Super Mario teams up with G-Shock for a salute to old-school gaming tenacity【Photos】

But for Mario veterans the scene is also a call to be careful.

In recent years, we’ve seen Casio give timepiece salutes to Pokémon’s Pikachu and Studio Ghibli’s Kiki. Now the watchmaker is teaming up with another Japanese entertainment icon: Nintendo’s Super Mario.

An addition to Casio’s 5600 series, the Super Mario Bros. watch is part of its G-Shock lineup, as opposed to the Baby-Gs for Pikachu and Kiki. And in contrast to TAG Heuer’s Super Mario smartwatch which featured the Nintendo mascot in his modern, 3-D-modeled appearance, Casio is taking the old school route and going all the way back to the aesthetics of the original 1985 Famicom/NES Super Mario Bros game.

In addition to Mario on the band, the plumber’s red image color as the primary shade for the watch face’s bezel. Gold and light blue accents match the coins and daytime sky background from the game, as does the font for the watch’s various function indicators.

As for the Koopa Troppa shell, when you turn the face’s light on…

…you’ll see Mario jumping on top of it, racking up bonus 1-ups.

This is meant as a direct reference to the stairway-like section in World 3-1 of the game, where the ledge is perfectly spaced to set up an infinite loop where Mario will bounce exactly high enough to continuously rebound off the shell, netting an extra life each time.

An unlimited number of lives is very much in keeping with the spirit of tenacity that Casio sites as the common connecting element that links the spirits of stouthearted Super Mario and the sturdy G-Shock line. However, as veteran gamers are aware, there was a limit to the number of lives the NES hardware could keep track of, and going over 100 would cause the count to roll back over to zero, so you had to be careful to not get too greedy.

▼ Maybe the watch’s backing, with Mario being killed by a Koopa Troopa, is meant as a subtle reminder that no matter how tough you or the watch are, you’re not completely invincible, and so you still need to stay safe on whatever adventures you’re going on in life.

▼ The watch comes in a special box and canister case.

The Super Mario G-Shock is priced at 17,600 yen, and can be found at Casio Japan’s online store here.

Source: Casio via Japaaan
Top image: YouTube/CASIO G-SHOCK
Insert images: Casio (1, 2)
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