GAME OF THE MONTH COLLECTION!
SUPER
MARIO BROTHERS
(Nintendo, October 1985)
Back in 1981, Shigeru Miyamoto's
Mario made his debut in Nintendo's run-a-way hit Donkey Kong! Unfortunately,
the big ape Donkey Kong was the true star and even though Mario was technically
the hero, he still felt like the secondary character. Mario and his brother
Luigi did get their own game a few years ago in Mario Bros but it wasn't
nearly as successful as Donkey Kong was. It wasn't till Mario starred in another
game called Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo
Entertainment System when the Mario Brothers started to become
a household name. After years of waiting, now I decided to name it Game
of the Month so I can finally tell you why this game won millions of gamers
over and why it is so important to this industry. Let’s take a look
at one of the most popular video games of all time!
The story in SMB is quite a simple one: you help one of two skilled plumbers
(Mario or Luigi) on a mission to rescue the Princess of the
What makes this title so different from the older Mario games he starred in
before is that your hero isn't confined to just single screen now. The Mario
Brothers now have to run across up 32 long levels filled with various enemies
and pitfalls to reach the special flag at the of the sub stages. At the end
of each world you have to go through one of Bowser's castles to see if the
Princess is there. All this adds a cool adventure aspect to the game play
but just remember that time is limited so you have to keep on moving too.
Although fighting through 32 levels can be a daunting task at first, this
game comes with a cool new power up system to help makes things a little easier.
Imagine going from being a puny little guy into a giant that twice your normal
size thanks to the power of the Magic Mushroom. "They don't call this
game Super Mario Bros. for nothing!" Becoming big is cool but if you
can stay in your giant form for a bit then also have the chance to get the
Power Flower, a interesting power up that lets you shoot fireballs! Another
cool thing that SMB has is that it comes loaded with secrets. The game is
also filled with tons of cool Easter Eggs like warp zones and invisible blocks
plus there are even special glitches that Nintendo didn't even know about
like the turtle trick that can get you multiple lives and there is another
that can take you to a hidden world that never ends (a.k.a. the Minus world).
Super Mario Bros. not only has ground breaking game play but the game was
a step forward for graphics too. The colourful graphics were much better then
the other launch NES titles plus Mario and Luigi may look the same but they
have good animations too. The game also has several fun loving soundtracks
and there are sound effects for almost anything. Even fireballs have their
own sound, and there is cool little 'bop' when you squash a Goomba. The game
may not look or sound like much today but in 1985 this was top of the line.
| For those of you that don't have a old NES system, this excellent game is
also part of the Super Mario All Stars Collection found on the Super
Nintendo and is also hidden very well in the game Animal Crossing for the GameCube. There is also a great remake that can be found on
the Gameboy Color called Super Mario Brothers DX. That game
features the same great game found on the NES plus it also has an all new
two player game, new challenge missions, GB Camera options, and it even has
a built in calendar. Unfortunately, you can forget about that Classic NES
re-issue SMB on the Gameboy
Advance though. You are basically paying 20 bucks for the same
game that would normally sell for under a couple of bucks. Nintendo is just
trying to milk more money out of you. If you're an advanced gamer too then there is a chance you played Super Mario Bros. to death back in the 80's just like me? The game had cool power ups, it had tons of cool and challenging levels, and the game was the perfect mix of both action and adventure. If you haven't already played this awesome before then the great news is that you can buy the game mega cheap because it is such a common title. There is still a reason why so many love this ground breaking title and that's the reason why it changed how we play video games today! |
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Conclusion: |
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SUPER MARIO BROTHERS |
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