To celebrate, how about a walk down Mario memory lane…

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-Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario first appeared as a carpenter in Donkey Kong (1981) and was simply known as “Jumpman.” 

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-Mario’s original love interest was a red dress-wearing brunette named Pauline.  She regularly needed saving from the fiendish Donkey Kong.  Pauline made a return to the Super Mario Bros. franchise in Super Mario Odyssey as Mayor Pauline of New Donk City.  Kind of awkward when you consider Mario is chasing his current flame, Princess Peach, across several kingdoms with Mayor Pauline cheering him on. 

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-King Bowser Koopa (Mario’s archenemy, post Donkey Kong) was introduced in a sewer that Mario and his brother Luigi were repairing. 

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-Which brings me to the point of how Mario was originally developed as carpenter from Brooklyn, New York; he then made a sudden career jump to plumber.  He has since acquired several other talents.

-On top of hundreds of video games spawned from Mario and Luigi, there have also been comics, live action series, cartoons, and a pretty amazing (not really) film starring Bob Hoskins and a young John Leguizamo.

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So sit back, enjoy a bowl of pasta, and reminisce on your favorite Mario moments this March 10th.  Also, don’t forget to enable Mario Time on Google Maps this week.  You’ll be able to get to places you need to be with Mario leading the way.