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<\/p>\nAs a kid growing up in the 80\u2019s, I loved video games, heck I might have even married them given the chance. As such, I hear things about some of my favorite games and think it\u2019s some sort of urban legend, or a friend making a joke. After hearing the same few stories for the better part of twenty to thirty years I decided to find out if it was true.<\/p>\n
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Donkey Kong Was originally supposed to be a Popeye game. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBut there is a Popeye game you dummy! I\u2019ve played it!\u201d I know, I did too, but Popeye was supposed to be run on the platform that Donkey Kong ended up with. Nintendo had big plans for this until the licensing agreement between the company and King Features. Lead designer of the project Shigeru Miyamoto and his team scrambled to create new characters, and they ended up with Jumpman (Who ended up being Mario), Pauline, and the titular character.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Donkey Kong\u2019s original arcade cabinets weren\u2019t even made for the game. <\/strong><\/p>\n About a year or so before Donkey Kong came into the world, Miyamoto created Radar Scope (Think Space Invaders and you\u2019re pretty close to the concept). In 1980 it was one of Japan\u2019s hottest arcade games, so it was only natural that it would be a hit in America right? Well\u2026 not so much. 3,000 arcade cabinets were commissioned, and Nintendo scrambled to find a replacement. Again Miyamoto, used the existing hardware and had a few of the Radar Scope cabinets repainted. Nintendo originally hated the game and allowed Miyamoto to put two cabinets in a bar in Seattle. Within a week the bar wanted more Donkey Kong games because the machines were getting over 120 plays a night in the first week alone. Needless to say almost all the cabinets were refurbished and Donkey Kong went on to be one of Nintendo\u2019s best-selling arcade games of all time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since we\u2019re kind of on the subject of Mario, he\u2019s had a few weird things happen to him as well.<\/p>\n Mario and Luigi don\u2019t have last names.<\/strong><\/p>\n Super Mario Brothers is yet another creation by Shigeru Miyamoto (Did anyone else develop anything at that time?) and gave the characters the names Mario and Luigi, and for years many people assumed that since they were the Mario brothers, that their last names were Mario as well. Miyamoto apparently cleared this up in an article in Game Informer<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is an old story, but Hollywood did a film version of the Mario Bros. many years back. There was a scene in the script where they needed a last name for the characters. Somebody suggested that, because they were the Mario Bros., their last name should be Mario. So, they made him “Mario Mario.” I heard this and laughed rather loudly. Of course, this was ultimately included in the film. Based on the film, that’s [how] their names ended up. But, just like Mickey Mouse doesn’t really have a last name, Mario is really just Mario and Luigi is really just Luigi.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Originally The Game wasn\u2019t going to have Mario.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes the game that revived the home console market in America didn\u2019t even have his lead character in the beginning. The character was originally a filler character with no name. While in development someone decided to do a bit of research and found that the original Mario Brothers had a steady sales and may be a good fit. Miyamoto thought about it for a moment and said \u201cSure, why not?\u201d. With that, history was made.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The setup and controls were complexly different.<\/strong><\/p>\n According to early designs of the game, the entire game would\u2019ve been entirely different. In some levels Mario would\u2019ve been a total bad-ass riding a rocket and firing a laser beam. \u00a0Can you even imagine how amazing this would be? I kind of wish this would\u2019ve happened.<\/p>\n With any good, there usually has to be some bad. If the original idea had stayed in place, you would have had to press B to run and up to jump. Apparently testing of the games proved something that anyone would know, these choices were very bad ideas.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Super Mario Brothers backstory was really messed up.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Remember when games had instructions? Well if you bothered to even read the one for Super Mario Brothers, you may have noticed the object of the game.\u00a0 Apparently it\u2019s not 100% certain that Mario is the hero. This may have something to do with killing the people of the Mushroom Kingdom. WTF? Apparently the Koopas practiced black magic, and turned the residents into stones, plants, and even bricks. That\u2019s right every time Mario or Luigi hit a brick, they iced a fool. Pretty sure if more parents read this it may not have been so popular. As Proof, here’s the actual game description.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n You can jump over the flagpole.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t believe me? Watch:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/popculturehypocrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/rs-c_orig-300x169.jpg\")
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