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I once read the story of Shigeru Miyamoto's rise to fame, and the games he developed.
Part of that tale told of Donkey Kong, the game that introduced Mario to the world - though he was going under the rather camp name of Jumpman.
Apparently though, the game Donkey Kong was not going to be like it was at all. Well, it was, it was going to look pretty much the same, except for one thing.
Jumpman may well have been Popeye.
Nintendo were trying to get hold of a license to develop a Popeye game for the arcades, they eventually got it, but not in time to go on this game, and they had to come up with a new character to rescue OliveOil from the big nasty monkey.
So if Donkey Kong had been 'Popeye' would Mario have ever existed at all?
The design of Mario is based on the technology that Donkey Kong had, when Mario next appeared in Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto may have had the power to make him look very different.
Much of Mario's appearance is down to being able to define his features in those early 80's days of poor sprites. He only wore a cap because of the colour limitations, so hair just didn't look right. He only had a moustache because a big yellow face looked daft. He only wore dungarees so that his arms were visable.
Had Nintendo turned Donkey Kong into Popeye as intended, Mario may never have existed at all, or he may have looked very, very different.
Part of that tale told of Donkey Kong, the game that introduced Mario to the world - though he was going under the rather camp name of Jumpman.
Apparently though, the game Donkey Kong was not going to be like it was at all. Well, it was, it was going to look pretty much the same, except for one thing.
Jumpman may well have been Popeye.
Nintendo were trying to get hold of a license to develop a Popeye game for the arcades, they eventually got it, but not in time to go on this game, and they had to come up with a new character to rescue OliveOil from the big nasty monkey.
So if Donkey Kong had been 'Popeye' would Mario have ever existed at all?
The design of Mario is based on the technology that Donkey Kong had, when Mario next appeared in Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto may have had the power to make him look very different.
Much of Mario's appearance is down to being able to define his features in those early 80's days of poor sprites. He only wore a cap because of the colour limitations, so hair just didn't look right. He only had a moustache because a big yellow face looked daft. He only wore dungarees so that his arms were visable.
Had Nintendo turned Donkey Kong into Popeye as intended, Mario may never have existed at all, or he may have looked very, very different.
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I once read the story of Shigeru Miyamoto's rise to fame, and the games he developed.
Part of that tale told of Donkey Kong, the game that introduced Mario to the world - though he was going under the rather camp name of Jumpman.
Apparently though, the game Donkey Kong was not going to be like it was at all. Well, it was, it was going to look pretty much the same, except for one thing.
Jumpman may well have been Popeye.
Nintendo were trying to get hold of a license to develop a Popeye game for the arcades, they eventually got it, but not in time to go on this game, and they had to come up with a new character to rescue OliveOil from the big nasty monkey.
So if Donkey Kong had been 'Popeye' would Mario have ever existed at all?
The design of Mario is based on the technology that Donkey Kong had, when Mario next appeared in Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto may have had the power to make him look very different.
Much of Mario's appearance is down to being able to define his features in those early 80's days of poor sprites. He only wore a cap because of the colour limitations, so hair just didn't look right. He only had a moustache because a big yellow face looked daft. He only wore dungarees so that his arms were visable.
Had Nintendo turned Donkey Kong into Popeye as intended, Mario may never have existed at all, or he may have looked very, very different.
Part of that tale told of Donkey Kong, the game that introduced Mario to the world - though he was going under the rather camp name of Jumpman.
Apparently though, the game Donkey Kong was not going to be like it was at all. Well, it was, it was going to look pretty much the same, except for one thing.
Jumpman may well have been Popeye.
Nintendo were trying to get hold of a license to develop a Popeye game for the arcades, they eventually got it, but not in time to go on this game, and they had to come up with a new character to rescue OliveOil from the big nasty monkey.
So if Donkey Kong had been 'Popeye' would Mario have ever existed at all?
The design of Mario is based on the technology that Donkey Kong had, when Mario next appeared in Mario Bros, Shigeru Miyamoto may have had the power to make him look very different.
Much of Mario's appearance is down to being able to define his features in those early 80's days of poor sprites. He only wore a cap because of the colour limitations, so hair just didn't look right. He only had a moustache because a big yellow face looked daft. He only wore dungarees so that his arms were visable.
Had Nintendo turned Donkey Kong into Popeye as intended, Mario may never have existed at all, or he may have looked very, very different.