a cursory marxist critique of the super mario bros video games

in the first game the archetype is set. mario, depicted as a plumber in a cruel mockery of blue collar workers, collects shiny gold coins, ostensibly for his health, as every one hundred grants him an extra chance to cheat death. but most players are content with the materialistic satisfaction of acquiring more money. in his quest for material gain and the favor of the ruling class (here represented by princess peach and her bourgeois toad retainers), mario combats the revolutionary endeavors of comrade bowser and his army of the working class. capitalistic pandering through and through

the second game sees mario and his friends reimagined as freedom fighters contending against the forces of a tyrant, king wart. quite a change from the first game's helping the establishment stay in power! in fact socialist subtext can be identified throughout this surreal game: coins are scarce in this world, and what few you do find get gambled away at the end of each stage by forces out of your control. the heroes fight with vegetables plucked from the ground, suggesting agrarian leanings that would truly make this a revolution of the working class. wart's lair even has a machine with vegetables pouring out of it, maybe an allegory for the means of production? alas, at the end it is revealed to be a dream in mario's mind, likely a nightmare to the capitalistic icon

the third entry in the series has mario back to his old tricks. his materialism now affords him not only coins, but an array of costumes and weapons that he deploys ruthlessly as an instrument of the ruling class. in this game, power-ups are a more important commodity even than coins, and you are encouraged to collect as many as possible. even the rare "hammer bro" or other enemy with a special power has that power taken away as mario crushes all uprisings among the denizens of the kingdom. i thought the first game was bad but this one made me sick

after that, aunt cathy took all my video games away so i never got to see any newer mario games. i suspect his blatant capitalistic hubris got the better of him and the series faded into obscurity