For a good while, fans of Mario and co. theorised that Super Mario Bros. 3 was – in fact – some type of stage play. The opening of the curtains at the beginning of the game, the platforms that hung from ceilings, and the fact that when Mario concludes a level, he simply walks off stage and onto the next one.
Back in 2015, theories could finally be laid to bed when Shigeru Miyamoto – Mario’s creator – took part in a short video debunking various rumours about the classic Nintendo series (thanks, IGN). During the video, Miyamoto is asked whether Super Mario Bros. 3 was “just a performance,” to which the Mario creator responds with a nod. Yes, Super Mario Bros. 3 was the stage-play that many already thought it was.
If you look at other games in the series, you can see plenty of other stylistic choices and hints at them also being more theatrical than fans may have thought. Previously, in an interview between GameInformer and Miyamoto from 2012, the creator was also asked about the relationship between Bowser and Mario. Time and time again, this hostile turtle kidnaps Princess Peach, but time and time again, we see Mario casually hanging out with his sworn enemy for a game of tennis or some go-karting. What’s that about?