Nintendo had bought the publishing rights to Popeye in Japan. Shigeru Mayamoto pitched the idea of King Features Syndicate to create a video game which involved Bluto throwing barrels down at Popeye as he tried to save Olive Oyl. The resulting game was a hit and quickly became iconic, though there would be drama in the high score community as discussed in the documentary "
The King of Pop" which covers the story of notorious cheater Billy Mitchell being dethroned by Steve Weibe to become the Popeye World Champion, and leading into Mitchell's downward spiral as his scores were removed from official lists and he was blacklisted from Twin Galaxies and Guiness Book of Records. Many even made jokes about Mitchell looking a lot like Popeye antagonist Bluto.
Super Mario Bros-1985
After the success of the licensed game
Popeye, Miyamoto expressed a desire to create original characters and was given more free range to do so following
Popeye's 1981 success. The game he had in mind featured a character originally called Jumpman but quickly became named Mario instead. Mario wanted his hero to fire bullets(OTL this was changed to fireball). With the set up the A button shots while the B button runs and the control pad moves, including making the Up button jump. This allows Mario to run and shoot throughout the game. The game also allows the player to run and shoot at the same time. level difficult was spiked up to compete with these new mechanics. Power ups include a rifle, a beam gun and a kicking move. Mario also flies on a rocket on a stage and then a cloud. The game then added Mario's brother Luigi as the second player.The Gameplay makes it similar to Contra, which it predates by 2 years.
Super Mario Bros 2-1988.
There was a demand for a sequel. Super Marios Bros 2 was released despite concerns that the game was too similar and too complex. A plan to make a clone of Doki Doki Panic was dropped, though that game still saw a western release.
Super Mario Bros 3-1988
The NES ROMs included a massive amount of levels. The game also received a DOS port by id Software(butterflying away
Commander Keen for the time being). The game also introduces Yoshi and has a password system to load games.
Super Mario Bros 4-1990
Super Mario Bros 4(OTL's
Super Mario World) was a launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and a test to see if the team behind Super Mario Bros 3 could translate well onto the new system. A blue Sparrow appears in the game, flying around Mario. Toad also appears in the game(OTL the game is the only Mario platformer he is absent from). Toad House is also present. The player also dismounts Yoshi(butterflying away the joke of causing his death) at certain areas indicated by signs. Three Koopalings are present on the Overworld map and pulled Mario into stages. Other sprites from Super Mario Bros 3 transferred over to 4 such as the Piranha Plant, Venus Fire Trap and Racoon Mario.Wiggler is green and resembles a spiked caterpillar, removing his anger feature. The game features 8 worlds and 2 Secret Worlds: Yoshi's Island, Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, Butter Bridge, Forrest of Illusion, Chocolate Island, Salty Sea, and Bowser Castle. The Secret Worlds are Star Road and Special Zone. This is the first game in which Princess Peach is playable after being rescued.
Donkey Kong-1991
Outside of Mario, Miyamoto introduced a new character In Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong(akin to
Donkey Kong Country in gameplay) was released, featuring Donkey Kong trying to recover his banana horde from the Pirate King K.Rool on an island. It was followed by a sequel.
Return of Donkey Kong-1992
The sequel was, of all things, a musical, having Kong battle through musical numbers, including one performed by his girlfriend Pauline, who is a singer(seen as a counter to Sonic's Madonna). Several scenes in the game take place in a large New York Style City, helping to justify the broadway style musical set up, like
Super Mario Bros 3, there is speculation by fans that the entire game is a play, in this case, Kong has been brought to the City in a parallel to the original
King Kong story.
Mario Kart-1992
The Original Mario Kart featured 8 characters, compared to OTL Donkey Kong Jr has been swapped out with Donkey Kong Jr and Koopa Troopa with King K.Rool.
Donkey Kong 1994
Often abbreviated as
Donkey Kong '94, considered the best of the series, later getting remade as Donkey Kong Plus with GBA-GCN connectivity.
After a deal between Nintendo and Philips CD-i fell through, many games that would have been made for the Phillips CD-i with Nintendo characters were repurposed into original properties, such as
Hotel Havoc, Faces of Evil, Wand of Gamalon, and others. The sub par reception of these games led to the cancellation of plans with Nintendo such as the planned
Mario Takes America. Demos of which exist, along with a game for the cancelled Virtua Boy called
Mario Clash.