They are the most legendary video game characters in history, who have served to put a face and eyes on two of the most prestigious companies in the industry for more than three decades. SEGA and Nintendo, so much mounts so much, they are behind these two icons of popular culture that many of you might think that they were created at the same time, but this is not the case. Do you know which of the two arrived first?
Chicken or egg first?
The fact that in our country Mario and Sonic became famous almost at the same time, at the beginning of the 90s with the boom of 8 and 16-bit consoles, led us to think that both had been recent creations, practically contemporary. But in reality the story that illuminates each of them is separated by a crucial period of time within the video game industry.
While one got to see the rise and fall of the first generations of consoles In the early 80's, the other one didn't reach fame until the industry finally got its pulse back and began to evolve in the direction of the present, with a market in which new hardware is added every few years to maintain good health. of a sector that is growing every day.
Pole for Mario!
As you surely already know, Mario is the first of the two characters to hit the market. He did it in a camouflaged way in 1981 thanks to that marvel called Donkey Kong (both in Game & Watch and later, in 1982, in the recreational version), although it still did not have the final name on it. They simply referred to him as Jumpman, that is, the "jumping". Already at that moment we could see his characteristic cap, mustache and overalls of his.
It would not be until 1983 when the name of Mario took its nature, inside the game Mario Bros who starred with Luigi and that was the one that marked him forever as the best-known plumber in the world. Those pipes were decisive. It must be said, in any case, that the name is not accidental and was taken from the person who in those years was the owner of the building where the Nintendo offices were located. A man who went by the name of Mario Segale and with whom he had a considerable resemblance.
and Sonic?
SEGA realized in the early 90's that it needed a real mascot. An iconic character that would serve to be present on all its consoles in the same way that Mario was the undisputed icon in the Nintendo territory. So we can say that one inspired the other, or rather, the plumber helped in the process of creating the blue porcupine.
In the case of SEGA, do not think that it did not already have a mascot before the creation of Sonic in 1991, Alex Kidd had been the first attempt with video games that came pre-installed on their legendary Master System since practically the mid-to-late 80s. The problem is that it didn't stick, it didn't have charisma and the Japanese understood that they needed something with more impact, faster, cooler and cooler. And out of that need, one of the most recognizable icons in video game history was born: Sonic.
So when asked who came first, the answer is simple: first Mario (1981) and then Sonic (1991).