Mario Bros.

In your face Sega this was before Sonic & Tails. The secret to this game is teamwork which is hard to achieve especially no thanks to Super Mario Bros. 3 which turns it into a fighting game for cards and position on the map. With a good team this game can be fun for hours with challenge for all ages. My biggest qualm is Nintendo always puts the NES.version in place of the superior arcade version.

The original Mario Bros. is pretty much THE most simplest, and boring, platformer you're ever likely to come across. Back then, Mario was no more than the tiny little sprite from Donkey Kong (called Jumpman) who vaguely looked like a plumber with red dungarees and a moustache. This time around he's given his own game and a new name and partnered with his brother Luigi (in green dungarees) to erm...not do that much really.

All you do in this game is jump between 3 or 4 different platforms knocking over typical creatures of the Mario franchise. Yup, that's it! That's everything this game is about. I don't know about you but I'd be pretty upset if I paid for this in the arcade, even if it was 1983.

I got this as an extra with Super Mario Advance 4 so at least I never went out of my way to pay for it. And neither should you.

Graphics D Sound D Gameplay F Lasting Appeal F

The only reason why this game gets so much attention is simply because it's a Mario game. We are all well aware of how bad the graphics of 1980's games used to be. So it will not be right to compare this game by the ones made now. However, for a correct comparison, we should judge it by its features from that time.

To begin with, let's talk about the colour palette. It has a black background in which the other coloured characters appear. This is meant to simulate the darkness present inside a sewer. The Koopas and other enemies come in from both the sides of the pipe. They have done an excellent job with the ambience. But it could have been better if they occasionally showed a few drops of water spilling out of the pipes to show that the pipes were actually running, otherwise it doesn't make sense for so many enemies to just walk in out of nowhere. Also if the enemies are able to go in through the bottom pipes and come out of the top, what stops the other way round from happening? There is no explanation to it.

Then let's talk about the sound. Every time a crab comes out of the pipes, it makes a sound that's more suited to a beach view. Such a sound doesn't suit a gutter. There are just a handful sound effects, the most (read only) memorable being the one played when a level begins. The sounds used in the game suit more to an open world game of that era, such as River City Ransom or ET (if it was good).

Then the levels. Oh my God, this is the one place where this game fails big time. It's the same level repeated over and over again. Don't come up with an excuse of "limited memory at that time" because Pacman also had different levels even though it came one year before. In Mario games itself, Donkey Kong had different level designs every as the game progressed. The level designer of this game had taken a very lazy effort.

This is by far my most hated Mario game. Even if I was in the 80s I would prefer playing some other game like Super Mario Bros, which came just 2 years after this. Nostalgia doesn't bother me in the least because I played this game just to have tried all popular Mario titles.

This game must be very confusing to the younger generation, weaned on the PSX and its ilk. They've almost never been to an arcade to play anything but fighting games, and long lost battles for high are but a memory, save for some Sega games (eg, Crazy Taxi). So, the point of the game is a high score, not a boss or an end level. It's most enjoyable with two players going at it, knocking each other into enemies and the such. Give it a try, it's old school at its best.

This is another honorable mention in my favorite video games. The game is also a childhood gem of mine as it was one of the very first video games I played when I was 7, I played an arcade cabinet of this at a "Chuck E Cheese" in Spokane, Washington. This game was a huge hit in the 80's and it's not hard to see why with its graphical presentation and gameplay. Though it's true as time went on this game has been slightly forgotten as it's been overshadowed by may other Mario game throughout the years; but all the same this is one of the games that really started the franchise, and it was one heck of a start.

I really like the graphical presentation; background is basic like with most video games of yesteryear by their nature they were really props and set pieces for the gameplay which is what's important. It's really the characters animation that stands out, I like the detail and color palette on them which made them look like cartoon characters. But what really made them stand out was on how lively they were from their eyes and expressions after an action has been carried out, this was part of what made games from the company "Nintendo" unique.

I really like the enemy's variety that pops out which is colorfully strange, why they want to muck the plumbing system up let alone grudge against plumbers is anyone's guess. The variety consists of turtles, crabs, giant mosquitoes, killer ice burgs, fireballs with minds of their own, etc.

But also, the Mario's themselves, really like the colorful Blue-Collar outfits. Though in this game their colors are slightly different from the ones were familiar with from Mario who has blue suspenders and a red shirt and Luigi it's white suspenders and a green shirt. They were probably changed due to the fact this game is a standalone, non-canon game which I'm fine with.

Really like the sounds in the game, despite no music in the game those sounds are just music to my ears from hearing Mario/Luigi run, kicking enemies off, or even the dreaded noise when your tagged by your enemies.

But of course, the real kicker of the game (no pun intended) is the gameplay which is very good. The game pretty much plays a bit like the arcade game "Joust" only in this game you're a little more grounded. Control is basic where you have forward, back and jump but you have the B button to help build up your speed when you need to.

You take the enemies out by simply hitting the platform above which trips them up/turns them over and to finish them off you run into them and kick them off the platform. Each of the enemies change color if you don't kick them off on time, which makes them more dangerous. But it's not just that but each of the enemies are unique which means you can't take them out the same way, let alone as you progress thorough the levels the odds stack up which makes the stakes for you and your buddy stack up.

However, two of the things that make this game stand out are the fact that it operates on two players. This was a revolutionary concept for it's time because most video games of yesteryear were designed for solitary fun. Whenever we wanted to play the same game or were playing with/against our buddy we had to wait our turn. This game you don't have to wait, you and your buddy can play the same game at the same time. You can work together but also at the same time try and blow each other away with your high score.

Another feature I like about the game is the POW block, which is pretty much the emergency only weapon in the game. By hitting this block, you knock each of the enemies on the screen off their feet. However, their off their feet for a temporary amount of time so kick as many off as you can. Also, you can only hit this block so many times, once you do it's gone for good and it won't reappear till rounds latter, so don't waste your hits.

So, for any retro game fans this is worth playing to see where it all began, this game like any well maintained and expanded plumbing system flows well and still does today.

Rating: 3 and a half stars.