From the 1983 release on the Nintendo Entertainment System to the N64, the Wii and beyond we’ve jumped, bumped and woo-hoo’d our way through brightly coloured worlds with Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi to find coins, save the Mushroom Kingdom and make sure pesky turtles don’t stop important plumbing jobs.

Here are five facts in case you need to remind the next generation you thought Super Mario was cool before they did:

1. The character Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981.
2. Until 1996 Princess Peach was called ‘Toadstool’ in the English versions of the game, but she has always been called ‘Peach’ in Japan. Which one is her real name? Both – her full name is ‘Princess Peach Toadstool’.
3. If you collect all the coins in the third level of a world you will activate a secret 1-up mushroom on the first level of the next world. Yasss!
4. The Mario brothers might be the original Taskers! They do plumbing, construction and demolition work on demand, and clearly bring a stack of other stills to the table…Mario has also appeared as a Doctor.
5. A racoon leaf, feather, Yoshi wings, blue shell or wing cap will make you fly in any Mario game.

Want more? For a bonus round here’s something probably best left in the past: live action Super-Mario-Bros-on-Ice from 1989.

For more Super Mario trivia from the archive check out the original fan site SMBHQ by Kyle Orland.

Need help setting up a themed birthday party? From baking to decorating, find it on Airtasker.