Life just doesn’t get any better for our Mario these days, does it? Nintendo’s official UK website is reporting that the little plumber has just been named the best-loved video character of all time by prestigious UK market research company You Gov. The company, whose data is often used in major political and social reports in the UK and Europe, carried out independent research which revealed that Europeans treasure Mario above all other video game characters, including such heavyweights as Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man  and Master Chief from Halo.

You Gov also revealed that as far as game soundtracks are concerned, the majority of Europeans polled instantly recognised Mario’s original soundtrack, composed by Koji Kondo for Super Mario Bros in 1985.

Poor Luigi though, no mention of him at all – shocking really, what with him being such a big star in New Super Mario Bros. and all. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, eh, Luigi?