In a way, Mario games have been designed for multiplayer since the very beginning; I used to pad-pass with my brother on the SNES, squabbling over who got to be Mario and who was lumped with Luigi. Modern 2D Mario games welcome four players on to the same screen, sprinting and leaping together through Mario’s abstract, colourful level-scapes, competing for twinkling coins and skedaddling power-ups.
This flavour of play is billed as family friendly but if you have ever tried to play something like New Super Mario Bros U with children, you will know that it is massively chaotic. Players get left behind as others rush off. Tantrums erupt over who gets to ride Yoshi, or who was highest on the end-of-level flagpole. Siblings jump on each other’s heads or push each other down holes and parents with Mario experience get so frustrated at all the faffing about that they feel tempted to throw either the console or one of the kids out of the living-room window.
