It's a little-known fact that one of Hideo Kojima's favorite games is currently playable on Death Stranding and its sequel, as well as the mysterious Project OD and Physint.

Kojima has always spoken publicly about his artistic influences - from his scanning into Death Stranding 2, Kojima wears his heart on his sleeve when talking about the books, movies, and games that inspire him. That includes a game that's currently available on Nintendo Switch online. Though it's a bit of an odd pick given Kojima's own creative output, it's easy enough to see how it might have inspired him if you think about it.

Super Mario Bros. Is One Of Hideo Kojima's Favorite Games

A Classic For A Reason

One of Kojima's favorite games of all time is Super Mario Bros. - that is, the original 1985 side-scrolling platformer, the first game in the Super Mario series, and the third-ever Mario game to be released on home consoles. As quoted in Game Rant (via EuroGamer), Kojima lists Super Mario Bros. as the first among his favorites, saying, "My all-time best games are Super Mario Bros., Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (The Portopia Serial Murder Case), XEVIOUS, and Outer World (Another World in Japan)."

Unsurprisingly, most of these are classics from Kojima's youth - in picking these, he was clearly driven in part by nostalgia. Many of them make sense as sources of inspiration for Kojima's work. Portopia, being a murder mystery adventure game, isn't unlike his early work, the detective games Snatcher and Policenauts. You can see the science fiction and military surrealism of Metal Gear in XEVIOUS. But Super Mario Bros.? Last I checked, Kojima doesn't make colorful platformers set in fantastical worlds where Italian plumbers throw fireballs at turtles.

But what really interests Kojima about Mario, he says, is its cultural legacy and impact on the gaming world. He's quoted in Nintendo Life as saying:

With the creation of Super Mario Bros., Shigeru Miyamoto not only altered the future of gaming, but actually changed the concept of "value" for all forms of entertainment. And, in the process, changed my future - leading me to become the game designer I am today. Super Mario Bros. is equivalent to the Big Bang of our gaming universe. If it were not for this blindingly spectacular creation, digital entertainment as we know it today wouldn't exist.

It's clear that Super Mario Bros. had a pretty major impact on a younger Kojima, potentially even inspiring him to become a game developer. Mario was groundbreaking and genre-pushing in its day, even though we take it for granted now. Metal Gear had a similar effect when it was first introduced, functionally inventing the stealth genre. And Death Stranding exists in a genre all its own, even if it hasn't taken off like stealth games have since the advent of Metal Gear.

You Can Play Super Mario Bros. For Free With NSO

A Classic For A Reason

If you're at all a fan of his games today, it's worth revisiting Super Mario Bros. to see exactly how it inspired him. If you're already an NSO subscriber, you can play it today at no additional cost as part of the service's NES library. It's earned its status as a classic, and if it's good enough to number among Kojima's favorites, it should hold up today.

Sure, Mario has evolved greatly since then, having gone 3D, and introducing much bigger, more open maps, along with more complicated platforming mechanics. But the sense of adventure is still inherent, even in those earlier Mario games. It's easy to see how it would have had a profound effect on Kojima when he first played it, and it's worth revisiting today, especially if you're a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber.

Sources: Game Rant, Nintendo Life