Seriously, look at it again some time. Mario is a Nirmana-kaya, or the Buddha manifest in a personified body. In the original Japanese game, Princess Toadstool's first name is 'Peach' a common symbol of immortality and enlightenment. Therefore, Mario's quest for Princess Peach is actually the Buddha's quest for enlightenment. To go even further, Mario is our avatar in this game, we control his every action and movement. So through Mario it is actually the player that is questing for enlightenment.
The 'mushroom kingdom' where Mario Bros takes place consists of eight worlds. These worlds represent the Eight-fold Noble Path. You can go from World 1 to World 8, but as you play the game you find that there are many paths through the worlds to the princess (enlightenment). Jump over the walls in Level 1-2 and you'll discover a warp zone. This represents the idea that enlightenment can be found by following the eight-fold path in any order. In the end, its all one path.
Each world consists of four levels. The last level ends with the discovery of a 'mushroom retainer' who points Mario towards the next world. These levels represent the four gates that Siddartha came to during his fateful excursion from the palace. The first three gates led Siddartha to old age, sickness, and death. The final gate led to the mendicant, which he took as a sign to become a monk. The mushroom retainer is a symbol for the mendicant, and much like the original hermit led Siddartha towards enlightenment, so too does this fungus lead us and Mario closer to the true location of the princess (another castle).
The game even has a system of karma and reincarnation built into it. How you use each 'life' in the game determines where you begin your next 'life'. Each life directly influences the next through cause and effect, or the principle of hetu-pratyaya. Every action, or 'hetu', in the game has an effect, or 'phala'. Playing skillfully and making progress is reqarded with the player's next life starting closer to the goal. Playing poorly and making mistakes can lead to having to redo parts of the level or even having to redo entire worlds.
Even Mario's 'power ups' are symbols. His first, small form represents the first of the Three Marks of Dharma or the Samboin. Mario's first form has no powers other than its potential to grow and change to a new form. The first mark, Anitya, is that everything constantly changes and that all conditioned things are impermanent. The Fire Flower is clearly a lotus, the symbol for purity and thought. Its no coincidence that only the fire power can directly destroy Bowser, or that in the first seven worlds using it reveals that these 'Bowsers' are actually lesser enemies in disguise. The lotus cuts through illusion.
As for King Bowser himself, in ancient Buddhist cosmology, a giant tortoise supports the universe. This connection to the earthly universe makes Bowser a symbol for worldly attachment. His status as a monarch indicates that he specificly represents the earthly responsibilities that tried to keep Prince Siddartha from attaining enlightenment as the Buddha.
As you can see, Mario Bros is actually a very complex and densely symbolist game, comparable to works of other mediums such as, say, Maya Deren's "Meshes in the Afternoon" or James Joyce's "Ulysses".
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