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The Beginning:
In 1980, Nintendo of America released an arcade title called Radar Scope. The game failed to become a hit and Nintendo was stuck with 2,000 unsold Radar Scope units. Close to becoming bankrupt Nintendo's CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi went to Shigeru Miyamoto to design a new game. The result was a game entitled Donkey Kong. The game starred a character called "Jumpman". One day the staff was thinking of a new name for "Jumpman" when the landlord Mario Segali came to collect the overdue rent. When he left they had a new name for Jumpman: "Mario."

Mario Style:
Hat 
To avoid the difficulty of having Mario's hair move realistically, Miyamoto gave Mario a hat. Also, in Game Over , Miyamoto admits, "I cannot come up with hairstyles so good."

Moustache 
Miyamoto gave Mario a moustache and oversized nose to make Mario's nose more noticeable.

Overalls 
Mario's overalls make his arms and arm movements more visible. Mario started out with a blue shirt and red overalls outfit in Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. , but the color scheme was switched to a red shirt and blue overalls when Mario Bros. hit the arcades. When Super Mario Bros. came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mario had his original red overalls, but a brownish shirt. In Super Mario Bros. 2 , Mario went back to his second color scheme—red shirt, blue overalls—and has not changed since.