Super Mario Bros.

In 1982 thanks to a certain movie based video game, many people lost interest in video games in general.  This lead to the Video Game Crash. 1 year later, out of the ashes of burnt out cartridges and consoles rose a Brooklyn Born Plumber and his brother who saved the video game business and put Shigeru Miyamoto on the map. 2 years later they returned for their first major adventure out of the pipes,  This was the Super Mario Brothers.  A franchise much like Shigeru's other works has existed in almost every single medium.  Games, Cards, Cartoon Shows, Educational Toys even a crappy movie that was so bad it's good.

It starts with two plumbers, Mario Mario who quit his carpenter job and Luigi Mario, who was insecure about himself and despite being taller than his brother, always felt he lived in Mario's shadow.  They travel throughout 8 worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach Toadstool, a kind and generous ruler and her 7 toad bodyguards from the clutches of King Bowser Koopa.  A ruthless leader of the rival kingdom of Koopaland who was destined to fight Mario since childhood.

Now for the fun part, Could It Exist In Real Life?

First let's start with the basic power ups.  Throughout the game you would find numerous powerups throughout the entire franchise. However I am only gonna tell you about the basic 3.

The first is the mushrooms.  There are 2 mushrooms (3 if you count lost levels.) Throughout the kingdom.  One gives Mario the ability to grow taller, stronger and faster. The Second is the 1-Up mushroom which can bring you back from near death.  Not only does these mushrooms exist, they are one and the same.  A Shitake Mushroom has plenty of iron which along with its high protein, helps build muscle which in turn aids in body growth. It also helps strengthens your immune system, which will protect your body from diseases such as HIV and Cancer.   However it doesn't do it instantly like in the game so there is only a matter of time.  The third mushroom in Lost Levels is the poison mushroom which actually does exist.

The second power up is the fire flower,  a flower which is used to causes the user to shoot fire out of their hands.  This can exist in real life in the form of Lycopodium. A plant who's spores are highly flammable when dispersed in the air and an open flame.  Many pyrotechnics have used this plant as part of their pyro effects including making fire balls.  I advise you however not to try it at home for it is highly dangerous and you will burn yourself.

Last but not least is Star Power.  A star that causes Mario to suddenly become invulnerable for a short amount of time.  Unfortunately this also exists in the form of the drug PCP. A highly dangerous narcotic that among things could render a person painless.  However prolonged usage of said narcotic has been known to cause people to go on psychotic rampages. One of the nicknames for this drug was often called Angel or Stardust. Much like the Star the effects are only temporary. However, I advise no one under any circumstances to try this drug, it is Illegal and it will harm you or even kill you.

Now for my final one, could the Mario Brothers exist in real life?  Yes they can.  Much like Link and other Nintendo characters they are the embodiments of us.  The everyman who try to do the best they can and when trouble brews they are the first to act on it.

As usual debate, argue and let me know what I missed. Stay tuned for more.