Super Mario Strikers, known as Mario Smash Football in Europe and Australia, is a five-a-side football (soccer) game developed by Next Level Games for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was released in Europe and North America in late 2005, and in Japan and Australia in 2006. The game's sequel, Mario Strikers Charged, was also developed by Next Level Games and is available for the Wii. The game's developers had worked on the NHL series before development of Strikers, which served as an influence for the fast-paced and physical nature of the game.

Strikers is a sports game incorporating characters and themes from the Mario series. The game features the basic aspects and objectives of a football game, although no referees are present and characters can legitimately shove others out of possession of the ball. As in other games such as Mario Power Tennis, the player can use Mario-themed items such as bananas and red shells to hinder the opposition and gain the advantage. Each team's captain can also use "Super Strikes" that, if timed accurately, will result in two points scored for the striker's team. Each team comprises a goal keeper, a main Mario character (captain), and three of the same secondary Mario characters known as "side kicks".

The Super Mario (スーパーマリオ^?) video game series, alternatively called the Super Mario Bros. (スーパーマリオブラザーズ, Sūpā Mario Burazāzu^?) series or simply the Mario (マリオ^?) series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimedplatforming video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi as the player characters. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console and handheld since the release of Super Mario Bros., the first title in the series, in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Super Mario games focus on Mario's adventures in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom and all its various locales. Gameplay often centers around progressing through various levels set in these locales, where Mario jumps on and defeats various enemies. The games usually feature simple plots; the most common theme is that of Bowser, the primary antagonist, kidnapping Princess Peach, whom Mario rescues. Super Mario Bros. established many gameplay concepts and elements prevalent in nearly every Super Mario game, including a multitude of power-ups and items that bestow Mario with special abilities such as shooting fire.

Mario (マリオ, Mario^?) is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise by Nintendo, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in varied video game genres such as racing, puzzle, party, role-playing, fighting, and sports.

Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He repeatedly rescues Princess Peach from the turtle-like villain Bowser and stops his numerous plans to destroy him and take over the kingdom. Mario also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Since 1995, he has been voiced by Charles Martinet.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is said to be the most famous character in video game history.Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units, making the Mario franchise the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Outside of the Super Mario platform series, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing video games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, and educational games, such as Mario is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. He has inspired television shows, film, comics, and a line of licensed merchandise.