Keiji Inafune, and many other industry vets discussed how Mario has influenced them as creators. Inafune probably made the boldest claims, saying Mario is the“development bible.”
“If any creator has not played Mario, then they’re probably not a good creator. That’s something I can say with 100 percent confidence. Mario is, for game creators, the development bible. There are so many hints about good design, about cute characters, about innovation in using an existing gameplay system.
It’s something you have to constantly look at and examine and take hints from as a game creator. It’s the anchor that grounds almost all games. I have total respect for Miyamoto, to the point where… It’s very strange that there are national cultural treasures – they’re traditionally sportsmen. I think it’s very strange that somebody as famous as Miyamoto hasn’t been designated one of those people.
He’s talked about in all different countries. Lots of people know him. He’s pushed forward Japanese culture and interest in Japan all over the world. He’s somebody that deserves everyone’s ultimate respect, and a lot of that is due to being able to create Mario. And Super Mario Bros. 3, of course, within that, was a fantastic game.”
source:http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/08/our-favorite-mario-memories
