Mario Bros. Review – a Surprisingly Fun Single-Screen Platformer!

Sometimes a sequel overshadows the previous title in a series so much that the original game is essentially forgotten. That is definitely the case with Mario Bros., which is one of the first games featuring Mario as a playable character. With so many Super Mario titles having come out after this one, is it still worth going back to such an early NES game?

Gameplay

Surprisingly, my short answer to that question is a “Yes!” Before playing Mario Bros. again, I really wasn’t excited about trying out Mario and Luigi’s single-screen platformer outing. In fact, the main reason I chose to play it was simply because I like to play titles close to their order of release. That’s why I reviewed Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis recently. However, after giving Mario Bros. Some honest time, I started to actually enjoy it! This was primarily through the game’s quality gameplay design.

At the beginning of each phase, or stage, you are at the bottom of the screen with three floors of platforms above you. Enemies come out of the pipes near the top and you can bash your head against the platform above you to make it move. Doing so when an enemy is above you typically causes it to flip over and be stunned. You then jump up to where it is and kick it away. Although, keep in mind that some enemies will require more nuanced attacks to stun. For example, some fly around and can only be hit when they land. Others are simply made angry when they are struck the first time. If you need it, there is a POW box near the beginning of many levels that can be used to harm enemies who are on the ground as well.

Even though this is an early NES title, it still has some nice touches in regard to its design that keep it interesting. For example, hitting an enemy from below a second time after it is stunned causes it to get up again and chase after you once more. Additionally, if a foe comes across one of its stunned friends, it will turn around and move in the opposite direction. This means that there is predictable logic to the AI that can be used to your advantage as you clear the sewers of these nasty creatures.

Yet, if you take too much time, fireballs will start appearing in the level and move back and forth across the screen, motivating you to hasten your cleaning process. Furthermore, sometimes coins will fall out of pipes and move down the level. Picking one up earns you 800 points, as does defeating an enemy. After all your foes are vanquished, the game continues on to the next stage. As far as I know, there is no end to the game, although it does have two different game modes and 2-player simultaneous play. The latter of which cannot be said for many Super Mario titles. I couldn’t tell much of a difference between game mode A or B, though.

As I was playing, I found about 5 different enemies you can face, with more difficult versions often appearing near the end of a phase. All of which required different strategies to handle effectively. Because of all these variables (some of which I haven’t mentioned), you have to be mindful of who you are trying to defeat, and where they are in relation to others in the area to be successful. All of this keeps the gameplay surprisingly fresh, even if it is primarily to see how far you can get or to break a high score. I would expect that it would be a lot more fun if I could try it in two player mode!

Charm and Control

Beyond the gameplay, one other aspect that impressed me was the charm of it all. For example, the music that plays whenever you start the game is a chiptune version of Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major) from Mozart (source)! Also, the sound effects of when Mario is running is great, as are the animations he makes while doing so. One aspect I had forgotten is the momentum you have to deal with when moving around. Mario and Luigi do not stop on a dime! They will slide all over the place if you are not careful. You need to take that into account whenever you are moving or jumping. On a related note, jumping to the left or right to get to the next platform took a little getting used to. When I first started playing it again, I jumped straight up way more than I intended. I had to learn how to control Mario all over again!

Graphics

Although the controls were different than what I remembered, the graphics for the game were basically what I expected. They are of the quality of a typical early NES game. The sprites are generally small, and the animations are just fine, and have some great personality. Perhaps the best thing about them is that they hold up well against the original arcade game. The core gameplay is intact, as are the enemy designs. The NES version does lose some color, many enemy animations, and new enemy introduction sequences, though. While very few people today care about the graphics for this one, the similarity to the arcade was much better than what one would find on older systems, such as the Atari 2600, which is important to point out.

Conclusion

Just to reiterate from earlier, I was not interested in playing this game. Yet, my opinion of it has changed! It’s charming, the design of how the game works is well done, the controls are all right, and it’s fun to play! Sure, it isn’t Super, but Mario Bros. still deserves its place in gaming history and I enjoyed it more than I expected! If you like this kind of title, I recommend you try it out if you haven’t already.

Title: Mario Bros.
Genre: Single-screen Platformer
Year Released: 1986
Developer: Nintendo
Played On: NES Classic Edition
Price Paid: $2.22, or $66.45 for the system.

Remember, we can have different opinions about the games we play. If you like something more (or less) than I do, both of our perspectives are valid.