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Recently there have been a couple of questions about Super Mario Bros on the site.

To me this seems like it might be on-topic on Movies and TV (if referring to the Movie) or on Arqade (if asking about the game).

Is Super Mario Bros on topic on Sci-Fi and Fantasy SE?

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    See also; Are video games out of scope?
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:13
  • @Valorum the question for me isn't whether or not Super Mario is on topic as a video game but rather whether or not it qualifies as Sci Fi or Fantasy.
    – kuhl
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:17
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    its a man riding a dragon shooting fire balls, what part of that is not fantasy
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:17
  • 2
    @Himarm so then is anything that's not real world fantasy? That seems awfully broad..
    – kuhl
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:18
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    its got magic, dragons, monsters, heroes, epic quest, its the epitome of high fantasy. 2 heroes transported to another world, all to save a princes from a dragon. ..............................
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:19
  • Regardless, I don't think this should have been mod-hammer closed. My question is specific to Super Mario Bros.
    – kuhl
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:21
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    it wasnt mod hammered, it was gold badge hammered
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:23
  • there is literally 0 question if Mario is fantasy, so the only question is do we do game questions, the answer is yes, hence why you got duped.
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:24
  • @kuhl - That's not what you asked. You asked if video games were on topic.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:25
  • @Himarm I'd say gold badge hammered is worse btw. There was a question, I didn't know if it'd be considered fantasy. I'd accept the answers that you and amaranth are giving, but I do believe it's a valid non dupe question.
    – kuhl
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:26
  • @kuhl - "I'm less certain whether a question about a classic video game is on topic on Sci-Fi and Fantasy SE.".
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 16:02
  • @Valorum my mistake, I wasn't clear there. I was referring to a specific classic video game but didn't think of how that line could cause confusion.
    – kuhl
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 16:05
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    @kuhl - No worries. As soon as you made clear (in the comment above) that you were more interested in the game in particular, I edited the question to make it clearer and immediately removed my dupehammer vote.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 16:06
  • @Himarm - Actually I closed it because it looked like OP was asking if video games are on topic, something we've already decided as a community. If a user wants to ask "is x = on topic", no matter how dumb that question might be, it's not dupe-closeworthy.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 16:13

3 Answers 3

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Yes, Mario is on topic.

Plot, Man fights a dragon to save a princess, can shoot fireballs after eating a flower.

Magic exists, further proof.

enter image description here

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    @amaranth hallucinations are on topic, see alice and wonderland
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:28
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    @amaranth it was all a dream, similar, wizard of oz also ontopic
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:29
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    @amaranth its really left up to the reader if it was a dream or not, hence why we allow them as on topic
    – Himarm
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:30
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    @amaranth Seriously? I was so disappointed as a kid to find that all the events of the Alice books were just a dream. How could one forget such an important detail! :-)
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 15:31
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    Not dragon. Weird turtle.
    – Wad Cheber
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 4:34
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Yes, Super Mario Brothers is on-topic. The other answers cover the "why" nicely.

BUT

As per previously discussed policy. Can I ask a question about video game based scifi/fantasy?

Questions should be limited to the SFF nature of the game. Question regarding game design, mechanics, or other such things would be off-topic.

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    This is a really vital distinction, because questions about sf/f games' plots, worldbuilding, etc really only have a home here. Arqade is very focused on game mechanics, and while lore questions are allowed, few users care about them. The ways that game elements are implemented could fit on the game dev SE, or one of the programming sites, depending. But game lore questions are often no different from sf/f film or TV questions, drawing on the same type of sources that our users are good at tracking down.
    – recognizer
    Commented Jun 19, 2016 at 0:07
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I did a little googling after the comment responses to the question and found some pages that help to answer this question.

Tor.com:

At first glance, it seems pretty straightforward that the Super Mario Brothers games are a fantasy series. They take place in a fantastic world with dragons, princesses, and magic mushrooms. The RPGs in the series have all the typical role-playing elements of a fantasy game. But when you look at the entire franchise, particularly the Super Mario Galaxy games, it seems almost certain that the game is science fiction, or at the least, science fantasy.

Either way this article says that Super Mario is on topic here.

This forum seems to come to a consensus that it is Fantasy:

Fantasy/action. The princesses and turtle people root it in the fantasy topic, whilst action is a broad enough genre to easily envelop most platformers.

IMDB classifies the movie as a Fantasy or Sci Fi movie:

Genres: Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Yes, Super Mario Bros is on topic.

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