Great information concerning Nintendo, its place in the gaming world, and the intricacies surrounding their biggest decisions up through the Wii U. However, although the author mentioned extensive editing in his acknowledgements, the work seems very choppy from chapter to chapter and lacks an overarching narrative. It's essentially a gathering of Nintendo facts and anecdotes in a linear timeline, with enough Super Mario info included in each chapter to justify the title. Unfortunately, it's also marred by the author's logical inconsistencies and contradictions that are sprinkled throughout.

Recommended for those interested in Nintendo, games, or the gaming industry. ( )

Although riddled with minor (but annoyingly frequent) innacuracies that made me question whether the author had ever actually played the games he refrenced, this is an informative and entertaining book which chronicles not only the rise of the Nintendo empire, but the history of video games in general as they've taken their place in entertainment and culture. ( )

This is the story of how a small Japanese company selling trading cards became one of the largest video game companies in the world; and it's quite a bumpy ride. It starts in the early 80s when Mino Arakawa realises he's standing there with two thousand arcade games he doesn't seem to be able to sell. Luckily, he's saved when one of the company's artists, Shigeru Miyamoto, comes up with a game including an angry gorilla and a small jumping plumber. It is a game that makes more than 180 million dollars in its first year, but most importantly, is the first step into making Nintendo a household name that soon becomes a big part of modern culture.

Despite coming from a household where Sony and its Playstation is favoured over all over gaming consoles, Nintendo has always been with me in one way or another. Mostly in the shape of Pokémon but also Super Mario; it's one of those games I can remember playing as a young child on my beloved Gameboy Advance (though, I'll admit that Donkey Kong came first for me). This definitely lead to the book being a portkey to nostalgia but most importantly, I learned a lot of not only Nintendo but also gaming history in general.

The arcade days, and well, pretty much anything before the Playstation were before my time. Even so, I don't really remember playing on the Playstation much as I had my Gameboy and Playstation 2 came around by the time I was advancing into games made for big kids. That being said, I'm not completely oblivious to gaming history; my father has been a fan since the arcade games were popular, and he's definitely made sure I know the roots of video games. Not just by telling me about it but also by letting me play older games. But especially as he was quite young at the time and also a kid in Sweden, not the US or Japan, a lot of the early history of gaming was way beyond me for a long time. I mean, I understood it. But there was a lot I didn't know.

This book, though, is basically the best history book I've read. Which is quite amusing considering it's ”only” about Nintendo and the gaming culture. But it's descriptive in such a way that I finally understand some of the technology and designs that I was only vaguely understanding of before. It does a great job of painting a really lovely picture for as simple as explaining how Mario came to be designed. The language isn't very formal or insensitive; the author truly makes a story out of it all. It's a little bit like listening to your grandfather telling a story about his childhood rather than reading a textbook; which in my opinion is how reading history books should be more often. ( )

"Super Mario" is a fun and quick read. It doesn't have a ton of depth, but it's a pretty good historical overview of Nintendo and Mr. Mario. ( )

So I knew a little of the Nintendo story. I did not realize the dedication to the Power up grabbing plumber that it had. Being an 80's child I remember the original NES coming out and how much fun it was. I had a few friends who got the Super NES. I even had a few the bought a Nintendo 64. Through all of it Mario was there. This book talks of the steadfast dedication and overwhelming love for Mario. Is talks of how Nintendo doesn't use the high end electronics but brings about games that people can play over and over. ( )