We all love Super Mario 
 
The short and pudgy Italian plumber Mario has had a busy life. He's been around for almost 30 years, and in that time since his debut appearance in the first Donkey Kong game in 1981 he has starred in over 200 video game adventures! In the course of his adventures Nintendo's moustachioed mascot has gained lots of friends, and quite some enemies too, some of which have even become popular enough to star in their own series of video games.

While the more advanced Super Mario games can be played on the Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance, many of the older set of classics have been converted to flash games which you can play for free online. You can try some of those free online Super Mario games for some nostalgic arcade game amusement. Some are remarkably accurate copies, while others are creative variations of the original games.
One funny fact about Mario is how he got his name. His creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, was intending to call him Mr. Video, which he knew would have been far too bland a name to make the character popular. But when Nintendo tried to market the game in America they got into a fight with the landlord of the warehouse they were using. This man's name was Mario, and Nintendo owed him back rent. After a long and heated argument the company's employees finally convinced Mario that they would pay him the money owed, and as a tribute they decided to name the character after him.