Mario first stole our collective hearts with his phenomenal platforming adventures. From his early appearances in the Donkey Kong series, to more recent platforming escapades such as Mario Odyssey, it’s safe to say that Mario has always been at the forefront of the platforming genre. Yet, over the years, Mario and his friends have broadened their horizons, branching out into a wide variety of other titles, including the ever-popular racing series, Mario Kart, and puzzle games such as Dr Mario and Mario Picross. One of the most enduring series are the Mario Sports games, which have become a fixture on multiple Nintendo systems over the years. These have seen Mario participate in sports ranging from golf to horse riding and even competing in the Olympics with former-rival, Sonic the Hedgehog. For this series of features, I will be looking back at the Mario Sports titles beginning with my personal favourite, Mario Tennis.

James Moulding

I have been gaming for 30 years, starting mostly with PC Gaming, where I developed a penchant for classic point and click games. Over time I discovered Nintendo, starting with the Game Boy and the Super Mario Land games. Here, my love for Nintendo grew as I discovered many of their other franchises, from Zelda to Pokémon. These days I play a bit of everything but Nintendo and their unique creativity always keeps me coming back for more.