Super Mario Bros.
| Super Mario Bros. | |||||||||||
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| Developer | Nintendo EAD | ||||||||||
| Publisher | Nintendo | ||||||||||
| Platform(s) | Famicom/NES Famicom Disk System Game Boy Advance Virtual Console (Wii / 3DS / Wii U) NES Classic Edition/Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online | ||||||||||
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| Genre | Platform | ||||||||||
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| Mode(s) | 1-2 players | ||||||||||
| Media | NES:
 Game PakFDS:
Floppy disk Wii:  Digital downloadWii U: Digital downloadNintendo Switch: Digital downloadGame Boy Advance:  Game PakNintendo 3DS: Digital downloadNES Classic Edition:
Built-in
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| Input |
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| Requirements | Wii: 20 blocks Nintendo 3DS: 42 blocks | ||||||||||
Super Mario Bros. is a platforming video game within the Mario franchise and the first installment of the Super Mario series. The game was originally released in 1985 for the Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System, for which it was both developed and published by Nintendo. Super Mario Bros. is a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and some bundles included it as a pack-in title. Since its release, Super Mario Bros. went on to become one of the most famous video games of all time.
Story
The game's story is detailed in the instruction booklet. The Mushroom Kingdom was invaded by the Koopas, a tribe of turtles who can use black magic. They transformed the mushroom people into various objects such as rocks, bricks, and horsetails. Princess Toadstool is the only person who can undo the spell and return the mushroom people back to normal, but she has been kidnapped by King Koopa, the leader of the Koopas. The protagonist, Mario, hears of this and begins a quest to defeat King Koopa and save the kingdom.
Gameplay
Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling platform game in which the player controls Mario, whose goal is to make his way through a level while avoiding various enemies and obstacles, especially pitfalls, along the way. Running and jumping are the two main actions that Mario can perform. Mario has to reach the end of a level within the time limit, and in doing so he transitions directly to the next one.
Mario starts off with three lives. If Mario falls into a pit, touches lava, or takes damage from an enemy, he loses a life, and has to restart the level. Some levels have unseen checkpoints, so if Mario loses a life after passing it, he instead restarts from the checkpoint. Mario starts out in his Small form, but if he touches a Magic Mushroom, one of the power-ups, he becomes Super Mario, who can withstand another hit, causing him to turn back into Small Mario instead of lose a life. If Mario runs out of lives, it is a Game Over, after which the game returns to the title screen. From here, re-entering the game forces the player to restart from the first level, World 1-1, unless they hold 
while pressing 
, which instead resets Mario into the first level of the world where he last got a Game Over.
A level consists of coins for Mario to collect and ? Blocks that, when hit from below, reveals either more coins or a power-up. Some other bricks are invisible, and are only revealed if Mario jumps at them from underneath. Many levels also have bricks, a lot of which are joined together as floating platforms. If Mario collects 100 coins, he earns an extra life, represented as a "1UP" briefly appearing onscreen.
Mario's primary attack is jumping onto an enemy, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, Goombas, being the weakest enemy, are merely flattened, causing it to be defeated, but stomping a Koopa Troopa only causes it to temporarily retract into its shell, which Mario can then kick to use it as a projectile. A Koopa Shell can be deflected off a wall to destroy other enemies, but can also bounce back against Mario, damaging him. Certain other enemies, such as underwater foes and spiked enemies like Spinys, cannot be jumped on, and if Mario attempts to do this, he takes damage. Mario can also defeat an enemy by jumping under the brick it is on.
There are eight worlds, each consisting of four levels, making for a total of 32 levels. In addition, there are bonus areas with additional coins to collect; they are typically underground areas entered from a Warp Pipe, although some are accessed via a beanstalk making its way up into the clouds. Some secret areas allow Mario to skip a portion of the main level. The first three levels of a world feature a flagpole at the end, and touching it ends the level, followed by Mario walking into a castle. Mario is given points depending on high he touched the flagpole. The final level of each world takes place in a castle where Bowser is fought above a suspension bridge; the first seven of these Bowsers are false Bowsers, who are actually minions disguised as him, whilst the real Bowser appears at the end of World 8. Every Bowser is fought on a bridge, and instead of a flagpole, an axe must be touched to end the level, as it causes Bowser to fall into the lava below. In the first seven worlds, after Mario defeats a false Bowser, he is greeted by a Mushroom Retainer who tells him, "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!".
Certain levels have a Warp Zone, which consist of either one or three Warp Pipes that Mario can use to skip to a later world. The first Warp Zone is in World 1-2, and is reached by walking on the blocks at the top of the level passing the exit Warp Pipe. From here, Mario can skip straight over to either World 2, World 3, or World 4. The other two Warp Zones are in World 4-2; one is reached in a similar manner as in World 1-2, although it only has a single Warp Pipe allowing Mario to skip to World 5, and the other Warp Zone is reached by climbing a beanstalk that grows from a hidden ? block and takes the player up to an area with Warp Pipes leading to World 6, World 7, and World 8 respectively.
The game features a score, which is contributed to by earning points from performing various actions, such as collecting a coin or defeating an enemy. This does not directly affect the gameplay, although the top score is displayed on the title screen, under the 1 Player Game and 2 Player Game menu options. A top score is the highest score earned upon either clearing the game or earning a Game Over, as the score is reset in either instance. Super Mario Bros. does not have a save battery, so turning off the game erases the top score. In the sequence of defeating several enemies in a row, either from jumping on them without touching the ground or using a Koopa Shell, a succession of points are earned for each enemy hit, then 1-ups once enough have been hit. The sequence of points earned differs when jumping from enemies or hitting them with a Koopa Shell.
After completing the game once, the player unlocks the Hard Mode which, as the name suggests, has changes that increase the difficulty, such as all Little Goombas being replaced with Buzzy Beetles.
A second player can join in, in which case their playable character is Luigi, like in the Mario Bros. arcade game, while the first player continues playing as Mario. A difference from Mario Bros. is that the two-player mode is turn-based, so if either character loses a life or completes a level, the other player has their turn. Luigi is no different than Mario in terms of gameplay.
Power-ups
- 1-Up Mushroom - Collecting one gives Mario an extra life.
- Fire Flower - Touching one changes the color of Mario's outfit and gives him the ability to throw fireballs.
- Magic Mushroom - Mario grows double his size, turning him into Super Mario, and can break bricks above him.
- Starman - A rare power-up that grants Mario temporary invincibility to most hazards, and enables him to defeat most enemies on contact. Most appear from concealed or otherwise invisible blocks.
Release
Super Mario Bros. was first released in Japan for the Family Computer on September 13, 1985, and was also a launch title in other regions for the system's overseas counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, having first been released in North America on October 18, 1985, then in Europe on May 15, 1987, and in Australia some time that same year.
The original North American release date for Super Mario Bros., while consistently acknowledged as October 18, 1985 by Nintendo, has been a subject of debate, including whether it was a launch title. Two publications, specifically The Ultimate History of Video Games and Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, state that Super Mario Bros. was instead released in 1986, with the latter even stating that it was not a part of the New York City launch in 1985. The United States Copyright Office lists Super Mario Bros.'s instruction booklet as having a publication date of October 31, 1985.[1] An article from Ed Semrad in the October 5, 1985 issue of The Milwaukee Journal as well as a Macy's advertisement from November 1985 both list Super Mario Bros. as being a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
In North America, Super Mario Bros. was re-released for two compilations on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The first one, released in 1988, was included with Duck Hunt on the compilation cartridge 2-in-1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, packaged with the NES Action Set. The second compilation, 3-in-1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet, was packaged with the NES Power Set and released in 1990. It retains both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt from the first compilation, and has also added World Class Track Meet.
In 1992, a different compilation was released in Europe, Super Mario Bros./Tetris/Nintendo World Cup, which instead includes Super Mario Bros. on the same cartridge as Tetris and Nintendo World Cup. It was sold either by itself or with the NES-101.
Gallery
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Title screen
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | スーパーマリオブラザーズ Sūpā Mario Burazāzu スーパーマリオブラザーズ1[2] Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Wan |
Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 1 |
| Chinese (simplified) | 超级马力欧兄弟 Chāojí Mǎlì'ōu Xiōngdì |
Super Mario Bros. |
| Chinese (traditional) | 超級瑪利歐兄弟 Chāojí Mǎlì'ōu Xiōngdì |
Super Mario Bros. |
| Korean | 슈퍼 마리오브라더스 Syupeo Malio Beuladeoseu |
Super Mario Bros. |
References
- ^ United States Copyright Office record (archive.is)
- ^ (November 13, 2020). 『ゲーム＆ウオッチ スーパーマリオブラザーズ』は本日発売。知っているとより楽しめる、”あそびのヒント”をご紹介。 Nintendo. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
- Super Mario Bros.
- Mario games
- Super Mario series
- Major Nintendo games
- Launch titles
- Nintendo Entertainment System games
- Family Computer Disk System games
- Game Boy Advance games
- Virtual Console games (Wii, NES)
- Virtual Console games (Nintendo 3DS, NES)
- Virtual Console games (Wii U, NES)
- Nintendo Switch Online (NES) games
- Platforming games
- 1985 games
- 1987 games
- Games developed by Nintendo
- Games published by Nintendo
