Monday 13th September

Today, I am reliably informed while idly clicking around Gizmodo as I often do on my lunchbreak, is the 25th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. in Japan. This not only confirms that 1985 was one hell of a year, introducing to the world as it did Mario, Back to the Future and, well, me - but also that I've probably been playing Mario games for around 20 years. I've owned more or less every major iteration of the games and while I've never been particularly brilliant at them I've remained a huge fan ever since my brother and I shared a Christmas present in the thrilling form of a NES, packaged with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on one giant grey cartridge.

This was definitely the event that made me a lifelong Mario fan. My dad bought me a SNES at some point in the early 90s when my ambitious-but-not-that-great Sega Game Gear was stolen from his car (brilliant deal for me, eh?) meaning I could play Super Mario All Stars (which, to the uninitiated, comprised of Marios 1 (classic), 2 (a pretty rubbish remake of some unrelated game from Japan) and 3 (one of my three all-time favourite games). Later came the N64 and Mario 64 (another of my three favourite games ever), which I lost myself in for a long, long time. And while I enjoyed Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube (which is much better than people think, actually) I've never really played a game the way I played Mario 64 since. Being a grown-up now might have something to do with that, but then last Christmas my brother Sam and I almost laughed ourselves sick playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii in two-player mode - so the affection I feel for the series is way beyond nostlagia. Having said that, watching the Nintendo highlights video on Gizmodo makes me long to be immersed in one of these games again (and no, I haven't really had a chance to play either of the Galaxy games yet) - and wallow in the unforgettable iconography of the series.

Inspired, I get home from work and suggest to K that we play a little New Super Mario. Bros Wii (long and unwieldy though its title is) to celebrate the big man's anniversary. This always seems like a better idea beforehand - as we virtually come to blows no more than 10 minutes into playing. Still, it's nice to know Mario's still there - and growing up alongside me.