Mario’s darkest secrets revealed

We all love Mario – well most of us anyway – but did you know that there are still secrets about him being uncovered?

I learn more about Mario and his worlds every day on the net, even though some of the crazy facts were staring me in the face and I still managed to miss them. Here are some of the things I didn’t know about Mario until recently – now you know them too.

Mario is dying on the cover of Super Mario Bros.

The original Super Mario Bros. shows Mario in his fire flower outfit with his white overalls and his red shirt. The thing that I didn’t notice was the fact that he was about to hit the lava and die. Look carefully at the box-art, he was about to become fried Mario, all this time, how have I been so blind?

Super Mario Bros

You could jump over the flagpole in Super Mario Bros.

Ever wondered what was past the flagpole? Well, nothing but an endless wall of death. If you ever managed to drop over the flagpole in world 1-1 on Super Mario Bros. you will be doomed to a life of lonely brick counting – until your timer runs out. As you can see, once you land over the flag pole and walk a bit the screen cannot go back to the flagpole and you are stuck there.

The Bowsers aren’t Bowsers, and Bowsers’ Fireball is backwards

The Bowers that you face at the end of world 1 -7 are not actually Bowsers, they are normal enemies disguised as Bowser. If you face the imposters with fire power and shoot them until they die you will see them turn back into their real form. Sneaky right? Also, when you face Bowser, or the imposters, and he shoots a fireball it’s actually the wrong way around! It actually looks like it is being shot from the side. Strange.

The Clouds and the Bushes are the same thing

While you are strolling along the first level in Mario, you will maybe miss the fact that the clouds and bushes are the same thing, just a different colour. Like really, they look exactly the same, just one is white and one is green – same sprite. I am starting to think this was a rushed job.

Super Mario Bros

Mario has been in Angry Birds, sort of

There is an Angry Birds level that looks exactly like the first stage in Mario Bros. When you hit the block at the top the Pig comes out and slides just like the mushroom does. Mario has been everywhere.