They said its because he tries to hard to help, even when its someone he doesn't know, like in the original SMB and Daisy in Super Mario Land. I personally love that he's so good when most of the people in the real world try to do things for some sort of gain.
I guess so. I kinda have Super Mario to blame for my drawing ability since he was the reason I started drawing. I was, and still am to some extent, a huge Mario Bros. fangirl.