Mario Dies on the Cover of Super Mario Bros

[John Funk]

Mario Dies on the Cover of Super Mario Bros

Nintendo's famous plumber was dead before you ever put Super Mario Bros into your NES.

For many gamers, the box art for Super Mario Bros may be their first memory related to videogames. It's immediately iconic: Mario, in his fire-flower power-up suit, jumps through the air against a backdrop of stone and lava - the sort found in one of King Koopa's many castles.

However, Reddit user Deluxo noticed something disturbing [http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/ie3d9/super_mario_dies_on_the_cover_of_his_first_home/] about this famous, memorable piece of videogame box art: It depicts the death of Mario.

As you can see in the screenshot here to the right, the particular combination of jumping, stone wall and lava can really only be found when Mario is falling to his death in a lava pit. So rather than showing children their hero triumphantly leaping through the air, this box art shows Mario's as he plummets to his demise, throwing one final defiant fireball before he is consumed in flame.

Boy, that's kind of morbid, huh? Not many other videogames have the gall to show their hero - and the player's avatar - in the throes of death on the box art. In fact, I can't think of a single one.

On the other hand, this could have been Nintendo's warning to children who had no idea what they were in for. After all, you can't say Nintendo didn't warn you that you would be spending hours leading Mario to his death if it was right there on the cover.

(Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/ie3d9/super_mario_dies_on_the_cover_of_his_first_home/])

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[Irridium]

Really? Huh, well that's pretty interesting.

Wait, hold on. So, nobody mentioned this before? Has it really been 20+ years(or however long ago Super Mario Bros. came out) before anyone noticed this?

Wow.

Or is this just a Photoshop job? I don't know, never played the game or saw the box art myself.

 

[Shameless]

Well, thats depressing.

 

[RollForInitiative]

Boy, that's kind of morbid, huh? Not many other videogames have the gall to show their hero - and the player's avatar - in the throes of death on the box art. In fact, I can't think of a single one.

The cover of the limited edition of Demon's Souls depicted the player essentially propped up dead in a corner. =)

 

[John the Gamer]

I never played this game(born 1992), but I find this incredibly funny.

 

[The Big Boss]

Actually if you look at the box art Mario is tilting at an angle which makes his foot overlap the blocks. This doesn't happen in game.

 

[ChaoticKraus]

Kind of weird that nobody noticed until now. Maybe the best way to hide something is in plain sight.

 

[Monshroud]

This was pointed out a long time ago, I think in a old gaming magazine. I can't recall which. Still it is pretty funny that they used that as the boxart when you realize where it's from.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

Well, at least the game is honest with itself and shows what will most likely happen more than once when you play it

 

[ZeroDotZero]

Poor Mario. Does this mean he has been canonically dead all these years and it has all been a dying dream. At least that way Super Smash Bros. and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics make perfect sense within the Mario Universe.

 

[Malfy]

Mario's foot overlaps the bricks, which means the bricks, fireball, and lava are actually in the background. Mario leaping is essentially just a pose.

 

[10BIT]

Since his foot overlaps with the wall, it's likely he's wall-jumping [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP6uXD61LQM].

 

[Jonci]

I noticed this ages ago. But it's just box art so never gave it much thought.

 

[Dogstile]

Kind of weird that nobody noticed until now. Maybe the best way to hide something is in plain sight.

Actually, its been pointed out a fair few times, its just never really been newsworthy

 

[Latinidiot]

Boy, that's kind of morbid, huh? Not many other videogames have the gall to show their hero - and the player's avatar - in the throes of death on the box art. In fact, I can't think of a single one.

The cover of the limited edition of Demon's Souls depicted the player essentially propped up dead in a corner. =)

the normal version te has a lot of arrows sticking out of his chestm in a cural fashion.

 

[Shifty Tortoise]

Kind of weird that nobody noticed until now. Maybe the best way to hide something is in plain sight.

Actually, its been pointed out a fair few times, its just never really been newsworthy

Still isn't newsworthy, must be a slow day

 

[Echo136]

Boy, that's kind of morbid, huh? Not many other videogames have the gall to show their hero - and the player's avatar - in the throes of death on the box art. In fact, I can't think of a single one.

Demons Souls shows a dead corpse of your character, and Dead Space just shows your severed hand. D:

 

[FalloutJack]

Not nearly as interesting as the fact that Toad has been flipping us off every time he tells us the princess is in another castle. (This is absolutely true, by the way. Go find an original Super Mario Bros. sprite sheet and look carefully. Or, in fact, go HERE [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/257818] to a Newgrounds flash in which this is hilariously explained.)

 

[Katana314]

This happens all the time for amazing front-cover action shots. Someone is lashing their weapon out at another person, who is striking a pose rather than trying to deflect it. If you unpaused time, many of those protagonists would be dead.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

The just makes me wonder how many times I led Mario to his death over the years.