Sitting down to review a game that not only launched the career of one of the most iconic characters in gaming, put a company on the map that is still going strong today, and the explosive entry into a new generation of gaming is a daunting task. I tried to do it several times. At first I decided to do an ?I?m back in time? review, but that sounded corny. So I?m just going to tell it straight, because this game deserves the respect and honour of sitting down with it, and talking in a calm voice.
Super Mario Bros, when I came on the scene shipped with Duck Hunt, another Icon game that doesn?t work so well anymore, as all of the Zappers are 23 years old and wearing out. So I?ll just review the Super Mario Bros game. First of all, I have a bit of a confession ? I never did beat Super Mario Bros on the NES. It wasn?t until I played it on later iterations, that allowed continues and saves that I was able to beat it. That brings up point number one; Difficulty. Super Mario Bros. on the NES is difficult. However, it?s difficult for reasons inherent in the format ? the NES was largely unable to store save files, and because of this, when you lost your lives, the game was over. Unless you use a cheat in 3-1, which I was never able to pull off, or used a series of warp pipes to get to world 8 and held your breath and crossed your fingers, you might have the same problem as I did, in not being able to beat it. If I don?t use warp pipes, I can usually get to about 5-3 before running out of gas.
The control in this game is fluid and wonderful. Even today, bad controls plague a lot of games and ruin otherwise decent titles. Super Mario Bros starts off smoothly, and finishes smoothly. The only issue is when running, you slide a little when you stop, which was revolutionary at the time, but can lead to many pitfall deaths to the novice. The collision detection is really good as well. Using only two buttons for actions, Super Mario Bros. does all that it needs to and more.
Graphically, looking back, you might think that Super Mario Bros. had pretty tame graphics. Even many other NES games seem to look better. But you have to remember, that most of these games came out after Super Mario Bros. When Super Mario Bros. came out, the graphics were astounding. There could be many different sprites on the screen at the same time with no real slow downs, and each of the sprites looked like what they were supposed to. Coming onto the scene with Atari2600 behind it, the NES pushed the graphical and sound threshold up a full level (nothing against the Atari 2600)
The sound and music in this game is a classic. Let?s take a look at them and discuss why. The music in Mario games has mostly kept the same theme throughout, so it?s been drilled into our heads over the past 20 years, but we don?t seem to mind, the music is just that good. The catchy melodies really put us in the locations that Mario is in. From the main theme, to the sewer theme, to the water theme, to the castle theme, we feel where we are through the music. The sound effects likewise are lodged in the gamer subconscious. Make a random sound from Super Mario Bros. around your friends, and if they gamed in the late 80s, I?m sure they?ll recognize it immediately.
There is very little story in these older games, but if I had to explain one to review it, the Princess has been captured by Bowser, and our Hero has to save her using the power of mushrooms and flowers and stars, he traverses the ins and outs of Mushroom Kingdom to retrieve her. Each level is fun to play through, and although there are a few repeats, they are changed enough in the later levels to offer a new challenge.
Overall, it was nice to take a look back at one of the games that sparked my love of gaming. It?s interesting that the shortest game I?ve reviewed so far is the longest review yet, but it deserves it. Whether to buy it or not isn?t really an issue anymore, and anyone who would love Super Mario Bros. has already played it and probably still has it. If you are interested in retro gaming and DON?T have Super Mario Bros, go to Ebay, pick it up, and try to beat it where I failed. There are other platforms that it?s on, and most of them are pretty decent. It was released as a SNES game in Super Mario Allstars, and on the Gameboy Color as a standalone game, both of which are faithful ports. Enjoy yourself. J
Next time, we take a leap forward (or take a giant jump way way way back, depending on how you look at it), as Altorin reviews Assassin?s Creed for the Xbox 360.
