The Super Mario series has delighted fans for four decades and counting. So what memes best sum up how gamers feel toward Nintendo's franchise?
The Super Mario series is easily the most popular gaming franchise of all time, having been Nintendo’s flagship IP and remaining successful for four decades. It’s gone through variations from the 2D scroller of Super Mario Bros. to the open world of Super Mario Galaxy and beyond.
Fans have shown their appreciation for the series by making light of the logic behind the games. These tend to be memes based on stuff that shouldn’t really make sense, such as Mario’s use of mushrooms and the general attitude that gamers have toward the franchise. What are the best memes that not only entertain, but also represent the overall Super Mario experience?
Yoshi Always Suffers
Yoshi is largely credited as the most helpful NPC in Super Mario games for the way he’s remained the titular protagonist’s constant companion. This meme will ring true to fans since Yoshi’s pretty dispensable when it comes to gameplay, as he just respawns.
Should Yoshi actually realize what’s going on, though, he might be in for a world of surprise. Fans have long speculated how Yoshi’s respawning is supposed to work, and this meme might just represent it best. On the plus side for Yoshi, this at least never happened in the Mario canon.
Not So Powerful After All
Super Mario is among the best video games for new and young players because of its simplistic style and presentation. Fans tend to go deeper into the physics of things and it’s hilarious to consider the truth behind this meme. After all, Mario’s abilities really are inconsistent, to say the least.
In the original games, Mario was used to smashing the blocks in the environment to open up pathways or to find items. However, interacting with a turtle was a one-hit death, which shouldn’t make much sense since Mario dealt with much sturdier stuff without breaking a sweat.
Everyone's Favorite Moment
Capturing the flag is a style of gameplay that became all the rage in the mid-2000s, thanks largely to shooter video games. Mario fans can argue that their preferred series was the first to come up with the concept, because the original games’ goals were always to reach the flag.
It’s a sight that Mario fans cherish with all their heart, as the flag is the final stop in a level so it means all the difficulties are over. Moreover, the flag is in an area that’s completely predicted, making it the one place where players can relax without worrying about an attack.
It's Not An Insult If It's True
At first glance, this meme might appear to be an insult, but it’s actually a clever way of revealing the purpose of mushrooms. Mario games have the red and green mushrooms placed around the missions that are always for the benefit of players - the meme has simply worded it in a sassy manner.
The red mushroom enables Mario to gain size and become large enough to break apart bricks and blocks. The green mushroom is a rarer sight to witness and grants Mario an extra life, thus extending the potential runtime of the playthrough.
Getting A Do-Over
Mario gets do-overs within the same levels if he’s not at his base size. Claiming red mushrooms makes the protagonist larger and this gives him one hit to be taken without dying altogether. This meme takes a spin on the popular line to incorporate Mario’s logic.
Although the protagonist doesn’t die when hit by an enemy, he does become smaller and reverts to his base form. Considering how challenging the levels can get and the overarching gameplay that stretches across various levels, becoming smaller is a good compromise compared to starting all over again.
Peach Always Ends Up In The Same Place
Despite being a villain, Bowser is largely considered the best Super Mario character by many, even rivaling the protagonist himself. Fans like the antagonist because he’s made out to be a comedic character and because the boss fights against him are memorable. Of course, it’s saving the princess that’s the whole point of the conflict, which is uncanny since she turns up at Bowser’s place so much.
This meme jokes about the idea that Princess Peach might be Bowser's girlfriend all along and Mario’s the one capturing her. Although that’s not really the case, it is something that fans love to joke about because of how many times she’s had to be rescued from Bowser.
A Bit Too Realistic
Bowser might look intimidating, but he’s actually nothing more than a turtle. In fact, the majority of classic Nintendo games tend to have bosses that would be hilarious the real world. This meme takes this realistic approach to depict how they would appear in live-action.
Where Bowser is concerned, the Mario series has taken the least intimidating animal and made it an iconic character. To be fair, it does explain why Bowser has slower reflexes than Mario during their boss fights since he’s supposed to be a turtle and Mario’s a human.
The Mario Formula Is Foolproof
Mario fans don’t care about high-quality graphics or AAA titles with groundbreaking gameplay because their preferred series delivers entertainment value regardless. The franchise is so iconic that adding minimal gameplay elements enhances the experience in a big way each time.
This meme shows how the PlayStation and Xbox brands have to go out of their way to make an impact, whereas Nintendo only has to hand Mario a kart. The Mario Kart series has been a massive success for decades and caters to a larger audience, so there’s no doubt that this strategy has been a proven success.
The Highest Achievement
Mario and Luigi are part of the most famous video game family, as the brothers have had a lasting impact on pop culture. However, playing as Luigi has been a difficult task because Mario games tend to make players work extremely hard just so they can unlock Mario’s younger brother as a playable character.
The most famous example is in Super Mario Galaxy, where players have to complete every single task available in order to have the chance to play the same game as Luigi. For most fans, simply getting to this point is the biggest achievement because of how difficult it is, and it’s worth a trophy of its own.
Easily Forgiven
There are quite a few variations of Mario games, ranging from the standard entries to sports-based titles. Here, fans have the option to pick anyone from the roster of characters in the series and it’s possible to have Mario and Bowser face off in these activities.
This meme points out how bizarre this logic is since it’s essentially the hero having a friendly match against the villain that repeatedly kidnaps the princess. Funnily enough, Mario and Bowser are generally the most preferred picks by players, so they’ve been each other’s sports partners a whole lot within gameplay.
