Before Mario

Though it makes us feel quite foolish here at Coolector HQ, we were entirely unaware that before the likes of Mario et al really made their name, Nintento had already being making games, albeit uncomputerised ones, for decades.

Needless to say, those of a certain age will only know Nintendo for the Gameboy, Wii and years of Mario based brilliance but courtesy of the good chap over at Before Mario, we have realised that Nintendo were originally founded in 1889 and, in that time, have released all manner of awesome looking games – without a mushroom or moustachioed plumber in sight.

In the very beginning, Nintendo focused their efforts on playing cards like the ones witnessed above but by the 1960s, a shift occurred and they began creating some wonderfully entertaining games that, quite frankly, we here at The Coolector have been bowled over by and which make us question the creativity of today’s game makers. Take a look at a few of our favourites below:

beforemario_dot_com_coasters_05

beforemario_dot_com_coasters_12

beforemario_dot_com_custom_02

beforemario_dot_com_lovetester_original_03

beforemario_dot_com_nintendo_tv_games_01

beforemario_dot_com_ultrahand_10

nintendo_wild_gunman_game_07

ultra_coaster_09

Nintendo are clearly best known today for their excellent array of video games but here at The Coolector, we can’t help but feel that its a bit of a shame that they’re not making awesome looking games like the above any more – we’d definitely waste hours on the likes of Rabbit Coaster and Custom Gunman.

See More: Before Mario.