Super Mario Bros. is a platform video game developed by Nintendo in late 1985 and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros.. In Super Mario Bros., the titular character, Mario, seeks to rescue Princess Toadstool (later renamed Princess Peach) of the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, king of the Koopas. Mario's younger brother, Luigi, is playable by the second player in the game's multiplayer mode, and assumes the same plot role as Mario.
Excluding Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console sales, Super Mario Bros. is the second-best-selling video game of all time (selling 40.24 million copies), surpassed only by Wii Sports.[1] It was largely responsible for the initial success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as ending the two year slump of video game sales in the United States after the video game crash of 1983. As one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes, it has inspired many clones, sequels and spin-offs. Its theme music by Kōji Kondō is recognized worldwide, even by those who have not played the game, and has been considered a representation for video game music in general.
The game was succeeded by a direct sequel in Japan and a revision of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (that introduces other characters from the Mario series) elsewhere in the world. In both cases, the games are titled Super Mario Bros. 2, causing both games to be rereleased in different countries with different titles. There also have been many "alternate" versions of the game, such as All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros., which featured personalities from the Japanese radio show of the same name. The success of Super Mario Bros. has caused it to be ported to almost every one of Nintendo's major gaming consoles, as well as the NEC PC-8801 in the form of Super Mario Bros. Special.
The player takes on the role of Mario, a mustached man wearing red overalls over a brown shirt, or, in the case of a second player, Luigi, Mario's younger brother, a similar man wearing white overalls over a green shirt. The object is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, evade or eliminate Bowser's forces and save Princess Toadstool Mario or Luigi can be hurt if either touches an enemy. If he takes a hit as regular Mario, falls down a pit (regardless of status), or the time clock runs out, he loses a life and starts again. The point where Mario or Luigi continues from after losing a life depends on how far he ran through the level before dying: either from the very beginning or at an invisible "checkpoint" partway through the level. There are no checkpoints in castles or in World 8, the final world. The Mario brothers' primary attack is simply jumping on top of ("stomping") their enemies, which kills the mushroom traitors, known as Goombas, and sends the turtle soldiers, known as Koopa Troopas, into their shells. Mario and Luigi can then kick these shells into other enemies, who will be defeated as a result. Conversely, kicked shells can bounce back off walls or other vertical obstructions and hit Mario or Luigi, injuring the player. Some enemies cannot be defeated by stomping; these enemies can only be defeated by turtle shell or fireball as stomping them will hurt the Mario Bros. The player can also defeat enemies by jumping to strike brick boxes from underneath, causing foes standing on it to be thrown off. Jumping on enough enemies in succession or kicking a shell into enough enemies in succession (combos) results in double points earned with each enemy defeated, eventually earning Mario or Luigi a 1-up (an extra life). Mario and Luigi can also obtain 1-ups through finding 1-up mushrooms or by collecting 100 coins.
Aiding the Mario Brothers in their quest are several powers. If Mario or Luigi collect a mushroom, they will become Super Mario or Super Luigi, thus able to take two hits before losing a life. Collecting a Fire Flower changes the player into Fiery Mario or Fiery Luigi, granting the ability to throw fireballs; however, the maximum tolerance for hits remains two (a hit taken while Fiery reduces the player to small Mario or Luigi). Mario or Luigi can also collect a Starman and become invincible for a limited amount of time.[ Invincible Mario or Luigi is impervious to the touch of enemy characters and most obstacles, and he can simply run into enemies to defeat them. He still dies, however, if he falls in a pit or lava, or if time runs out.
The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels in each world. Though each world is different, the fourth sub-world is always a fortress or castle. At the end of each castle level, Mario or Luigi fights Bowser, however if one of the brothers throws five fireballs at Bowser, it is revealed that he is actually a different enemy in disguise. In the later worlds (worlds 6 to 8), Bowser 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 him into the lava) or, as Fire Mario or Luigi, throwing fireballs at him to defeat him directly. The latter is the only way to receive points for the Koopa King's defeat. At the end of each world except the last, Mario or Luigi is greeted with the words "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" spoken by a Mushroom Retainer.
After winning 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' walking speed is increased. In addition, the elevator-style lifts are about 60% their original size throughout. There are also an increased number of hazards in the earlier worlds. For example, in World 1-3 random Bullet Bills fly across the screen, a danger that normally only appears in certain later levels, such as World 5-3.
Players may get to the beginning of any world with a relatively small amount of effort by using hidden warp zones in a number of levels.
Music
Kōji Kondō wrote the musical score for Super Mario Bros.. There are five main themes used in the original game. The tempo of the music increases when the timer reaches 99.
The Minus World
The Minus World is a glitch in Super Mario Bros. By passing through a solid wall near the World 1-2 exit, it is possible to travel to "World -1", also known as the "Minus World" or "World Negative One". This stage is identical to Worlds 2-2 and 7-2, but on entering the warp pipe at the end, the player is taken back to the start of the level. The same glitch in the Japanese Famicom Disk System is considerably different and has three levels. World " -1" is a glitched world 1-3 that is underwater and contains Bowser, Hammer Bros. and multiple copies of Princess Toadstool. World " -2" is an identical copy of World 7-3. World " -3" is a copy of 3-4, but with flying Bloopers, no Bowser and water instead of lava. After completing these, the player is returned to the title screen as if he or she completed the game This glitch was fixed in the Super Mario All-Stars remake and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe It remains in the Virtual Console version of Super Mario Bros.
Although the world is shown as " -1" (note the leading space) on the HUD, it is actually world 36; the game is not programmed to use 2-digit numbers, instead displaying tile #36, which is a blank space. This is because the warp zone pipes lead to world 36 before the player has scrolled far enough to activate them, so that no number appears above them.
Alternate versions
As one of Nintendo's most popular games, Super Mario Bros. has been rereleased and remade numerous times, ranging from an arcade version released soon after the original NES release, to the game being available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console.
Ports
Super Mario Bros. was ported many times in the year following its original release on the NES. A side-scrolling platform game entitled Super Mario Bros. was released for the Game & Watch range of handheld LCD game systems by Nintendo. The Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. is an entirely new game, featuring none of the stages from the NES original. In Japan Super Mario Bros. was released for the Famicom Disk System, Nintendo's proprietary floppy disk drive for the Famicom.[25] This version also had multiple Minus World levels. It was also released as the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt bundle.
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
One alternate version, Vs. Super Mario Bros. (originally called Vs. Mario's Adventure), 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, however, are different; the early stages are subtly different, with small differences like the omission of 1-up mushrooms or other hidden items, narrower platforms and more dangerous enemies, but later stages are changed entirely. These changes have a net effect of making Vs. Super Mario Bros. much more difficult than the original Super Mario Bros. Many of these later, changed stages reappeared in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2.
As with many older arcade games, it is unclear exactly when this game was released; while the arcade boards themselves are stamped "1985", 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 very rare version of Super Mario Bros. with graphics based upon the popular Japanese radio show All Night Nippon. The game, which was only released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System, was a special promotional version that was given away by the show in 1986. The creators altered the sprites of the enemies, mushroom retainers, and other characters to look like famous Japanese music idols, recording artists, and DJs, as well as other people related to All Night Nippon. They also used the same slightly upgraded graphics that Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels used. It was published by Fuji TV, the same company that published the game Doki Doki Panic (which was later modified into the Super Mario Bros. 2 that was released outside Japan).
Instead of being a straight port from Super Mario Bros. with graphical changes, All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. combined levels from Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and Vs. Super Mario Bros..
Super Mario All-Stars
In 1993, Nintendo released an enhanced SNES compilation titled Super Mario All-Stars. It includes all of the Super Mario Bros. games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom. The version of Super Mario Bros. included in the compilation has improved graphics and sound to match the SNES's 16-bit gameplay capabilities, as well as minor alterations in some collision mechanics. Another new feature introduced in this game is the ability for the second player to switch to Luigi after the end of the stage, unlike in the original Super Mario Bros. where the second player could only play after Mario died. The new version also included a save game feature. Severalglitches from the original NES release were also fixed.
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Super Mario Bros. was released on the Game Boy Color in 1999 under the title Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. It featured simultaneous multiplayer, a Challenge mode (where the player had to find hidden objects and achieve a certain score in addition to normally completing the level) and also included the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 (which was released on Super Mario All-Stars as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels) as an unlockable extra, under the name "For Super Players". It also was compatible with the Game Boy Printer. The game did not, however, 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 the player in the middle or off to the left of the screen so that player can see well. Players can alternate between Mario and Luigi by pressing select on the map screen, and Luigi's outfit was changed from the original white overalls and green shirt, to green overalls and brown shirt to better match Mario and the more common color palette. Fire Luigi took on the original colors to fit with his Fire colors in later games.
The game was extremely well-received by both critics and fans. GameSpot gave the game a 9.9, hailing it as the "killer app" for the Game Boy Color (it was also the highest rated game in the series). IGN went further, giving it a perfect 10 out of 10. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe also has an aggregate rating of 92% on Game Rankings. It was partially due to the high quality of the port, especially with inclusion of The Lost Levels. A later Game Boy Advance port (part of the Classic NES Series) was released in 2004, which had no extras or unlockables. Of that version, IGN noted that the version did not "offer nearly as much as what was already given on the Game Boy Color" and gave it an 8.0 out of 10. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe did well amongst consumers, selling over 2.8 million copies in the United States alone.
Reception and legacy
Super Mario Bros. popularized the side scrolling genre of video games and led to many sequels in the series that built upon the same basic premise. Almost all of the game's aspects have been praised at one time or another, from its large cast of characters to a diverse set of levels. One of the most-praised aspects of the game is the precise controls. The player is able to control how high and far Mario or Luigi jumps, and how fast he can run.
Super Mario Bros. has spawned four direct sequels, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (named Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan), Super Mario Bros. 2 (released in Japan as Super Mario USA), Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World (released in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 4). The game ranked first on Electronic Gaming Monthly's "greatest 200 games of their time" list and was named in IGN's top 100 games of all time list twice (in 2005 and 2007). ScrewAttack declared it the second-best Mario game of all time. Altogether, Super Mario Bros. has sold 40.24 million copies, making it the best-selling video game in the Mario series.
Super Mario Bros. and its sequels inspired products in various media, such as an American television series, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, from 1989, and a live-action film, Super Mario Bros., released in 1993.
New Super Mario Bros. (New スーパーマリオブラザーズ, Nyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu?) is a side-scrolling platform video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released in North America on May 15, 2006, Japan on May 25, 2006, Australia on June 8, 2006, Europe on June 30, 2006 and South Korea on March 8, 2007. It is the first original side-scrolling platform game starring Mario since the 1992 release of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.
Rereleases
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 and all of the original glitches remain. 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 to December 2004. 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.
Animal Crossing
Super Mario Bros. is also one of the NES games included in the Nintendo GameCube game Animal Crossing. The only known way to unlock Super Mario Bros. is by use of a game modification device, like the Game Shark or Action Replay. The game is fully emulated (is the original ROM), so it includes every glitch from the NES including the Minus World glitch.
Virtual Console
Super Mario Bros. was released on December 2, 2006 in Japan, December 25, 2006 in North America and January 5, 2007 in PAL regions for Wii's Virtual Console. Like all Nintendo Entertainment System games previously available in their respective regions, Super Mario Bros. costs 500 Wii points. As it is a copy of the original game, all glitches, including the Minus World, remain in the game.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The stage "Mushroomy Kingdom" portrays the original game's World 1-1 as a desert wasteland. World 1-2 may also appear at random during the stage. Super Mario Bros. is also one of the trial games available in the "Masterpieces" selection of Super Smash Bros. Brawl
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