GWR 2023 High Res Blad PDF Half Page ver - Flipbook - Page 15
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MOST UBIQUITOUS CHARACTER
Since Mario’s first appearance
– as “Jumpman” – in 1981’s
Donkey Kong arcade cabinet,
Nintendo’s plucky plumber
has appeared in an amazing
240 unique games, as well as
numerous ports and remakes.
In addition to his usual
platforming adventures, these
games have seen Mario try
his hand at everything from
karting and golf to painting
and even teaching how to type.
In 2022, Mario is due to make
a return to the big screen for
the first time since 1993, with
Chris Pratt donning the blue
overalls and red cap.
MOST EXPENSIVE GAME
On 11 Jul 2021, a mint-condition copy of Super
Mario 64 – sealed in its box since 1996 –
was sold by Heritage Auctions for $1.56 m
(£1.12 m). This beat a record set by a copy of
The Legend of Zelda that sold for $870,000
(£631,000) just two days earlier.
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BEST-SELLING LUIGI VIDEOGAME
Mario’s nervous little brother Luigi has
long lived in his sibling’s shadow, and
didn’t get a game of his own until 2001.
However, his latest adventure, Luigi’s
Mansion 3 (2019), is proof that he has a
dedicated fan base, selling 9.59 million
copies as of 31 Mar 2021.
BEST-SELLING GAME
With its blocky graphics and completely
open-ended gameplay, Minecraft was
no one’s idea of a smash hit back when
it was first released in 2011. It quickly
gained a huge following, however, and
is now a perennial fixture of the gaming
world. As of Apr 2021, Minecraft had
sold 238 million copies worldwide.
Recent updates have given it stateof-the-art graphical overhauls (right)
and spin-off adventure games such
as Story Mode (below).
FIRST GAME BOY VIDEOGAME
RECREATED IN MINECRAFT
There are many GWR titles inspired
by the creativity of Minecraft players,
but few are more impressive than the
functioning Game Boy that YouTuber
MrSquishy (USA) showed off in 2017.
The virtual handheld could play
Pokémon Red (see opposite) using a
clone of the Game Boy’s processor
made from 375,000 command blocks!