Oromashu on 26 June 2012
I think it's mostly because he appears on too many games, whereas other franchise characters only appear once every three years or something. Mario's versatility makes him able to appear in any genre he chooses. In my opinion, Nintendo just uses Mario as a recognizable face for whatever gameplay mechanics they want to explore in their games, since the story is rarely the reason we buy into Mario games.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the guys at Naughty Dog seriously hate Nintendo because how adamant they are about story in video games, yet Mario games counter that philosophy entirely. It was a good laugh.
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward = best game ever made.
