How did Super Mario get so popular?

Back in the days of old Arcade games, Video Games were seen as a sort of gambling; each game usually took a quarter to play (this also helped develop gaming's image problem). People wanted a better way to play video games; preferably one that didn't cost so much. Atari was one of the first companies to introduce a "home gaming system" that allowed users to play as much as they wanted without having to pay each time. Unfortunately, due to the cost of manufacturing electronics back in those days, the hardware was simple compared to the arcades' machines, and the games suffered from mediocre graphics and gameplay. Arcades continued to dominate the business, and home video game systems seemed to be a failed invention... that is, until Super Mario Bros. appeared on the scene.

Not be confused with Mario Bros. (ironically, a "just okay" arcade game), Super Mario Bros. featured some of the most impressive graphics on a home gaming system (Nintendo's NES), and featured a full-length arcade style experience complete with a score counter, advanced gameplay, and a whopping 32 levels. To be honest, it was a masterpiece, and one of the greatest video game experiences of the time, leading the way for the entire rest of the video game industry as we see it today.

In Short, Super Mario Bros. was a step ahead of it's time, and showed the community how powerful video games could be as an art form. Gamers everywhere will give Mario a salute, because if it weren't for him, none of today's blockbusters would exist.