Mario take a bow - you are Europe's best-loved video game character

7th December 2009 – After 28 years, over 100 games and sales of over 222 million, new research today reveals Mario as the best-loved video game character of all time. Independent research carried out by YouGov across Europe places the Italian dynamo ahead of such gaming luminaries as Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man and the Master Chief from Halo.

And when it comes to game soundtracks, the majority of Europeans surveyed instantly recognised Mario’s catchy soundtrack. The Mario soundtrack was created by composer and sound director Koji Kondo for the Super Mario Bros game launch in 1985.

His first major game score, the classic Mario theme successfully managed the feat of creating memorable and fun music that could be repeated frequently in gameplay without causing boredom. Mr Kondo, who has also composed the soundtracks for the Legend of Zelda series and Star Fox, amongst others, claims diverse musical influences from Latin and jazz to rock. Sometimes it can take a month or more to create a video game soundtrack.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii brings the classic Mario platform game to Wii and while all the music and sounds were created newly for the game, some of them are based upon Koji Kondo's original tunes, rearranged by Nintendo's music team specifically for the game.

And for the first time in the history of the Mario series, up to four players can experience the action at the same time, playing as Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad or Blue Toad. Work with or against your fellow players to race to the end of each level, overcoming obstacles, using Power-Ups, defeating enemies and having a lot of fun along the way. 

Play the story mode on your own or with friends, aiming to complete all levels co-operatively, following a classic Mario plot of rescuing Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser. In Free Mode and Coin Battle Mode, on the other hand, you leave the friendliness behind and compete with each other either to reach the goal at the end of the stage or reach this goal with the most coins.