What game did mario first appear in
Avery Gonzales
Published Feb 12, 2026
In the 1981 arcade classic Donkey Kong, Mario made his first appearance as the unnamed “Jumpman”, a carpenter with a pet ape gone berserk. Only in the subsequent game, Donkey Kong Junior, was Mario actually given his trademark name. One of the more fascinating things about Mario is that he was almost never created.
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The first game to ever feature Mario as the primary protagonist is Mario Bros a Game & Watch title released in 1983. It’s a co-op game where players can control Mario and Luigi. They’re two brothers working in a bottling plant moving various packages back and forth across conveyor belts before putting it on the truck for delivery.
Actually the first game that Mario apeared in was Donkey Kong in 1981, though you probably never saw that game until 1982. If you will remember, he appeared in the game as “Jumpman,” a carpenter trying to rescue his girlfriend Peach from the evil kong ape.
In the Arcade Nintendo’s flagship character was created by Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, who joined the company at the age of 24 after graduating from college in Japan. Mario first appeared in the 1981…
Related Questions
How did Mario first appear in a video game?
Mario first appeared as the player character of Donkey Kong (1981), a platform game. Miyamoto wanted to use Popeye as the protagonist, but when he could not achieve the licensing rights, he created Mario instead.
Who is the creator of Mario?
Mario is a fictional character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the Mario video game franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation.
When did Super Mario come out on the NES?
Super Mario Bros. is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo. The successor to the 1983 arcade game, Mario Bros., and the first in the Super Mario series of platformers, it was released in Japan in 1985 for the Famicom, and in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 and 1987 respectively.
What was the first Super Mario game released outside of Japan?
Super Mario Bros. for the arcades was the first version of the game to get a wide international release outside of Japan in early 1986, prior to the NES version getting a wide North American release the same year. Many players outside of Japan were introduced to the game through the arcade version.