By Sarah Tan
DNAinfo Reporter
TIMES SQUARE — Mama mia!
Princesses, massive gold coins and plumbers with giant mustaches took over Times Square Saturday and it had nothing to do with the magic mushrooms that were all around.
A Nintendo-loving crowd packed into the Crossroads of the World to frolick on a life-size replica of a Mario game board — getting their fill of toads, tanooki and trips to the underworld.
"I've always loved Mario, he's one of my weaknesses, I love all the games," said Mekka James, 21, who came dressed as Luigi.
The event was designed to promote the release of the new Super Mario 3D Land video game for the Nintendo 3DS.
Admission was free, though lines were long. Attendees were allowed to demo the game while they waited, and free mushroom pizza was dished out if customers tweeted about the event with the hashtag “SuperMario3D”.
Fans dressed up as various characters and many bought fake tails and ears as a reference to Mario's “Tanooki suit," which allows him to turn into a statue.
April Hatcher, 30, came to the event with her three young sons who are Super Mario fans.
“They love Mario, they love Yoshi, Luigi, they love all of them,” she said.
But for Kevin Goodwine, 19, it was all about the bad guys.
"There's a bunch of people dressed as Mario, I decided I gotta be that one guy to be Bowser," he said, referring to Mario's nemesis and underworld boss.
