Reviews

Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan

csgiansante's review against another edition

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4.0

Interesting read and would be curious to know the author's point of view on the last decade of game evolution.

cptang's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.25

dalefu's review against another edition

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3.0

A few fun stories, but ultimately it felt like a poor-man's version of Console Wars, a book I'd easily recommend reading instead.

There were several errors stated as fact, which any gamer or industry veteran will immediately recognize as false (the author claims Bowser is the villain in Mario 2...)

The final chapter, written at the height of Wii mania and before the embarrassment of the Wii-U, has the author claiming movement controls are here to stay and are the future of gaming with Nintendo as the king. An understandable prediction at the time, but clearly not how things ended up playing out, no pun intended.

richardlwhawkes's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

willardjen14's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

mattyftm's review against another edition

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4.0

Really enjoyable read about the history of Nintendo. Some really interesting stuff in there. There are a couple of minor factual inacuracies (e.g. calling the DSiXL the "DSX" or WarioWare "WarioWario) that are really weird, but on the whole it's a great read.

rachbook86's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm a huge fan of Mario. It was nice to get a bit of background

caffeine_library's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

blebbing's review against another edition

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5.0

This was great, thank you Sarah!

emjanereads's review against another edition

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3.0

For the die-hard Nintendo fan, Super Mario is a must read; for the rest of us, it's better to skim
In his book,Jeff Ryan chronicles Nintendo's history, focusing especially on their Italian plumber mascot (though straying away when the history requires). It is clear Ryan is a superfan, and it is rare that he shares anything but praise for the company, but, given the book's intended audience, this one-sidedness is not necessarily a bad thing. Chock-full with Nintendo facts and stories (Did you know that there are more Gameboys in the world than people in Mexico?), Super Mario is fun.
Though I had worn thin on Nintendo's history by the end of the book, those who feel the desire to read the book will likely be satisfied.