Mario

Mario (Japanese: マリオ, Hepburn: Mario, [ma.ɽi.o]) (English /ˈmɑːrioʊ/; Italian: [ˈmaːrjo]) is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise, created by Nintendo's Japanese video game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as the company's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom, his adventures generally center upon rescuing Princess Peach from the Koopa villain Bowser. His younger brother is Luigi.

The Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Over 210 million units of the overall Mario series of games have been sold. Outside of the Super Mario platform series, other Mario genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, and educational games such as Mario Is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. The franchise has branched into several mediums, including television shows, film, comics and licensed merchandise. Since 1995, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ2(ツー), Hepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu Tsū) is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team, with assistance from Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console. It was released worldwide in November 1992. The game is the second main entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and the first to feature Miles "Tails" Prower, a flying two-tailed fox. He and protagonist Sonic the Hedgehog must stop the series antagonist Dr. Ivo Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds in order to power his space station, called the Death Egg.

Development of the game began in November 1991, two months later than originally intended, because Sega of America felt that it was too soon for a sequel. Both American and Japanese Sonic Team staff contributed to development; art director Tim Skelly designed the appearance of the game's new 3D special stages, based on an earlier tech demo created by Yuji Naka. The staff increased the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in comparison to its predecessor. As with the original game, the soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog may refer to:

Video games

Printed media

Animation

Hidden

Hidden or The Hidden may refer to:

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop.

The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, the hill which housed the Imperial residences in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to other uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels or office buildings. The word is also sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions.

Etymology

The word "palace" comes from Old French palais (imperial residence), from Latin Palātium, the name of one of the seven hills of Rome. The original "palaces" on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the "capitol" on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a desirable residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two laurel trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his "Golden House" enlarged the house and grounds over and over until it took up the hill top. The word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill.