Why did Mario's clothing color change?

[Famidrive-16]

Used to be red overalls + blue clothing



http://img208.imagevenue.com/loc97/th_09292_250px-Super_Mario_Bros._2_Box_artwork_122_97lo.jpg (http://img208.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09292_250px-Super_Mario_Bros._2_Box_artwork_122_97lo.jpg)http://img250.imagevenue.com/loc339/th_09298_beanstalk_122_339lo.jpg (http://img250.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09298_beanstalk_122_339lo.jpg)http://img128.imagevenue.com/loc1028/th_09303_smw1_122_1028lo.jpg (http://img128.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09303_smw1_122_1028lo.jpg)

BUT THEN
http://img141.imagevenue.com/loc815/th_09305_super-mario-world_122_815lo.jpg (http://img141.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09305_super-mario-world_122_815lo.jpg)http://img265.imagevenue.com/loc105/th_09300_sms_mario_122_105lo.jpg (http://img265.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09300_sms_mario_122_105lo.jpg)


where did this drastic change come from!?!?

[Flashback2012]

Wow...to think I never noticed the difference till now. I thought you were referring to his look he had in SMB1. My little brother and I used to say when we were kids that Mario's look in that game was "burger/tomato" and Luigi's was "lettuce/mayo" :embarrassed:

MMMMMMMMMM.....Super Mario Burgers.... :bigmac:

[HappehLemons]

Never noticed...

[ubersaurus]

Well, it changed between mario 1 and 2, in the game itself. I'm guessing it has something to do with visibility of the sprites, but I'm not sure there's a good answer.

Now the color change between Luigi in Mario 1 and 2 is crazier. White and green to blue and green? Huh?

[skaar]

It's called the 90s man. It changed us all.

[Ed Oscuro]

It's called the 90s man. It changed us all.
lol

Anyway, my guess is that it's a contrast tweak, people are less likely to look at his potbelly if you set his upper body as red. He also looks less like he's in pajamas now, and less like a kid generally.

[ryborg]

He also looks less like he's in pajamas now, and less like a kid generally.

I don't know where you grew up, but kids in my neighborhood never had huge bushy mustaches.

[Push Upstairs]

Mario lost his original red overall/blue shirt combo at the dry cleaners.

The current one is his "wash day" backup.

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't know where you grew up, but kids in my neighborhood never had huge bushy mustaches.
We were so poor that we had to wear the faces of dead hobos to stay warm.

True story.

(Hey, stop stealing my leftover thoughts for posts! :-D I thought the same thing but didn't add a parenthetical.)

[FantasiaWHT]

My thought is the blue looks like denim, and blue denim overalls are fairly normal plumber gear, but read overalls? Strange.

[The Shawn]

'Bout time he changed his clothes anyway's, it's been like what 30 years?

[YoshiM]

I think it was more along the lines that Oshkosh B'Gosh doesn't make the red overall color anymore (since about 1996), so after he ripped up his last pair he had to go to regular blue denim.

[RPG_Fanatic]

Wow...to think I never noticed the difference till now.

Me too :?

[Pantechnicon]

I entered this thread thinking someone was going to be poring over some minutiae like a change in the relative brightness of Mario's coveralls :roll:. But I've got to admit that, yes, wow, I never realized he had his whole color scheme flipped around like that. Good eye on the OP.

I'm siding with the "coveralls are generally blue, so Mario's coveralls were changed to blue" theory.

[jb143]

I never it this before either. In the movie he has red overalls too, when blue would have been much much easier to come by in real life. Also, in Donkey Kong he had red overalls and a blue shirt but in the Supercade cartoon it was the other way around. It would seem that he changes his mind often.

[Jisho23]

How did so many people (myself included) not notice this?!

[Kiddo]

I noticed it, but generally just took it as a "They're changing his appearance to raise appeal" thing.

The blue overalls, as opposed to red, are a bit more "Everyman", which is how the vision of Mario was planned to be (Red overalls, meanwhile, are sorta "80's Camp Hero", y'know?).

That being said, it is rather strange how the sprites in SMB2 (USA) match the "newer" Mario look instead of the boxart - it was possibly done to make it look visually/artistically appealing on the ol' 8-bitter. He does look easier on the eyes with blue overalls, eye whites, and an outline, after all.

Also, in much of the Non-US promo artwork and in the more modern renders of Mario, his potbelly has thinned quite a lot, to the extent that on many games his body shape looks more like a Mickey-Mouse-esque character than a caricature of a fat person.

[Rob2600]

I noticed it, but generally just took it as a "They're changing his appearance to raise appeal" thing.

Same here.

Has anyone noticed how Sonic the Hedgehog's appearance has changed during the last 18 years?

[kupomogli]

Maybe he has two sets of clothes?

[Rogmeister]

I think the company that made Mario's red overalls went out of business. After all, Mario was their only customer...okay, maybe Luigi bought some, too...
:above me:

[Push Upstairs]

It is much harder getting "plumbing" stains out of red overalls than it is blue.

[bacteria]

I like finds like this! I didn't notice that either. In contrast, he looks better now than before I think!

[Cauterize]

This thread needs a poll. I like most didnt even notice!

[Ryaan1234]

Used to be red overalls + blue clothing



http://img208.imagevenue.com/loc97/th_09292_250px-Super_Mario_Bros._2_Box_artwork_122_97lo.jpg (http://img208.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09292_250px-Super_Mario_Bros._2_Box_artwork_122_97lo.jpg)http://img250.imagevenue.com/loc339/th_09298_beanstalk_122_339lo.jpg (http://img250.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09298_beanstalk_122_339lo.jpg)http://img128.imagevenue.com/loc1028/th_09303_smw1_122_1028lo.jpg (http://img128.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09303_smw1_122_1028lo.jpg)

BUT THEN
http://img141.imagevenue.com/loc815/th_09305_super-mario-world_122_815lo.jpg (http://img141.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09305_super-mario-world_122_815lo.jpg)http://img265.imagevenue.com/loc105/th_09300_sms_mario_122_105lo.jpg (http://img265.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=09300_sms_mario_122_105lo.jpg)


where did this drastic change come from!?!?
I remember a few years back I had to draw Mario for a math project (...long story) and I remember having the trouble of deciding whether he should be red overalls/blue top or red top/blue overalls. I actually never realized that he flip-flopped colors! That explains why I had trouble finding what I thought was his "right" color scheme.

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Hey, we're in luck! After all these years, the red overalls return! In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, when you get the ice flower power up, the good ol' red overalls/blue shirt actually resurfaces! :)

[Sanriostar]

Mario's been flipping for years:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/Sanriostar/mario.png

[Cryomancer]

Here is the relevant bit gleamed from the mario wiki:

He normally wears blue overalls on top of a red shirt, but such was not always the case. Originally, he wore red overalls on top of a blue shirt – almost exactly the opposite of what he wears now. The Famicom version of Mario Bros. was the first game to depict Mario with blue overalls and a red undershirt (Although on the boxart he was depicted entirely in blue); however, it was Super Mario Bros. 2 that standardized today's blue overalls-on-red shirt outfit. (Incidentally, the original Super Mario Bros. has neither in-game; Mario wears a brown shirt with red overalls).

or you can read the ginormous article here http://www.mariowiki.com/Mario

I think the arcade and atari versions have other colors too.

[Kevin Muldoon]

or you can read the ginormous article here http://www.mariowiki.com/Mario

ginormous is an understatement!

[acem77]

id guess color limits of the old 8bit tech... now they can do as they please
he may have one set of colors in one 8bit game and change it the next base on the over all pallet of the game/levels.

[kainemaxwell]

and don't forget in the orginial SMB when Mario or Luigi got the fireflower they're overalls turned white with a red or green shirt.

[jb143]

id guess color limits of the old 8bit tech... now they can do as they please
he may have one set of colors in one 8bit game and change it the next base on the over all pallet of the game/levels.

I don't think they were that limited in color choices though. It probally had to do with Mario and Luigi just being palette swaps of each other. You either got to be the red guy or the green guy and the overalls were where most of the color was. For SMB2 each character was completely different so there was more than just color to distinguish them. Now you could be the short guy or the tall guy with the wonky feet, both wearing standard blue overalls.

[Raedon]

Never noticed the difference.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb275/coo_dude_2007/Mariopimp.jpg

[ryborg]

i don't remember this game... was it any good?

http://th04.deviantart.net/fs8/300W/i/2005/331/3/4/Pimp_Daddy_Mario_by_lizspit.jpg

[thom_m]

I noticed the change, but really didn't care.

What bothers me is that Luigi's SMB 1 outifit - green shirt, white overalls - is the coolest ever, and I don't get why the hell they changed it. I even used to start a 2 player game and play only as Luigi when I was a kid, just because he looked so cooler than Mario. Oh, well...

[j_factor]

He had blue overalls in the original Mario Bros.

[Cryomancer]

ginormous is an understatement!

Every character has an article of similar huegness on there. Look at this: http://www.mariowiki.com/Goomba

It's got a detailed chronological history of the Goomba people, notes about it's leaders, divisions of their military force, etc. Whoever writes these articles thinks more about this than Nintendo ever has.

[Ed Oscuro]

Whoever writes these articles thinks more about this than Nintendo ever has.
That's standard for anything made before the PlayStation years :)