There’s a lot to choose from, but here are our top 15 ways Super Mario has changes which you probably haven’t noticed. Whether it be technical tweaks such as improved camera controls or full-blown palette swaps, Mario has changed in a myriad of subtle ways. Yes, it doesn’t feel like a huge lot has changed since Mario first graced the games industry, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find a whole host of under-the-hood changes and refinements which have all contributed to the Super Mario we know and love. Namely, run left-to-right, jumping on/over enemies in a bid to save the princess. But the basic tenets of a Super Mario game remain pretty simple. Sure, his character model has been given an extra polygon or two from generation to generation, and the Mushroom Kingdom has become home to a cast of ever-increasingly colourful characters. On the surface, Mario doesn’t seem to have changed all that much over the years. And with his Switch outing shaping up to be an all-time classic, he isn’t going anywhere. From those earliest bounces in the arcades where he was originally known as “Jump Man” to his hat-throwing, dinosaur-possessing antics in the upcoming Super Mario Odyssey, Mario has been enthralling gamers for more than 30 years. With his trademark red cap and rotund belly, the portly plumber has become instantly recognizable the world over. There’s no getting around it: Mario is an icon.

A hat in time palette swaps