Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. is a video game released by Nintendo in the fall of 1985. Universally considered a classic of the medium, Super Mario Bros. was one of the first side-scrolling platform games of its kind, introducing players to huge, bright, expansive worlds that changed the way video games were created.

Super Mario Bros. is considered by The Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling video game of all time, and was largely responsible for the initial success of the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as ending the two year slump of video game sales in America after the video game crash of 1983. It has inspired countless imitators and was one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes. The game starred Mario, who eventually became Nintendo's mascot, and who was at one time more recognizable among American children than Mickey Mouse. To this day, Mario is one of the world's most famous fictional characters.

The game was succeeded by The Lost Levels in Japan, and Super Mario Bros 2 elsewhere worldwide.

Gameplay

The player takes the role of Italian plumber Mario, or in the case of a second player, Mario's brother Luigi. The ultimate object is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, evade or eliminate King Koopa's forces, and save the Princess.

Mario's primary attack is simply jumping on top of his enemies, which kills the mushroom traitors, known as Goombas (Kuribô in Japanese), and sends the turtle soldiers known as Koopa Troopas (Nokonoko in Japan) into their shells. Mario can then kick these shells into other enemies, which will conveniently dispatch them; but conversely, kicked shells can bounce back off of walls or other vertical obstructions and hit him. Jumping on enough enemies in succession, or kicking a shell into enough enemies in succession (combos), results in double points earned with each enemy killed, eventually earning Mario a 1-up, an extra life and another chance to pass the level. Some enemies, though, such as Spinys, can only be killed by fireballs or shell impact; stomping them will hurt Mario.

Aiding him in his quest are several powers. Mario can be hurt if he touches an enemy. If he takes a hit from an enemy as Super Mario or Fiery Mario, he simply reverts back to regular Mario and the game continues. However, if he takes a hit as regular Mario, falls down a pit (regardless of status), or if the time clock runs out, he loses a life, and starts again. The point where Mario continues depends on how far he ran through the level before dying; either from the very beginning, or at an invisible "checkpoint" halfway through the level. There are no checkpoints in castles or in world 8, the final world. Mario can also collect a star and become Invincible. While invincible Mario is impervious to the touch of enemy characters and most obstacles but will still die if he falls in a pit or lava.

The game consists of eight worlds with four levels in each world. Though each world is substantially different, there are basic similarities: typically the first sub-world is a generic above-ground (overworld) level, the second is in an underground dungeon or underwater (or in the overworld with a unique challenge), the third is a series of platforms suspended high in the sky, and the fourth is always a fortress or castle. The third and sixth worlds take place at night, and all other worlds take place during the day. At the end of each castle level, Mario fights "King Koopa" (who, until the final level, is actually a lesser enemy disguised as King Koopa) across a bridge over a pool of lava. In the later worlds, King Koopa throws hammers as well as occasional jets of fire breath. Bowser may be defeated in one of two ways; either by touching the axe at the edge of the bridge (thereby dropping Bowser into the lava), or, as Fiery Mario, throwing fireballs at him to defeat him directly and reveals what enemy is in disguise. At the end of each world save the last, Mario is greeted with the words, "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!", which became a popular quote among gamers.

After beating the game, the player is given the option to start the game again in "'Hard' Mode," where all Goombas are replaced by Buzzy Beetles (Koopa Troopa-like enemies who cannot be killed by fireballs), and all enemies walk faster. In addition, the elevator-style lifts are about 60% their original size throughout, as opposed to the original size until world 5-3 and 60% after.

Worldwide Sales

The game sold approximately 40 million copies worldwide, which still stands as a Guinness World Record. It has been estimated that this game, next to Tetris, is the bestselling game of all time. Although the game itself was very popular, its overall success can be largely attributed to the popularity of the NES itself. Super Mario Bros. was most often packaged with the NES console (usually in a dual cartridge with the shooting game Duck Hunt), just as Tetris was packaged with the Game Boy. Super Mario Bros. 3 is often cited as the best selling non-packaged game of all time.

Critical Acclaim and Legacy

Super Mario Bros. is often cited as the inspiration for many game designers; an example is the inspiration for the designers at id Software when they developed Commander Keen (Commander Keen actually began as a PC port of Super Mario Bros. 3).

Super Mario Bros. has also been critically acclaimed in retrospect; IGN named it #1 on their top 100 video games list twice (both in 2003 and 2005 ), and it is one of only two games (along with Elite) to receive a 10/10 score in Edge magazine's "retro reviews" retrospective series.

In February 2006, Electronic Gaming Monthly named Super Mario Bros. #1 on its list of the "200 Greatest Games of Their Time", as part of a 200-issue celebration. It beat many other Mario titles, including Super Mario Bros. 3 (14), Super Mario 64 (6), Super Mario World (88), and Yoshi's Island (83).

Sequels and spin-offs

The success of Super Mario Bros. led Nintendo to choose Mario to be its mascot and eventually resulted in several TV series and two movies; one anime GMTRPP, & one live-action movie. Mario himself became more recognizable among American children than Mickey MouseSheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children, Random House, 1991..

The game's popularity eventually led to dozens of sequels and spinoffs. There are three direct sequels to this game on the Famicom/NES platform:

The Lost Levels — originally released for the Famicom in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2. This game would later be released worldwide as The Lost Levels on the SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars, as well as being included as an unlockable set of levels "for Super Players" in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.
Super Mario Bros. 2 — an adaptation of Doki Doki Panic, a Japanese game unrelated to Mario, released in the U.S. instead of The Lost Levels and later released in Japan as Super Mario USA.
Super Mario Bros. 3 — A sequel that returns back to the Super Mario Bros. style. It introduces separate paths for the player to take, various power-up suits, and more varying stages.

In addition, there are further sequels bearing the term "Super Mario Bros." that weren't made for the NES:

Super Mario Bros. Special— the truly "lost" of the series, this was made by Hudson Soft for the PC88 series of Japanese PCs and was officially licensed by Nintendo. SMB Special is the very first licensed sequel to appear to Super Mario Brothers, appearing a few months before The Lost Levels in 1986. While appearing very similar on the surface to the original Super Mario Bros., the game featured completely original levels and the lack of a scrolling screen. Jumping and running physics also differ from the original, providing a more challenging experience from Super Mario Bros. Due to the PC88's technology being slightly inferior to that of the NES/Famicom, the graphics and audio differ slightly from the original NES game as well, albeit closely emulated.
Super Mario World — the first SNES Mario game, and one of the earliest games for the system. While not bearing "Super Mario Bros." in Western countries, "Super Mario Bros. 4" is prominently displayed on the Japanese box. This was the last Mario game to officially bear the name "Super Mario Bros.", until the announcement of:
New Super Mario Bros. — This sequel is designed in the old Mario gameplay style, except everything is in 3-D (effectively, 2.5-D). This sequel is for the Nintendo DS.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack, composed by long-time Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, is often sampled. While many bands have sampled the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack or otherwise recorded songs inspired by the game and its soundtrack, a Super Mario Bros.-inspired single by Japanese band The Tongari Kids, titled "B-Dash", reached as high as sixth place on the Japanese music charts. Interestingly enough, Mario's first "theme" kart in the later game Mario Kart DS is named the B-Dasher, assumingly as a homage to the album.

Kondo's theme to Super Mario Bros. has also become a hit in the United States as a ringtone for cellular phones. In the late spring of 2006, the melody reached Number One on Billboard magazine's Hot Ringtones chart.

Movie and Animation Adaptations

In Japan in 1986, Nintendo released a 60-minute-long anime feature directed by anime industry veteran Masami Hata, titled Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Daisakusen (The Great Operation to Rescue Princess Peach). This film has never been released in the United States and is a rare, sought-after collector's item among both anime and Mario fans. Nintendo followed it in 1989 with a three-part OAV series which featured Mario and friends acting out the stories of Issunboshi, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Momotaro.

Meanwhile in 1989, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Nintendo and DiC made The Super Mario Bros. Super Show for syndication on U.S. television. 65 half-hours of the series were produced. The series combined animated adventures with live-action sequences which starred Lou Albano as Mario; guest stars in the live-action sequences included Cyndi Lauper and Cher. Each half-hour show contained, along with the live-action sketches, two short animated stories featuring Mario and his friends along with one short based on The Legend of Zelda. This was followed in 1990 by a new series based on Super Mario Bros. 3 and in 1991 by another new series based on Super Mario World; both aired on NBC on Saturday mornings as part of The Game Master.

The game was then adapted into a live-action film in 1993. This film was produced by Hollywood Pictures and starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi respectively, and Dennis Hopper as King Koopa (Bowser).

Alternate versions

As one of Nintendo's most popular games, Super Mario Bros. has been re-released and remade numerous times, ranging from an arcade version released soon before the original NES release, to its inclusion as an unlockable game in the GameCube game ''Animal Crossing

VS. Super Mario Bros.

The first of these alternate versions, Vs. Super Mario Bros., is nearly a separate game in its own right. This game, one of several games made for Nintendo's NES-based arcade cabinet, the Nintendo Vs. Unisystem (and its variant, the Nintendo Vs. Dualsystem), is based on Super Mario Bros., and has identical gameplay. The stages are different, however; the early stages are subtly different, with small differences like the omission of 1-up mushrooms or other hidden items, but later stages are changed entirely. (Many of these later, changed stages reappeared in the Japanese The Lost Levels.) The player begins with only two lives rather than the standard three, and 256 coins are required to earn an extra life, as opposed to 100 in all other versions. These changes have a net effect of making Vs. Super Mario Bros. much more difficult than the original Super Mario Bros.

As with many older arcade games, it isn't clear exactly when this game was released; while the arcade boards themselves are stamped "1985,"passport (December 29, 2001). Vs. Super Mario Bros.. Everything2. URL accessed 2005-11-21. the Killer List of Video Games and the MAME game listing list the game as having been released in 1986.

All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.

All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. is a version of Super Mario Bros. with graphics based upon a radio show, called 'All Night Nippon', that was very popular in Japan in 1986. It was released for the Famicom Disk System.

The game, which was only released in Japan, was a special promotional version that was given away by the Japanese radio station 'All Night Nippon' in raffles in 1986. The game borrows levels from Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels (Japanese version), and Vs. Super Mario Bros. The enemies and the mushroom retainers at the end of Bowser's forts are replaced with Japanese music idols, famous recording artists, and DJs, as well as other people related to 'All Night Nippon.' It was published by Fuji TV, the same company that published Doki Doki Panic (which was later remade into Super Mario USA, a.k.a. Super Mario Bros. 2).

Multicart versions

While Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling video game of all time, one of the most common versions of the game is actually an alternate version, a multicart including both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. This version, first released in North America in November 1988, was only available packed in with the "NES Action Set," a bundle including the NES, two controllers, the Zapper lightgun, and the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt double cartridge.

In December of that year, Nintendo also released a three-game multicart, including Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet. This three-game multicart was only included in the "NES Power Set," a bundle including everything in the "Action Set" above, but with the Power Pad and the triple-game cartridge in place of the double-game cartridge.

Super Mario All-Stars

In 1993, Nintendo released an enhanced SNES compilation titled Super Mario All-Stars. It includes all of the Super Mario games released for the NES/Famicom. The version of Super Mario Bros. included in the compilation had improved graphics, redrawn to match the SNES's greater graphical capabilities and a save game feature. Several glitches from the original NES release were also fixed.

This compilation also includes later Super Mario games, including Super Mario Bros. 3, the North American/European Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan), and the Japanese The Lost Levels (known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in North America and Europe). A later version of this compilation, sold only as a bundle with the SNES, also includes Super Mario World.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

In 1999, Super Mario Bros. was released on the Game Boy Color, under the title Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. It featured simultaneous multiplayer, a Challenge mode and also included the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (which was released on Super Mario All-Stars as The Lost Levels) as an unlockable. It also was compatible with the Game Boy Printer. However, the game did not feature any upgraded visuals (aside from some graphics such as water and lava now being animated rather than static), and since the screen resolution of the Game Boy Color was smaller than the NES, the view distance of the player is reduced. To compensate, players can press up and down to see above and below the player. Pressing select during the game also places Mario/Luigi in the middle or off to the left of the screen so that player can see well.

Classic NES Series

In early 2004, Nintendo re-released the game on the Game Boy Advance in Japan as part of their Famicom Minis collection and in the U.S. as part of the Classic NES Series. Unlike previous re-releases, these versions contain no graphical updates; indeed, they are running in emulation. Super Mario Bros. was one of the best-selling of these rereleases; according to the NPD Group (which tracks game sales in North America), this re-released version of Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling Game Boy Advance game in June 2004, and the GBA's sixth-best-selling game overall. jajko

Differences between this and the original are that the screen images appear a bit squashed, due to the widescreen format of the GBA screen, and the high score is saved to the cartridge. In 2005, Nintendo released this game again for the GBA as part of its 20th Anniversary with a special edition, which sold approximately 876,000 units.

The game kept Minus World intact.

Other versions

Super Mario Bros. is one of the NES games featured in the GameCube game Animal Crossing. Nintendo released an official way of unlocking the original game, Mario Bros. in 2004 by the series 4 e-reader Animal Crossing set. Currently the only known way to unlock the game is by use of a game modification ("cheating") device.

The game was ported to the Famicom Disk System. Since the game did not originally come with the Famicom, the FDS version (which cost about 500 yen) was a much better deal than the cartridge. It has also been confirmed at E3 2006 that Super Mario Bros. will be available for download on the Virtual Console service for the Wii.

The Minus World

Minus World is an infinite water level (with a layout similar to that of Levels 2-2 and 7-2). A result of a programming glitch, this level is sometimes claimed to be a myth. It does exist, although it can be difficult to reach. It is accessible in the World 1-2, a mostly underground level. To enter the Minus World, the player first reaches an area near the end of the level, where a pipe entrance leads back to the surface. Without entering the pipe but instead jumping onto the top of the pipe entrance, Mario must then destroy at least one block above him to the left of the rightmost block, which is to be kept intact. Next, Mario should be balanced as far past the pipe's edge as possible without falling, and facing toward the left (away from the wall). Next the player will attempt to duck-jump through the brick on the right. While holding down, the player presses the A button, resulting in Mario jumping while ducking. If successful, Mario's head will then hit the left edge of the rightmost block without destroying it, and Mario will move through the brick wall to where the level's warp zone is located. There, the first and third pipe lead to the Minus World. (Incidentally, the second pipe leads to World 5.)

Once Minus World is reached, it is impossible to escape, and Mario is destined to die by running out of time (assuming he survives the standard water-level obstacles as well). The reason for this is that the pipe at the end of the level leads to the very beginning, instead of dry land, and therefore, the level loops, or repeats itself. The name was created by a glitch, and since it is not a normal level, the name is literally (nothing)-1, creating the effect of -1.

Similar Minus levels can be accessed by jumping over the flagpole at the end of each level (a difficult goal, but completely possible to achieve), and allowing the flagpole to scroll off of the screen. Again, Mario (or Luigi) will be trapped in an infinite level until time runs out.

Technically speaking, the Minus World is World 36-1 (with "36" being the game's code for the space character, not to be confused with the idea of a 36th world). The game's default pipe layout virtually consists of one pipe which warps to World 5. This pipe layout is used in a warp zone located in World 4-2. When this layout is transposed to the warp zone of World 1-2, the first and third pipes point to nothing, resulting in World 36. World 36 was chosen because in warp zones with this warp pipe layout, number 36 would point to a blank tile, so no number would be shown above the then non-existent pipes.

World 36-1 in the Japanese Famicom Disk System version of the game is considerably different and has three levels, after which the player is returned to the title screen as though he or she completed the game. This glitch has been fixed in the Super Mario All-Stars remake as well as in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Super Mario All-Stars changes the default pipe layout to remove the Minus World pipe.

Trivia

Super Mario Bros. is often a favorite "speed run" title for gamers, due to its quick and accessible format of gameplay. Many fans still test their skills to see how quickly they can reach the end given certain circumstances. Twin Galaxies, an organization that tallies videogame world records, is considered the official record keep for such achievements and the specific circumstances in which players complete the game (for example, fastest time without items, or fastest time without warps).

Several magazines, forums, and chat rooms have been known to coin various terms for difficult "tricks" that can be performed in the game. For example, "pipe vaulting" is a term often used to refer to a perfectly-timed jump in which Mario vaults a pipe with a piranha fully extended from the top. "Pipe skipping" is also common, meaning the player has vaulted one pipe, catching the edge of a second pipe on the other side, then quickly jumping off the edge to clear the piranhas and/or gaps in between. Pipe skipping is a surprisingly difficult stunt, and examples of such moves can be seen in "speed run" videos on such websites as speeddemosarchive.com.

Losing all lives usually results in the player having to start from World 1-1. However, holding "A" at the "Game Over" screen and continuing to hold that button when starting a new game will allow the player to "cheat" and warp to the higher world at which they failed. This trick is one of the earliest in "easter eggs" implemented in videogames.

Owing in large part to its status as the most popular game of all time and its comparative simplicity to modern titles, the game has tradionally been a popular target of the ROM hacking community, with widely available level editors and sprite editing easy for anyone to do since the days of NESticle.

Notes and references

Development Staff

Directed by: Shigeru Miyamoto
Executive Producer: Hiroshi Yamauchi
Assistant Director: Takashi Tezuka
Original Music by: Koji Kondo
NOA Producer: Leslie Swan
Produced and copyrighted by: Nintendo

External links

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