Hideo Kojima Reveals Super Mario Bros Changed His Life & Inspired His Career

Hideo Kojima, the acclaimed video game designer behind the Metal Gear and Death Stranding franchises, has revealed that Super Mario Bros. was the pivotal experience that inspired him to pursue a career in game development. Kojima shared the insight during a recent interview with Wired magazine, stating he dedicated an entire year to playing the Nintendo classic while a college student.

“Played it for a year,” Kojima recalled. “I was a college student. I skipped school to play at home. Without Super Mario, I probably wouldn’t be in this industry… Yeah, I can’t really play it now, though.”

The impact of Super Mario Bros., originally released for the Famicom in 1985, extended beyond simple enjoyment for Kojima. He described the game’s deceptively simple mechanics – side-scrolling action centered around jumping and a “dash button” that subtly altered trajectory – as a revelation. Despite its lack of a complex narrative, Kojima felt the game offered a compelling sense of adventure.

“It’s a side-scrolling action game. Mario just goes left to right. Basically just jumping. But there’s a dash button. Using that and jump subtly changes the jump trajectory to attack or dodge. It had almost no story, but it felt like you were on an adventure,” Kojima explained. He further elaborated that witnessing the game’s potential, even in its pixelated form, led him to believe that video games could ultimately surpass cinema as a medium. “When I saw that, although it was pixel art with no story, I felt this medium would one day surpass movies.”

Kojima’s comments come as he continues work on multiple projects, including Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and the currently untitled projects OD and Physint. The original Death Stranding, initially a PlayStation exclusive, has since been released on a variety of platforms, including Xbox and Amazon Luna, sparking speculation about potential future releases on other consoles.