Yes, One Old-School Mario Anime Did Give Our Hero a Gun

By Evan Valentine

Despite remaining one of the most popular characters in video game history, Super Mario hasn't had a lot in the way of television and movie properties. Of course, that is looking to change thanks to the runaway success of The Super Mario Bros Movie, which has pulled in quite the haul at the box office following its debut. Now, fans have managed to revisit an old anime series that saw Mario, his friends, and his enemies re-imagined in a dramatic new light, with the popular plumber even sporting a gun.

Throughout most of Mario's video games, the Nintendo plumber hasn't needed a weapon outside of his own jumping ability along with the mushrooms, fire flowers, and stars that transform him into Super Mario. In the recent games featuring Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom crossing over with the Rabbids, Mario and company have sported guns of their own. The two games, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope arrived on the Nintendo Switch and introduced a new style of gaming that is similar to that of a strategy game akin to X-Com. While we doubt we'll see Mario picking up a side-arm in the next animated film, the Nintendo figurehead has put his hands on a gun in a surprising old property.

Mario With A Gun

The Amada Anime Series: Super Mario re-imagined the Nintendo world by placing the video game characters into three distinct fairy tales. Debuting in 1989, the series presented anime and video game fans with stories that ran for around ten minutes each. The anime series would also tell a very different story regarding Mario's origin story, with him being raised by denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom rather than regular folk in Brooklyn, New York.

At present, Nintendo and Illumination have yet to confirm that there will be a sequel to the latest animated film focusing on the Mario Brothers. Considering the animated movie has garnered hundreds of millions of dollars over its first few days in theaters, a part two, and spin-offs, are most likely on the way. Again, it does seem doubtful that any of these properties will follow the old anime series and see Mario packing heat. 

What do you think of this drastically different take on Mario? Do you think we'll see Mario with a gun return in an upcoming video game? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Nintendo. 

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