‘Super Mario Odyssey’ sees Mario roaming in a primarily open-ended, exploration-based format, but what was the first Mario game that tried this called?
The name ‘Mario’ came from the Italian landlord at Nintendo of America, who reportedly often barged into the office demanding rent! Perhaps the naming was a friendly sort of revenge on the Nintendo team’s part. Prior to Mario getting involved, the character facing Donkey Kong was known simply as ‘Jumpman.’