Super Mario Bros.

13 Sep 1985

Wii Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo 3DS Wii U Family Computer Disk System Arcade Family Computer Nintendo Switch
Add to wishlist
N/A rating
201 want
3672 played
79 playing
193 reviews
Developer
Nintendo R&D4
Developer
Nintendo R&D4
Developer
Nintendo R&D4
Publisher
Playtronic
Nintendo
Nintendo
Nintendo

Tags

Time to beat

Main story icon

Main story

2h
Main story and extras icon

Main story + extras

2h 15m
100% completion icon

100% completion

2h 15m
Based on 17 answers
Summary

A side scrolling 2D platformer and first entry in the Super Mario franchise, Super Mario Bros. follows Italian plumber Mario as he treks across many levels of platforming challenges featuring hostile enemies to rescue Princess Peach from the evil king Bowser.

Went to my friend's house and asked if i could borrow his NES and his boxed condition Mario Bros game because frankly ive never played it on a console. Just on like the PC and this was a whole new experiende. For many gamers, probably including a large portion of you who have been gaming since like the cold war, Super Mario Bros. was an introduction to the vast and exciting worlds that video games had to offer. Its scope might seem rather quaint by today's standards, but on release in 1985 it gave gamers endless of posibilities and ideologies of what gaming could become. Its sprawling levels, hidden secrets, optional sub-routes, legendary soundtrack and gorgeous spritework set standards by which all games, have nowdays failed to achieve.

Super Mario Bros. holds up as well today as it did almost 30 years ago. it continously provides hidden secrets Foe players to discover, such as hidden routes which you might not have been aware the first time you've played. It helps keep the player on their toes. Kinda crazy how back then Peach and bowser were known as Princess toadstool and King Koopa, it's wild honestly. We are all familiar with the storyline so I won't really get into that because last thing I need to make yall feel is if I'm teaching you what Gaming 101 is 😩.

With as much evolution as we've seen in the series since, newcomers might expect Super Mario Bros. to feel a little limited. At first, it might. Spend a little bit of time, however, and you'll see that every hallmark of the later games' quality is present and accounted for: the brilliant level design, the varied locations, the clever enemy placement, the unrealistic physics of jumping higher than a cat and the heart-pounding sense of danger that increases with every level you clear. There might be fewer items and villains than in later offerings, but by no means is there less creativity. It gets rather difficult in its later levels, but it ramps up at the perfect rate, and even young gamers will have a blast with the early levels. You can try emulators if you feel it is too difficult as you can use save states. But don't be a wimp you got to beat the game fair and square!

It is one of those rare games that has never really gone away. It's been reissued and remastered so many times that we never really seem to be too far away from a chance to experience it all over again, yet it still hasn't worn out its welcome.
More
09 Feb 2025
Revisiting a classic on the eve of Super Mario Wonder.

The original Super Mario Bros is the very defenition of classic when it comes to gaming. This is the first game to do platforming right, and to this day it has not aged at all.

At any time you can pop this bad boy in, have a good 1 hour sesh and beat the game. And it never gets boring even after 35 years.

Lots of games from the same era suffer from really bad game design due to the fact that game development and design was still experimental, but Super Mario bros is the shining diamond that has stood the test of time due to it's brilliant design my Mr Miyamoto.
More
19 Oct 2023
For me it is unbeatable without the saves. As a child I don't think I have ever passed beyond 4th or 5th world. Then, some day when travelling by train, I finished this in one go, thanks to saves that are available these days. Nevertheless, this game is iconic and very fun.
More
13 Apr 2022
While patently influential for sidescrolling tile-based platformers as a whole, it has not aged particularly well. The biggest problem here is that it runs out of new stuff to offer mere levels into the game. Each new world is nearly indiscernible from the last, with each usually being some variation of the plains—like the plains, but at night; or the plains, but...silver? This paired with the odd water or castle level mixed in makes for a pretty repetitive experience. No joke, a handful of levels are literally copy-pasted throughout the game. Like, 1-3 is identical to 5-3...which isn't exactly great. The "boss" of each world is exactly the same each time as well, with these encounters consisting of simply jumping over them and hitting a switch. But alas, the game is extremely old, and the platforming still feels relatively good for its age. Some of the castles have branching paths that need to be traversed in a certain order to proceed, which is kinda cool, if a bit tedious. I still think that the Koopa turtle enemy is brilliant, which can be knocked out of its shell and used as a projectile—either to your benefit or detriment. Ultimately, it's still fun, but very dated.
More
05 Sep 2022
Aged fine. Harder than Dark Souls 2.
More
24 Nov 2024
timeless (but certainly not perfect)
More
10 Feb 2024
Load more