With the recently unveiled demo of Super Mario Odyssey wowing fans and critics alike, it’s clear that this 36-year old plumber has the capacity to mesmerise global gaming audiences.

Whilst the open-ended universes of No Man’s Sky and the yawn-inducing back stories of Mass Effect: Andromeda continue to underwhelm gamers, it’s clear that for simple retro gaming fun, it’s hard to beat good old Mario.

The Mario franchise is currently the best-selling franchise of all-time, and from his appearance in 1981’s Donkey Kong to 2017’s Mario Kart for the Nintendo Switch, it seems that this character represents all that’s good about gaming.

Not that Mario has always had such an easy time of course. Sonic the Hedgehog provided solid competition for Mario in the 1990s with the high speed platform games for the Sega Megadrive. And the famous blue hedgehog has enjoyed a new lease of life thanks to the Sega Forever service that upgrades many of these retro games for iOS and Android devices.

Whilst it always had its head in the future, it’s important to remember that the Final Fantasy franchise is now in its third decade of providing sci-fi fantasy fun for gamers. And there are certain gaming genres that even reach further back into time.

The Monopoly gaming app from Electronic Arts is still riding high in the app charts despite the original game being created as far back as 1903. And when you consider that casino games like blackjack and roulette have been around for centuries before entering the 21st century thanks to websites like New Jersey Online Casinos, it’s clear that it’s not just Mario who’s proven to be a something of a time traveller.

Whilst the Pokémon phenomenon is still relatively young at being just 22-years old, its success as an augmented reality hit with Pokémon Go could give a glimpse into how Mario could evolve in the future.

So rather than having another disappointment like New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo 3DS, it’s hoped that Mario will improve by using the latest technologies without losing any of the retro fun.

And already it seems that Mario Kart VR is showing how the Italian plumber has started to embrace our virtual futures, and whilst he might not be quite as old as some of those casino games, there’s no reason why we can’t look forward to plenty of Mario fun for many years to come.