My little brother is turning into quite the Mario fanatic, as well, following in my footsteps, I suppose. He draws Mario charaters a lot, and is getting really good at them. He's 8, and just finished Paper Mario. He's currently on a "Zelda" fling now, actually, trying to play through "Link to the Past" on our SNES.
We both can't wait for Mario Party 3. Multiplayer Mayhem!!