The Mario Games Family Tree

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

When Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong 34 years ago, few could have predicted that he would go on to become one of gaming's biggest and most successful characters. Since that humble beginning, he's appeared in more than 200 games, and titles bearing his name have sold well in excess of 250 million copies.

In an attempt to map that remarkable history (from a US perspective), I've created this Mario Games Family Tree, featuring his most notable appearances and games. Please note that this is version one, and while I've done my best to map the games logically, there might well be some mistakes and omissions - and that's where you come in. I'd like to update this with the help of feedback from the USgamer readership, so if you see something you think is amiss, please let me know in the comments section, and all suggestions will be used to build an even more robust version two of this rather ambitious project.

So without further ado, here's the complete Mario Games Family Tree as I see it today. You can click on this text to see the full-sized image.

If you want to take a further, closer look at this Family Tree, please read on. I've broken it down into four parts, and talk about some of the key games within each section.

Part One: The Core Games

Here's where it all starts: the core Mario games and sundry other titles.

Part Two: RPGS, Activites, Educational Games, and More

This section covers RPG titles, plus a bunch of the more unusual Mario games.

Part Three: Sports and Associated Titles

Mario has appeared in many different sports games: find out more about them here.

Part Four: Puzzle, Party, and Miscellaneous Games

This comprehensive selection encompasses a variety of genres, including puzzle and party games.