Super Mario T-shirts make an encore appearance at Uniqlo as part of UT Archives【Photos】
There's no other video game series with the evergreen entertainment value of Super Mario Bros. 40 years after Nintendo's mascot had his first Super-class adventure, nearly every mainline game in the franchise is just as fun to play today as it was at its initial release.
And just like how the Super Mario games remain awesome years later, so too do Uniqlo's Super Mario T-shirts, which is why the casual clothing chain is bringing back a half-dozen designs for an encore. Originally released in 2019 and 2020 as part of Uniqlo's UT graphic T-shirt sub-brand's Super Mario 40th anniversary celebration, they're being offered once again as part of the chain's UT Archive catalog.
The designs are a mix of pixel art and hand-drawn illustrations, starting with this navy blue shirt showing the very first Warp Zone from the very first Super Mario Bros.
▼ Though why this Mario is modestly choosing to skip just one level ahead, instead of jumping all the way to World 4, is a mystery.
Also using graphical assets from the franchise's first game is this invitingly pink piece in which Mario suffers the indignity of not only being killed by a lowly Goomba, but in it resulting in a game over.
A few of the designs have artwork on both the front and back, like this one with a pair of Boos on the chest pocket…
…and one more at the hem around back.
▼ The stitching style adds to the retro pixel aesthetic.
The lineup also includes a pair of salutes to the most successful of the many Super Mario spinoffs, Mario Kart.
The more understated of the two has Mario, having spin his kart into a body of water, being airlifted out by Lakitu.
▼ He actually doesn't look too happy about it, but maybe that's because Mario is his boss Bowser's sworn enemy.
The other Mario Kart shirt is much bolder, with fluorescent-hue profiles of the racers and the question 'Who's gonna win?'
Interestingly, this grid is a combination of the character lineups from the SNES Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. The two games' rosters almost entirely overlap, but Super Mario Kart's Koopa Troopa was replaced by Wario in 64.
And last, we come to the Yoshi T-shirt, which spells out the 'Wahooo!' we all say in our hearts when Mario's dino pal/steed shows up.
The shirts are priced at 1,500 yen (US$10.40) each. The whole line is available through Uniqlo's online store here for immediate shipping, so you can have yours ready to wear by the time Nintendo launches the Switch 2 in June.
Source: Uniqlo via Nijimen
Top image: Uniqlo
Insert images: Uniqlo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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