey (the cactus), and bob-ombs (among others).

The true Super Mario Bros. 2 is now available for purchase in North America in the form of The Lost Levels on the Wii’s Virtual Console. This game, previously only available in Japan, was the first to introduce true hidden levels and different abilities for Mario and Luigi. It’s tough at times, but it’s a must play for any Wii-owning Mario fan.