What is it that makes Mario so brilliant?

[Khuutra]

RolStoppable said:

Khuutra said:

RolStoppable said:
Copying and stealing from something that is eternal. The inspiration of Super Mario Bros. (and that's the foundation of Mario and its offsprings, not any of the previous games he appeared in) was Alice in Wonderland, so Mario contains the spirit of eternity as well.

That is completely bullcrap and one of the worst gaming lies ever perpetuated. That's coming from me as a gamer and as a student of Victorian literature.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958127.htm

(Ctrl+F for "Alice in Wonderland")

Looks like Miyamoto had a gameplay idea, but Mario entering a fantasy world through a pipe, a fantasy world that was threatened by an evil king (King Koopa), can be traced back to Alice in Wonderland's Heart Queen I would say (as far as I remember AiW).

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/nsmb/0/3

Miyamoto: Some time ago I was being interviewed and I spoke about Alice in Wonderland. But it seems there was some misunderstanding and it’s since been stated that I was influenced by Alice in Wonderland. That isn’t the case. It’s just that there has always somehow been a relationship between mushrooms and magical realms. That’s why I decided that Mario would need a mushroom to become Super Mario.

It's about hallucinogenics and the mythical mode of mushrooms as a gateway, not Alice in Wonderland in particular.

And pipes would be from Mario Bros., not Alice; that just had a rabbit hole.