He's undoubtedly one of the most recognisable faces ever to grace the box art of a video game, but aside from his blue-collar occupation and a dislike for turtles, fans in the early '90s didn't know a whole lot about Super Mario himself. Beyond the pixels onscreen and information found buried within instruction booklets, there wasn't really any insight into the world that our mustachioed hero was so eager to save; so the Mushroom Kingdom was still a place of relative mystery. However, thanks to the celebrated Nintendo Power magazine, that was all about to change.
Super Mario Adventures originally ran as a monthly comic, first appearing in Volume 32 of Nintendo Power back in January 1992, and continuing all the way through to 1993. Each month a new chapter of an ongoing story would be revealed, and now the entire collection has been reprinted into a colourful, light-hearted comic book that's the right kind of weird. It's not the first time the Mushroom Kingdom has been fully realised as a living place – that honour goes to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show and the Nintendo Comic Systems books - but it did set a wonderfully silly tone that has carried through to the present day, rendering Mario's home as much more than just a series of pits and platforms.
Taking notes from gameplay mechanics, levels and characters all featured in the games, Super Mario Adventures does a wonderful job of fleshing out a fairly basic storyline with unique scenarios and some goofy character turns that still feel remarkably fitting to this day. Mario, for example, is perfectly portrayed as the gung-ho and slightly naive hero, while Luigi is anxiously dragged along for the ride. Even Bowser is as brash and big-headed as you'd expect, and we wouldn't want him any other way. In fact, readers might actually be forgiven for thinking this was a recent release and not a reprint at all, given how well these personalities fit later portrayals in Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario series.
The story itself, broken up into 12 chapters, goes some way to mix up the "rescue Princess Peach" trope, though starts about the same way you'd expect. Mario and Luigi are busy putting in a hard day's work, setting their plumbing skills to the task of sorting out a mess of pipes beneath Mushroom Castle, when disaster strikes. Out of nowhere, Bowser bursts onto the scene in his Koopa Clown Car and gives Peach just one week to accept his sudden marriage proposal, offering his hand through the medium of song and dance no less. Not wasting any time, she gives chase to confront the Koopa King in a heroic turn that's a welcome change from having her simply go to the castle, have a nice cup of tea, and wait for this whole thing to blow over. From there, it's a rapid journey with plenty of familiar faces to meet along the way.
The whole thing was essentially a two-man job, with Kentaro Takekuma writing the scenario and Charlie Nozawa illustrating. Despite the pair being relatively unknown, they managed to combine their strengths and create something that oozes with personality, and more than a little cheesiness for good measure. Their shared talent makes for an effective combination of quickfire jokes mixed with wild variances in the art-style, allowing the use of giant cartoon heads on one page and a hyper-detailed human face on another. It's a treat to flick through and see just how fast-paced and active the comic can be, which is especially unpredictable given the loose borders and ever-changing layout from page to page.
An eclectic bunch of scenarios draw influence from some of the video game's more off-beat quirks, with a great example taking place right in the middle of Boo's mansion. A shy ghost confronts the brothers, but they immediately set a plan into motion so they can escape. What could it be? Why that's simple - they offer the shy spirit a therapy session to ease its anxiety, complete with a dignified Doctor's outfit for Mario and a umm...less dignified Nurses' ensemble for poor Luigi. There's a similar switch later on, as the adventurous Peach ends up swapping outfits with Luigi, causing all kinds of trouble for them both. No expense is spared for the sake of a baffling chuckle. It's equally entertaining when something completely unexpected pops as well, like Friendly Floyd; a sleazy salesman who scams Mario into buying a useless Yoshi translation manual that just repeats the same word for every answer. "Hello" "Yoshi!" "How are you?" "Yoshi!"
To top things off, the collection also includes a short story featuring the villainous Wario, which neatly acts as an introduction to Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. It's much shorter of course, but offers an interesting perspective on these former childhood friends and rounds the book off nicely. A second Mario Vs Wario story is sadly missing from this collection, but there's definitely still plenty here to enjoy regardless.
There are plenty of reasons to seek out Super Mario Adventures, whether it's as a collector's item or a fun comic in its own right. As a piece of Mario history it's a fascinating prototype for some of the character traits we're still seeing in the series today, even more so than the similarly strange animated TV series, but anyone who just needs a few silly puns and some light comic action are also in for a serious treat. The whole package can easily be read in a single sitting, but we bet you'll end up wanting to share it with friends and go back on some of the more memorable moments to bask in nostalgia, and marvel at just how delightfully weird it all is.
Super Mario Adventures is available to order directly from Amazon in the US and also in the UK too.
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Comments (23)
Glad you found time to review a book. Time to go play with my book now.
Absolutely love it! It is easily the best written Mario thing that isn't the RPGs
I remember getting this back when it was new! Funny how Nintendo has never seen fit to seriously expand upon the Mushroom Kingdom beyond this manga... The same old formula has reached ancient petrified wood levels of stale by this point. It's time to change it up!
For those looking for the extra Mario vs Wario comic, it's in the January 1994 issue of Nintendo Power. ...Turns out that it makes Mario look like just as much of a douchebag as he is in the ending of Wario Land 1! Contrary to the current "unswerving hero" propaganda, Mario was portrayed as being a false hero of sorts during several occasions in the early 90's, trying to take other people's glory for himself.
Luigi was the real winner in the extra Mario vs Wario... Where's THAT Luigi now!? He was soft-spoken and considerate, not a whiny coward like he's portrayed as today. Nintendo has committed character assassination against the man in green! (Probably at the behest of "Big Red.")
Oh yeah, almost forgot... Mario is a murderer. He poisoned an innocent octopus with sugar water and left them there to die. All he said afterwards was "Woops! Well, time to go!" Cold hearted bastard. He ALWAYS had to be the sheriff... But he's the real criminal!
#WarioDidNothingWrong
It was a lot of fun reading these as they debuted in Nintendo Power back in the day. Just seeing your screen captures gives me a nice nostalgic feeling.
I think my favorite was the one where Wario tries to prank Mario over a Samus Aran doll that Peach wanted for her birthday, but it goes awfully wrong. I won't spoil the fun.
Review the Zelda Ocarina of Time manga !
Didn't know Wario could read such a masterpiece like this (or you know, read)!
@NintyFan Peach is a frickin' BOSS in Super Mario Adventures! She lunges at Bowser alongside her commandos right before his magic zaps them, escapes from her prison cell on her own, jumps out of the top story window of the castle tower to escape using the Cape, returns in a Trojan Horse using Luigi as bait, then threatens to blow up the whole damn castle and everyone in it if Bowser doesn't meet her demands... AND IT HAPPENS.
Jesus... Peach made classic Samus look second rate. And she didn't need any fancy technology, either! The only way Bowser could take her down was mind control.
I love this comic! It has a great, funny plot, and I love how all the characters are portrayed. My favorite part?
I laugh every time I read that part! XD
@hieveryone Wasn't that Link to the Past?
Bought the reprint because my original copy is held together with scotch tape and is missing a page or two. Really good comic and probably the most accurate representation of Mario in any non-gaming media. Love how Peach is more than a damsel in distress too, a side we rarely see in game.
If the comic has any flaws it's that it puts the other comics to shame. I have the collection of the other Mario comics and they aren't very good.
Delightful and very fun ...If they ever make a Super Mario movie, some of this should definitely be considered for the story treatment.
Glad to hear it's a genuinely fun read. I love the artwork.
Wow. I got my book a week ago, and I ordered it a week after release. My book took a month on Amazin to get here. They first reviewed it now. Do the math.
Sorry I meant Amazon
I always love it when I see the Mario universe be given so much personality and humour. I sorrowly miss the days of the first Mario rpgs, cartoons, comics and manga where Nintendo hadn't decided to play it safe with their Mario franchise yet and actually tried to be creative. Certainly a great read!
I prefer the Swedish translation.
Did anyone else own those choose your own ending Mario books? You should cover them nex!
So...no Nintendo news today?
You made me want to buy this now!
Always liked these as a kid. They hit the right balance between action and comedy to the point of making the workmanlike animated adaptations redundant at best. If Nintendo were to ever get back to the comics/animation scene, this--plus some pointers from the Paper and M&L series--should be their base inspiration. Could be good.
I ordered and received the Super Mario Adventures book off Amazon, but also found the Legend of Zelda A Link To the Past comic at a book store last month
I just ordered this yesterday. I remember downloading soe scans of the comic off the interwebs back in the early days, but they only had the first seven issues uploaded before it got canned. I also got the Zelda comics on recomendation by Amazon. I would love to someday see a crossover between the strikingly different Mario and Zelda 'verses. The Hyrule MarioKart track was a nice first step.
@PlywoodStick No it's OoT
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