At the pizzeria Mario frequents, there is an old-fashioned video game cabinet in use. A glimpse of the player’s shoulder reveals it to be “Donkey Kong”, which first made its way into video games in 1981. However, since Donkey Kong will appear as a character in later in the film, the filmmakers wisely chose to change the game and rename it “The Jumping Man.” Old fashioned video game denizens will recognize “Jump Man” as the name given to the very Mario-like character the player controls in “Donkey Kong”. In that game, the girl to be rescued is named Pauline, a character who would be resurrected in “Super Mario Odyssey” years later.
The pizzeria is also known as Punch-Out!! Pizzeria, named after a Nintendo video game console released in 1984. The game’s gimmick is that the player controls a wireframe model of a boxer and controls each fist. its with a separate joystick. The game was widely popularized and was adapted to the NES in 1987 as “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!” The final boss of the NES game is Mike Tyson itself and ranks as one of the toughest video game bosses of its time. However, the game had to be renamed “Punch-Out!!” in 1990 when the license to restrict the use of Tyson’s name expired. Tyson was replaced by a character named Mr. Dream. In 1991, Tyson was arrested for sexual assault, but his crimes had nothing to do with rebranding.
Like at Sal’s Pizzeria in “do the right thing,” Punch-Out!! Pizzeria is decorated with many portraits of international boxers animated in “Punch-Out!!” One can immediately see Macho Man or Glass Joe on the wall.
