Mario Bros.

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.