M is for Mario

How could M not be for Mario?  Mario has been another video game constantly in my life. Now, I'm not talking about the Mario "party" games or Mario Kart, I mean good ol' fashioned platforming Mario games. The ones with seemingly impossible jumps that have to be timed just right. These, to me, will always be the "true" Mario games.  What person who owned a NES, SNES, or N64 didn't play at least one Super Mario game?

I don't know if I have a favorite, maybe it's Mario 64. I remember playing the Hell out of that with my husband and friends. We would each take a level and try to beat it. If things got too frustrating, we played pass the controller. We did get all the Stars, though. I even really like Super Mario Sunshine, which is usually seen as the "black sheep" of the platforming series. And if you have a Wii, the Galaxy games are just amazing. (you should play them if you haven't)  Mario, like the Legend of Zelda, is a Miyamoto masterpiece.

Mario is just stuck in my head, here's an example. I go to Zumba dance/exercise class. There's a song that starts off normal sounding and gets faster. When it is at its fastest, my brain goes into panic mode. Why? Because the music reminds me of Super Mario Bros. When the music speeds up, you're running out of time and need to get to the end of the level quickly. So here I am, in dance class, with no TV or controller. But my mind is screaming that I must hurry or I (Mario) will die. It screws with me every time.

And finally, here's a really neat fan made video I found that mixes Super Mario Galaxy with an awesome Queen song: