Miyamoto andTakashi Tezuka designedSuper Mario Bros. as a culmination of the team's experience working onDevil World and the side-scrollersExcitebike andKung Fu. Miyamoto wanted to create a more colorful platform game with a scrolling screen and larger characters.[2] The team designed the first level,World 1-1, as atutorial for platform gameplay.Koji Kondo's soundtrack is one of the earliest in video games, making music a centerpiece of the design.
Super Mario Bros. was released in September 1985 in Japan for the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES. Following a US test market release for the NES, it was converted to internationalarcades on theNintendo VS. System in early 1986. The NES version was released in North America that year and inPAL regions in 1987. It has been rereleased on most Nintendo systems.
Mario wields aFire Flower, allowing him to attack enemies with fireballs. To the left of Mario is aStarman, which grants him temporary invincibility.
Super Mario Bros. is aplatform game in which the player controls the titular protagonistMario, who is tasked with exploring the Mushroom Kingdom to defeatBowser and rescuePrincess Toadstool. His brother,Luigi, is controlled by the second player inmultiplayer mode and assumes the same plot role and functionality as Mario.[3]: 7 The game takes place through aside-scrolling perspective where the player moves to the right to reach the flagpole at the end of eachlevel.
The Mushroom Kingdom includes coins for Mario to collect and special bricks marked with a question mark (?), which when hit from below by Mario may reveal more coins or a specialitem. Other "secret", often invisible, bricks may contain more coins or rare items. If the player gains aSuper Mushroom, Mario grows to double his size and gains the ability to break bricks above him. The item protects Mario from a single instance of damage inflicted by an enemy or hazard, though falling off the map will always kill Mario. Players start with a certain number oflives and may gainextra lives by picking up green spotted 1-Up Mushrooms hidden in bricks, collecting 100 coins, defeating several enemies in a row with a Koopa shell, or bouncing on enemies successively without touching the ground. The player may also spawn hidden bricks with lives by collecting every coin in the previous world's third level, or by warping there.[4] Mario loses a life if he takes damage while small, falls off the screen, or runs out of time. The game ends when the player runs out of lives, although holding the "A" button can be used on the game over screen to respawn from the first level of the world in which the player died.[5]
Mario's primary attack is jumping onto enemies, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, aGoomba will flatten and be defeated,[3]: 12 while aKoopa Troopa will temporarily retract into its shell, allowing Mario to use it as a projectile.[3]: 11 These shells may be deflected off a wall to defeat other enemies, though they can also bounce back against Mario, which will damage him.[3]: 19 Other enemies, such as underwater foes and enemies with spiked tops, cannot be jumped on and damage the player instead. Mario can also defeat enemies above him by jumping to hit the brick that the enemy is standing on. Mario may also acquire theFire Flower from certain "?" blocks that when picked up changes the color of Super Mario's outfit and allows him to throw fireballs. A less common item is theStarman, which often appears when Mario hits certain concealed or otherwise invisible blocks. This item grants Mario temporary invincibility from all minor dangers.[3]: 10
The game consists of eight worlds, each with four sub-levels or stages.[6][3]: 7 Underwater stages contain unique aquatic enemies. Bonuses and secret areas include more coins, or warp pipes that allow Mario to skip directly to later worlds. The final stage of each world is in a fiery underground castle where Bowser is fought on asuspension bridge above lava; the first seven of these Bowsers are actually minions disguised as him, and the real Bowser is in the eighth world. Bowser and his decoys are defeated by jumping over them or running under them while they are jumping and reaching the axe on the end of the bridge, or with fireballs. After completing the game once, the player is rewarded with the ability to replay with increased difficulty, such as all Goombas replaced with Buzzy Beetles, enemies similar to Koopa Troopas who cannot be defeated using the Fire Flower.[7]
In the Mushroom Kingdom, a tribe of turtle-likeKoopa Troopas invade the kingdom and uses the magic of their kingBowser to turn the Mushroom People into inanimate objects such as bricks, stones, and horsehair plants. Bowser and his army also kidnapPrincess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, the only one with the ability to reverse Bowser's spell. After hearing the news, the brothers set out to save the princess and free the kingdom from Bowser.[3]: 2 They fight Bowser's forces while traversing the Mushroom Kingdom. After each defeat of a decoy Bowser, aToad retainer proclaims, "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!". Finally, they reach Bowser's true stronghold, where they defeat him by throwing fireballs or by dropping him into lava, freeing the princess and saving the Mushroom Kingdom.[9]
Super Mario Bros. was designed byShigeru Miyamoto andTakashi Tezuka of theNintendo Creative Department, and largely programmed by Toshihiko Nakago of SRD, which became a longtime Nintendo partner and later a wholly ownedsubsidiary.[2][10] The originalMario Bros., released in 1983, is anarcade platformer that takes place on a single screen with a black background. Miyamoto used the term "athletic games" to refer to what would later be known as platform games. ForSuper Mario Bros., Miyamoto wanted to create a more colorful "athletic game" with ascrolling screen and larger characters.[2]
Development was a culmination of the team's technical knowledge after working on the 1984 gamesDevil World,Excitebike, andKung Fu, along with their desire to further advance the platforming "athletic game" genre they had created with their earlier games.[11] Theside-scrolling gameplay of theracing gameExcitebike and thebeat 'em up gameKung-Fu Master, the latter ported by Miyamoto's team to the NES asKung Fu, were key steps towards Miyamoto's vision of an expansive side-scrolling platformer;[12] in turn,Kung-Fu Master was an adaptation of theJackie Chan filmWheels on Meals (1984).[13] While working onExcitebike andKung Fu, he came up with the concept of a platformer that would have the player "strategize while scrolling sideways" over long distances, have aboveground and underground levels, and have colorful backgrounds rather than black backgrounds.[14]Super Mario Bros. used the fast scrollinggame engine Miyamoto's team had originally developed forExcitebike, which allowed Mario to smoothlyaccelerate from a walk to a run, rather than move at a constant speed like in earlier platformers.[15]Pac-Man creatorToru Iwatani has stated that Miyamoto had told him personally that an earlier scrolling platformer using Iwatani's character,Pac-Land, was an influence onSuper Mario Bros.[16][17]
Miyamoto also wanted to create a game that would be the "final exclamation point" for theROM cartridge format before the forthcomingFamicom Disk System was released.[11] Development forSuper Mario Bros. began in the fall of 1984 at the same time asThe Legend of Zelda,[18] another Famicom game directed and designed by Miyamoto and released in Japan five months later, and the games shared some elements; for instance, the fire bars that appear in theMario castle levels began as objects inZelda.[19]
To have a new game available for the end-of-year shopping season, Nintendo aimed for simplicity.[20] In December 1984, the team created a prototype in which the player moved a 16x32-pixel rectangle around a single screen.[21] Tezuka suggested using Mario after seeing the sales figures ofMario Bros.[18] In February 1985, the team chose the nameSuper Mario Bros. after implementing the Super Mushroompower-up.[22][21] The game initially used a concept in which Mario or Luigi could fly a rocket ship while firing at enemies, but this went unused;[23] the final game's sky-based bonus stages are a remnant of this concept.[11][24] The team found it illogical that Mario was hurt by stomping on turtles inMario Bros. so decided that futureMario games would "definitely have it so that you could jump on turtles all you want".[11] Miyamoto initially imaginedBowser as anox, inspired by the Ox King from theToei Animation filmAlakazam the Great (1960). However, Tezuka decided he looked more like a turtle, and they collaborated to create his final design.[25]
The development ofSuper Mario Bros. is an early example ofspecialization in the video game industry, made possible and necessary by the Famicom's arcade-capable hardware. Miyamoto designed the game world and led a team of seven programmers and artists who turned his ideas into code, sprites, music, and sound effects.[26] Developers of previous hit games joined the team in February 1985, importing many special programming techniques, features, and design refinements such as these: "Donkey Kong's slopes, lifts, conveyor belts, and ladders;Donkey Kong Jr.'s ropes, logs and springs; andMario Bros.'s enemy attacks, enemy movement, frozen platforms and POW Blocks".[27][28]
The team based the level design around a small Mario, intending to later make his size bigger in the final version, but they decided it would be fun to let Mario change his size via apower-up. The early level design was focused on teaching players that mushrooms were distinct from Goombas and would be beneficial to them, so inWorld 1-1, the first mushroom is difficult to avoid if it is released.[29] The use of mushrooms to change size was influenced byJapanese folktales in which people wander into forests and eat magical mushrooms; this also resulted in the game world being named the "Mushroom Kingdom". The team had Mario begin levels as small Mario to make obtaining a mushroom more gratifying.[22] Miyamoto explained: "When we made the prototype of the big Mario, we did not feel he was big enough. So, we came up with the idea of showing the smaller Mario first, who could be made bigger later in the game; then players could see and feel that he was bigger."[30] Miyamoto denied rumors that developers implemented a small Mario after a bug caused only his upper half to appear.[22] Miyamoto said the shell-kicking 1-up trick was carefully tested, but "people turned out to be a lot better at pulling the trick off for ages on end than we thought".[11] Other features, such as blocks containing multiple coins, were inspired by programming glitches.[30]
Super Mario Bros. was developed for a cartridge with 256 kilobits (32KiB) of program code and data and 64 kilobits (8KiB) of sprite and background graphics.[27] Due to this storage limitation, the designers happily considered their aggressive search for space-saving opportunities to be akin to their own fun television game show competition.[27] For instance, clouds and bushes in the game's backgrounds use that same sprite recolored,[19] and background tiles are generated via an automatic algorithm.[31] Around July 1985, development time was extended to 3–4 weeks to adjust and fix memory bugs.[32] Sound effects were also recycled; the sound when Mario is damaged is the same as when he enters a pipe, and Mario jumping on an enemy is the same sound as each stroke when swimming.[20] After completing the game, the development team decided that they should introduce players with a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy rather than beginning the game with Koopa Troopas. By this point, the project had nearly run out of memory, so the designers created the Goombas by making a single static image and flipping it back and forth to save space while creating a convincing character animation.[33] After the addition of the game's music, around 20 bytes of open cartridge space remained. Miyamoto used this remaining space to add a sprite of acrown into the game, which would appear in the player's life counter as a reward for obtaining at least 10 lives.[27] After filling up left-over space, the game was released to manufacturing in August 1985.[34]
During thethird generation of video game consoles, tutorials on gameplay were rare. Instead,level design teaches players how a video game works. The opening section ofSuper Mario Bros. was therefore specifically designed in such a way that players would be forced to explore the mechanics of the game to be able to advance. Rather than confront the newly oriented player with obstacles, the first level ofSuper Mario Bros. lays down the variety of in-game hazards by means of repetition, iteration, and escalation.[35] The level was finished around July 1985, when development time was furthered by 3–4 weeks to finish the rest of the game.[32] In an interview withEurogamer, Miyamoto explained that he created World 1-1 to contain everything a player needs to "gradually and naturally understand what they're doing", so that they can quickly understand how the game works. According to Miyamoto, once players understand the mechanics of the game, they can play more freely and it becomes "their game".[36][37]
Nintendo sound designerKoji Kondo created the six-track score and all sound effects.[38] At the time he was composing, video game music was mostly meant to attract attention, not necessarily to enhance or conform to the game. Kondo's work onSuper Mario Bros. was one of the major forces in the shift towards music becoming an integral and participatory part of video games.[39] Kondo had two specific goals for his music: "to convey an unambiguous sonic image of the game world", and "to enhance the emotional and physical experience of the gamer".[39]
The music ofSuper Mario Bros. is coordinated with the onscreen animations of the various sprites, which was one way which Kondo created a sense of greater immersion. Kondo was not the first to do this in a video game, for instance,Space Invaders features a simple song that gets faster as the aliens speed up, eliciting a sense of stress and impending doom which matches the increasing challenge of the game.[40][41] Unlike most games at the time, for which composers were hired later in the process to add music to a nearly finished game, Kondo was a part of the development team almost from the beginning of production, working in tandem with the rest of the team to create the game's soundtrack. Kondo's compositions were largely influenced by the game's gameplay, intending for it to "heighten the feeling" of how the game controls.[42]
Before composition began, a prototype of the game was presented to Kondo in December 1984, so that he could get an idea of Mario's general environment and revolve the music around it.[21] Kondo wrote the score with the help of a small piano to create appropriate melodies to fit the game's environments. After the development of the game showed progress, Kondo began to feel that his music did not quite fit the pace of the game, thus he increased the songs'tempos.[43] The music was further adjusted based on the expectations and feedback of Nintendo'splaytesters.[44]
Kondo later composed new music for theSuper Mario Bros. snow, desert, and forest level themes that appeared in the 2019 level-creator gameSuper Mario Maker 2.[45]
Release
Super Mario Bros. was first released in Japan on September 13, 1985, for theFamily Computer (Famicom).[46] It was released later that year in North America for theNintendo Entertainment System (NES).[47][48] Its exact North American release date is debated; though most sources report it was released in October 1985 as alaunch game, when the NES had a limited release in the US, several sources suggest it was released between November 1985 and early 1986.[47]
Thearcade port for theNintendo VS. System debuted in London in January 1986,[49][50] and was released in other countries in February 1986.[51] It is the first version ofSuper Mario Bros. to receive a wide international release,[52] and many outside of Japan were introduced to the game through the arcade version.[52][53][49] The NES version received a wide North American release later that year, followed by Europe on May 15, 1987.[citation needed]
In 1988,Super Mario Bros. was re-released along with thelight gun shooting range gameDuck Hunt as part of a singleROM cartridge, which came packaged with the NES as a pack-in game, as part of the console'sAction Set bundle. Millions of copies of this version of the game were manufactured and sold in the United States.[54][55][56] In 1990, another cartridge, touting those two games andWorld Class Track Meet, was released in North America as part of the NESPower Set bundle.[57] It was released on May 15, 1987, in Europe, and during that year in Australia.[58] In 1988, the game was re-released in Europe in a cartridge containing the game plusTetris andNintendo World Cup. The compilation was sold alone or bundled with therevised version of the NES.[citation needed]
Ports and re-releases
Super Mario Bros. has been ported and re-released several times. A port to theFamicom Disk System, Nintendo's proprietaryfloppy disk drive, was released only in Japan on February 21, 1986.[47][59]
VS. Super Mario Bros.
TheVs. Super Mario Bros arcade cabinet
VS. Super Mario Bros. is a 1986 arcade adaptation ofSuper Mario Bros (1985), released on the Nintendo VS. System and the Nintendo VS. Unisystem (and its variant, Nintendo VS. Dualsystem). Existing levels were made much more difficult, with narrower platforms, more dangerous enemies, fewer hidden power-ups, and 200 coins needed for an extra life instead of 100. Several of the new levels went on to be featured in the Japanese sequel,Super Mario Bros. 2.[60]
The arcade version was not officially released in Japan. Illegalcoin-op versions made from a Famicom console placed inside anarcade cabinet became available in Japanese arcades by January 1986. Nintendo threatened legal action or prosecution (such as a fine or threatening a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison) against Japanese arcade operators with coin-op versions of the game.[61][62] Japanese arcade operators were still able to access illegal coin-op versions through 1987.[63]
Outside of Japan,Vs. Super Mario Bros. was officially released for arcades in overseas markets during early 1986, becoming the first version of the game to get a wide international release.[52] The arcade game debuted at the 1986Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) show in London,[49] held in January 1986;[50] this was the first appearance ofSuper Mario Bros. in Europe.[49] The arcade game then received a wide international release for overseas markets outside of Japan in February 1986,[51] initially in the form of aROM software conversion kit.[62] In North America, the game was featured in an official contest during the ACME convention in Chicago, held in March 1986, becoming a popular attraction at the show.[64] It soon drew a loyal following across North American arcades,[52] and appeared as the eighth top-grossing arcade video game on the USPlay Meter arcade charts in May 1986.[65] It went on to sell 20,000 arcade units within a few months, becoming the bestselling Nintendo VS. System release,[53][66] with each unit consistently earning an average of more than $200 per week.[53] It became the thirteenth highest-grossing arcade game of 1986 in the United States according to the annualRePlay arcade chart, which was topped bySega'sHang-On.[67] In Europe, it became a very popular arcade game in 1986.[68] The arcade version introducedSuper Mario Bros. to many players who did not own a Nintendo Entertainment System.[53]
The arcade version was re-released in emulation for theNintendo Switch byHamster Corporation via itsArcade Archives collection on December 22, 2017.[69][70] Playing that release, Chris Kohler ofKotaku called the game's intense difficulty "The meanest trick Nintendo ever played".[71]
Super Mario Bros. Special
A remake of the game titledSuper Mario Bros. Special developed byHudson Soft was released in Japan in 1986 for theNEC PC-8801 andSharp X1 personal computers. Though featuring similar controls and graphics, the game lacks screen scrolling due to hardware limitations, has different level designs and new items, and new enemies based onMario Bros. andDonkey Kong.[60]
Several modified variants of the game have been released, many of which areROM hacks of the original NES game.[citation needed]
On November 11, 2010, a special red variant of theWii containing a pre-downloaded version of the game was released in Japan and Australia to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Several graphical changes include "?" blocks with the number "25" on them.[73][74]
All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.,[c] a promotional, graphically modified version ofSuper Mario Bros., was officially released in Japan in December 1986 for theFamicom Disk System as a promotional item given away by the popular Japanese radio showAll Night Nippon. The game was published byNippon Broadcasting System. The game features graphics based upon the show, with sprites of the enemies, mushroom retainers, and other characters being changed to look like famous Japanese music idols, recording artists, DJs, and other people related toAll Night Nippon.[75] The game makes use of the same slightly upgraded graphics and alternate physics featured in the Japanese release ofSuper Mario Bros. 2. The modern collector market considers it extremely rare, selling for nearly $500, as of 2010[update] (equivalent to $721 in 2024).[73]
Speed Mario Bros.[d][76] is a redux of the originalSuper Mario Bros. with the title changed and the gameplay speed doubled. It was released onUltimate NES Remix on the Nintendo 3DS.[citation needed]
Super Luigi Bros. is a redux of the game, featured withinNES Remix 2, based on a mission inNES Remix. It stars onlyLuigi in a mirrored version of World 1–2, scrolling from left to right, with a higher jump and a slide similar to the JapaneseSuper Mario Bros. 2.[77][78]
Super Mario All-Stars, a compilation game released in 1993 for theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System, features a remade version ofSuper Mario Bros. alongside remakes of several of the otherSuper Mario games released for the NES.[80] Its version ofSuper Mario Bros. has improved graphics and sound to match the SNES's 16-bit capabilities, and minor alterations to some of the game's collision mechanics. The player can save progress, and multiplayer mode swaps players after every level in addition to whenever a player dies.Super Mario All-Stars was also re-released for the Wii as a repackaged 25th anniversary version, featuring the same version of the game, along with a 32-page art book and a compilation CD of music from variousSuper Mario games.[81]
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was released on theGame Boy Color on May 10, 1999, in North America and Europe, and in 2000 in Japan exclusively to theNintendo Power retail service.[82][83] Based on the originalSuper Mario Bros., it features anoverworld level map, simultaneous multiplayer, a Challenge mode in which the player finds hidden objects and achieves a certain score in addition to normally completing the level, and eight additional worlds based on the main worlds of the Japanese 1986 gameSuper Mario Bros. 2. Compared toSuper Mario Bros., the game features a few minor visual upgrades such as water and lava now being animated rather than static, and a smaller screen due to the lower resolution of the Game Boy Color.[84]
Emulation
As one of Nintendo's most popular games,Super Mario Bros. has been re-released and remade numerous times, with every single major Nintendo console up to theNintendo Switch sporting its own port or remake of the game with the exception of theNintendo 64.[60]
In early 2003,Super Mario Bros. was ported to theGame Boy Advance as a part of the Famicom Minis collection in Japan and as a part of the NES Series in the US. This version of the game is emulated, identical to the original game. According to the NPD Group (which tracks game sales in North America), this became the bestselling Game Boy Advance game from June 2004 to December 2004.[85] In 2005, Nintendo re-released this conversion as a part of the game's 20th anniversary; this special edition had approximately 876,000 units sold.[85]
It is one of the 19 unlockable NES games included in theGameCube gameAnimal Crossing, for which it was distributed byFamitsu as a prize for owners ofDobutsu no Mori+; outside of this, the game cannot be unlocked through in-game conventional means, and the only way to access it is through the use of a third-party cheat device such as aGameShark orAction Replay.[86]
Super Mario Bros. is one of the 30 games included with theNES Classic Edition, adedicated video game console.[87] This version allows for the use of suspension points to save in-game progress, and can be played in various different display styles, including its original 4:3 resolution, a "pixel-perfect" resolution and a style emulating the look of a cathode ray tube television.[22]
Virtual Console
The game has been re-released for several of Nintendo's game systems as a part of theirVirtual Console line of emulated classic video game releases. It was first released for theWii on December 2, 2006, in Japan, December 25, 2006, in North America and January 5, 2007, inPAL regions.[88][89] This version of the game is also one of the "trial games" made available in the "Masterpieces" section inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, where it can be demoed for a limited amount of time.[90]
ANintendo 3DS version was initially distributed exclusively to members of Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Program in September 2011. A general release of the game later came through in Japan on January 5, 2012, in North America on February 16, 2012, and in Europe on March 1, 2012. The game was released for theWii U's Virtual Console in Japan on June 5, 2013, followed by Europe on September 12, 2013, and North America on September 19, 2013.[91]
Super Mario Bros. was immensely successful, both commercially and critically. It helped popularize theside-scrolling platform game genre,[96] and served as akiller app for the NES.[97][92] Upon release in Japan,1.2 million copies were sold during its September 1985 release month.[46] Within four months, about3 million copies were sold in Japan,[98][99] grossing more than¥12.2 billion, equivalent to$72 million at the time[100] (which is inflation-adjusted to $210 million in 2024). The success ofSuper Mario Bros. helped increase Famicom sales to6.2 million units by January 1986.[101] By 1987,5 million copies of the game had been sold for the Famicom.[102] Outside of Japan, many were introduced to the game through the arcade version,[52][53][49] which became the bestselling Nintendo VS. System release with 20,000 arcade units sold within a few months in early 1986.[53] In the United States, more than1 million copies of the NES version were sold in 1986,[103] more than4 million by 1988,[104]9.1 million by mid-1989,[105] more than18.7 million by early 1990,[106] nearly19 million by April 1990,[107] and more than20 million by 1991.[108] More than40 million copies of the original NES version had been sold worldwide by 1994,[109] and40.23 million by April 2000, for which it was awarded theGuinness World Record for thebest-selling video game of all time.[110]
Altogether, excluding ports and re-releases, 40.24 million copies of the original NES release have been sold worldwide,[111][112] with 29 million copies sold in North America.[113] Including ports and re-releases, more than58 million units had been sold worldwide.[e] The game was the all-time bestselling game for more than 20 years until its lifetime sales were ultimately surpassed byWii Sports (2006).[117] The game's Wii Virtual Console release was also successful, reaching number 1 by mid-2007,[118] and at an estimated 660,000 units for$3.2 million outside of Japan and Korea in 2009.[115] In August 2021, an anonymous buyer paid$2 million for a never-opened copy ofSuper Mario Bros., according to collectibles siteRally, surpassing the$1.56 million sales record set bySuper Mario 64 the previous month.[119]
Contemporary reviews
Clare Edgeley ofComputer and Video Games gave the arcade version a positive review upon itsATEI 1986 debut. She felt the graphics were simple compared to other arcade games (such as Sega'sSpace Harrier at the same ATEI show), but was surprised at the depth of gameplay, including its length, number of hidden secrets, and the high degree of dexterity it required. She predicted that the game would be a major success.[49] In the fall of 1986,Top Score newsletter reviewedVs. Super Mario Bros. for arcades, calling it "without a doubt one of the best games" of the year and stating that it combined "a variety of proven play concepts" with "a number of new twists" to the gameplay.[120] The arcade game received the award for the "Best Video Game of 1986" at theAmusement Players Association's Players Choice Awards, held during their first USnational competition in January 1987 where the game was popular among arcade players.[95][53]
Reviewing the NES version, the "Video Game Update" segment ofComputer Entertainer magazine in June 1986 praised the "cute and comical" graphics, lively music and most of all its depth of play, including the amount of hidden surprises and discoveries. The review said it was worthy of "a spot in the hall of fame reserved for truly addictive action games" and was a "must-have" NES game.[121][122] By that September, teenage videogame journalistRawson Stovall declared in his syndicated column, "[The game's universe and plot] elements...[help] develop [a] special style that makes [playing it] a must."[123]Top Score also reviewed the NES version in early 1987, noting that it is mostly the same as the arcade version and stating that it was "a near-perfect game" with simple play mechanics, "hundreds of incentives" and hidden surprises, an "ever-changing" environment, colorful graphics and "skillfully blended" music.[52]
The Games Machine reviewed the NES version upon its European release in 1987, calling it "a great and playable game" with praise for the gameplay, which it notes is simple to understand without needing to read the manual and has alternate routes for problems that can occasionally be frustrating but rewarding, while also praising the "splendid" graphics and sound.[94] In 1989,ACE called it the "undisputed king of cutesy platform-style arcade adventures" and that the "game is crammed with secret levels, 'warps' and hidden treats such that you never tire of playing it". They listed it as the best NES game available in Europe.[92]Computer and Video Games said this "platform/arcade adventure" is one of "the all-time classic video games" with "a multitude of hidden bonuses, secret warps and mystery screens." They said the graphics and sound are "good, but not outstanding, but it's the utterly addictive gameplay which makes this one of the best games money can buy".[93]
Retrospective critical analysis of the game has been extremely positive, with many touting it as one of thebest video games of all time.[131]Nintendo Power named it the fourth best NES game, describing it as the beginning of the modern era of video games and "Shigeru Miyamoto's masterpiece".[132]Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it first on its list of the "Greatest 200 Games of Their Time".[133]Official Nintendo Magazine also award the game first place in a 2009 list of greatest Nintendo games of all time.[134]IGN included it in its lists of the best 100 games in 2005 and 2007.[135] In 1997,Electronic Gaming Monthly named theAll-Stars version ofSuper Mario Bros. the 37th best game of all time.[136] In 2009,Game Informer namedSuper Mario Bros. the second greatest game of all time, behindThe Legend of Zelda, saying that it "remains a monument to brilliant design and fun gameplay".[137] TheGame Informer staff also ranked it the second best in their 2001 list of the top 100 games.[138] In 2012,G4 rankedSuper Mario Bros. the best video game of all time, citing its revolutionary gameplay and its role in helping recover the North American gaming industry from thevideo game crash of 1983.[139] In 2014,IGN namedSuper Mario Bros. the best Nintendo game, saying it was "the most important Nintendo game ever made".[140]: 9 In 2005,IGN named it the greatest video game of all time.[141] In 2015,The Strong National Museum of Play inductedSuper Mario Bros. to itsWorld Video Game Hall of Fame.[142] In 2017,Polygon ranked it the eighth bestSuper Mario game, crediting it for starting "this franchise's habit of being an exception to so many rules".[143] In 2018,Business Insider named it the second bestSuper Mario game.[144]
Several critics have praised the game for its precise controls, which allow the player to control how high and far Mario or Luigi jumps, and how fast he runs.[88]AllGame gaveSuper Mario Bros. a five-star rating, stating that "[T]he sense of excitement, wonder and – most of all – enjoyment felt upon first playing this masterpiece of videogame can't barely be put into words. And while its sequels have far surpassed it in terms of length, graphics, sound and other aspects,Super Mario Bros., like any classic – whether of a cinematic or musical nature – has withstood the test of time, continuing to be fun and playable" and that any gamer "needs to play this game at least once, if not simply for a history lesson".[7] Reviewing the Virtual Console Release of the game,IGN called it "an absolute must for any gamer's Virtual Console collection."[6] Darren Calvert ofNintendo Life called the game's visuals "unavoidably outdated" compared to newer games, but mused that they were impressive at the time that the game was released.[145]
Game Boy versions
The Game Boy Advance port ofSuper Mario Bros. holds an aggregate score of 84 onMetacritic.[126] Many critics compared the port to previous ports of the game such asSuper Mario Deluxe andSuper Mario All-Stars, noting its seeming lack of brand new content to separate it from the original version of the game. Jeremy Parish of1UP.com called the game "The most fun you'll ever have while being robbed blind", ultimately giving the game a score of 80% and praising its larger-scaling screen compared toDeluxe while greatly criticizing its lack of new features.[146]IGN's Craig Harris labeled the game as a "must-have", but also mused "just don't expect much more than the original NES game repackaged on a tiny GBA cart."[147]GameSpot gave the port a 6.8 out of 10, generally praising the gameplay but musing that the port's graphical and technical differences from the original version of the game "prevent this reissue from being as super as the original game."[148]
The Game Boy Color port of the game also received wide critical appraisal;IGN's Craig Harris gaveSuper Mario Bros. Deluxe a perfect score, praising it as a perfect translation of the NES game. He hoped that it would be the example for other NES games to follow when being ported to the Game Boy Color.[149]GameSpot gave the game a 9.9, hailing it as the "killer app" for the Game Boy Color and praising the controls and the visuals (it was also the highest rated game in the series, later surpassed bySuper Mario Galaxy 2 which holds a perfect 10).[97] Both gave it their Editors' Choice Award.[150][151]Allgame's Colin Williamson praised the porting of the game and the extras, noting the only flaw of the game being that sometimes the camera goes with Mario as he jumps up.[152]Nintendo World Report's Jon Lindemann, in 2009, called it their "(Likely) 1999 NWR Handheld Game of the Year", calling the quality of its porting and offerings undeniable.[153]Nintendo Life gave it a perfect score, noting that it retains the qualities of the original game and the extras.[154]St. Petersburg Times' Robb Guido commented that in this form,Super Mario Bros. "never looked better".[155] TheLakeland Ledger's Nick S. agreed, praising the visuals and the controls.[156] In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port ofSuper Mario Bros. (part of theClassic NES Series) was released, which had none of the extras or unlockables available inSuper Mario Bros. Deluxe. 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.[157]Super Mario Bros. Deluxe ranked third in the bestselling handheld game charts in the U.S. between June 6 and 12, 1999[158] with more than 2.8 million copies in the U.S.[159] It was included onSingapore Airlines flights in 2006.[160] Lindemann notedDeluxe as a notable handheld release in 1999.[161]
The success ofSuper Mario Bros. led to the development of many successors in theSuper Mario series of video games, which in turn form the core of the greaterMario franchise. Two of these sequels,Super Mario Bros. 2 andSuper Mario Bros. 3, were direct sequels to the game and were released for the NES, experiencing similar levels of commercial success. A different sequel, also titledSuper Mario Bros. 2, was released for theFamicom Disk System in 1986 exclusively in Japan and was later released elsewhere under the nameSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The gameplay concepts and elements established inSuper Mario Bros. are prevalent in nearly everySuper Mario game. The series consists of over 15 entries; at least oneSuper Mario game has been released on nearly every Nintendo console to date.Super Mario 64 is widely considered one of the greatest games ever made and is largely credited with revolutionizing the platforming genre of video games and its step from 2D to 3D. The series isone of the bestselling, with more than 310 million units sold worldwide as of September 2015[update].[162] In 2010, Nintendo released special red variants of theWii andNintendo DSi XL consoles in re-packaged, Mario-themed limited edition bundles as part of the 25th anniversary of the game's original release.[163] To celebrate the series' 30th anniversary, Nintendo releasedSuper Mario Maker, a game for theWii U which allows players to create custom platforming stages using assets fromSuper Mario games and in the style ofSuper Mario Bros. along with other styles based around different games in the series.[164]
The game's success helped to push Mario as a worldwidecultural icon; in 1990, a study taken in North America suggested that more children in the United States were familiar with Mario than they were withMickey Mouse, another popular media character.[165] The game's musical score composed by Koji Kondo, particularly the game's "overworld" theme, has also become a prevalent aspect of popular culture, with the latter theme being featured in nearly every singleSuper Mario game.[166] Alongside the NES platform,Super Mario Bros. is often credited for having resurrected thevideo game industry after themarket crash of 1983.[141] In theUnited States Supreme Court caseBrown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, theElectronic Frontier Foundation submitted anamicus brief which supported overturning a law which would have banned violent video games in the state of California. The brief cited social research that declared several games, includingSuper Mario Bros., to contain cartoon violence similar to that of children's programs such asMighty Mouse andRoad Runner that garnered little negative reaction from the public.[167][168]
Because of its status within the video game industry and being an early Nintendo game,mint condition copies ofSuper Mario Bros. have been considered collector's items. In 2019, the auction of a near-mint, sealed box version of the game was sold for just over$100,000, and which is considered to have drawn wider interest in the field ofvideo game collecting.[169] One year later in July 2020, a similar near-mint sealed box copy of the game, from the period when Nintendo was transitioning from sticker-seals to shrinkwrap, was sold for$114,000, at the time the highest price ever for a single video game.[170][171]
Video game developerYuji Naka has citedSuper Mario Bros. as a large inspiration toward the concept for the immensely successful 1991Genesis game,Sonic the Hedgehog; according to Naka, the game was conceived when he was speedrunningWorld 1-1 ofSuper Mario Bros., and considered a platformer based on moving as fast as possible.[172]
The current world record is 4.54.448 seconds,[182] which is 416 milliseconds longer than the theoreticaltool-assisted speedrun time of 4.54.032.[183]
Fan games
Super Mario Bros. inspired severalfangames. In 2009, developer SwingSwing releasedTuper Tario Tros, a game which combines elements ofSuper Mario Bros. withTetris.[184][185]Super Mario Bros. Crossover, a PC fangame developed by Jay Pavlina and released in 2010 as a free browser-based game, is a full recreation ofSuper Mario Bros. that allows the player to alternatively control various other characters from NES games, includingMega Man,Link fromThe Legend of Zelda,Samus Aran fromMetroid, andSimon Belmont fromCastlevania.[186]Mari0, released in December 2012, combines elements of the game with that ofPortal (2007) by giving Mario a portal-making gun with which to teleport through the level,[187] andFull Screen Mario (2013) adds alevel editor.[188] In 2015, game designer Josh Millard releasedEnnuigi, ametafictionalfangame with commentary on the original game which relates to Luigi's inability to come to terms with the game's overall lack of narrative.[189][190][191][192]
TheMinus World (or Negative World or World Negative One) is an unbeatableglitch level present in the original NES release. World 1-2 contains a hiddenwarp zone, with warp pipes that transport the player to worlds 2, 3, and 4, accessed by running over a wall near the exit. If the player is able to exploit a bug that allows Mario to pass through bricks, the player can enter the warp zone by passing through the wall and the pipe to World 2-1 and 4-1 may instead transport the player to an underwater stage labeled "World -1". This stage's map is identical to worlds 2-2 and 7-2, and upon entering the warp pipe at the end, the player is taken back to the start of the level, thus trapping the player in the level until all lives have been lost. Although the level name is shown as " -1" with a leading space on theheads-up display, it is actually World 36-1, with the tile for 36 being shown as a blank space.[195]
The Minus World bug in the Japanese Famicom Disk System version of the game behaves differently and creates multiple, completable stages. "World -1" is an underwater version of World 1-3 with an underwater levelcolor palette and underwater level music and containssprites of Princess Toadstool, Bowser and Hammer Bros. World -2 is an identical copy of World 7-3, and World -3 is a copy of World 4-4 with an underground level color palette and underground level music, and does not loop if the player takes the wrong path, contrary to the original World 4-4. After completing the level,Toad's usual message is displayed, but Toad himself is absent. After completing these levels, the game returns to thetitle screen as if completed, and is now replayable as if in a harder mode, since it is higher than world 8.[172][196] There are hundreds of glitch levels beyond the Minus World (256 worlds are present including the 8 playable ones), which can be accessed in a multitude of ways, such ascheat codes orROM hacking.[197][198]
Other media
TheSuper Mario Bros. series has inspired various media products. In October 1985,Tokuma Shoten published the bookSuper Mario Bros: The Complete Strategy Guide.[199] Its content is partly recycled fromFamily Computer Magazine, plus new content written by Naoto Yamamoto who received no royalties. It is Japan's bestselling book of 1985 at 630,000 copies sold.[200][61] It is also Japan's bestselling book of 1986 with 860,000 copies by January 1986,[201] and a total of1.3 million.Nintendo of America later translated it into English asHow to win at Super Mario Bros. and published it in North America via theNintendo Fun Club and early issues ofNintendo Power magazine.[200]
^"マリオ映画公開記念！宮本茂さんインタビュー 制作の始まりから驚きの設定まで" [Commemorating the release of the Mario movie! Interview with Shigeru Miyamoto From the beginning of production to the surprising setting].Nintendo Dream (in Japanese). April 25, 2023.Archived from the original on April 25, 2023.もともと『マリオブラザーズ』は、土管がいっぱいあるニューヨークの地下で活躍する兄弟、ニューヨークのなかでもたぶんブルックリン、というところまで勝手に決めていて。『ドンキーコング』は舞台がニューヨークですし。その土管が不思議な森（キノコ王国）につながったのが、『スーパーマリオブラザーズ』なんです。[Miyamoto: Originally,Mario Bros. was arbitrarily decided as brothers who are active in the underground of New York, where there are many clay pipes, and probably Brooklyn in New York.Donkey Kong is set in New York. That clay pipe led to the mysterious forest (Mushroom Kingdom), which isSuper Mario Bros.]
^Nintendo (September 13, 1985).Super Mario Bros. Nintendo. Level/area: World 8-4.
^ab"Keeping It Simple".Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary. Nintendo. Archived fromthe original on June 29, 2012. RetrievedOctober 25, 2010.
^O'Donnell, Casey (2012). "This Is Not A Software Industry". In Zackariasson, Peter; Wilson, Timothy L. (eds.).The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future. Routledge.
^abDeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny L. (2004).High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games. Emeryville, California: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. pp. 238–240.ISBN0-07-223172-6.
^abSchartmann, Andrew (2015).Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 30.ISBN978-1-62892-853-2.
^Schartmann, Andrew (2015).Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 31.ISBN978-1-62892-853-2.
^Laroche, G. (2012).Analyzing musical Mario-media: Variations in the music of Super Mario video games (Thesis). McGill University Libraries.ISBN978-0-494-84768-8.ProQuest1251652155. (Order No. MR84768).
^Schartmann, Andrew (2015).Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack. New York: Bloomsbury. p. 33.ISBN978-1-62892-853-2.
^"The Yoke".The Yoke. No. 9–25. Yokohama Association for International Communications and Exchanges. 1985.Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021."Super Mario Brothers" is one of the family computer games which is enjoying huge popularity among the children of Japan. More than three million of these games have been sold.
^"Where every home game turns out to be a winner".The Guardian. March 6, 1986. p. 15.Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021 – viaNewspapers.com.Games cost 4,900 yen each (£19) but are discounted to 3,800 yen (£14.50) in Akihabara and similar shopping areas. Nintendo offers 31 cartridges, with the most popular — Super Mario Bros — selling over three million.
^"Japan Quarterly".Japan Quarterly. Asahi Shinbun. 1986. p. 296.Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021 – viaGoogle Books.Nevertheless, Nintendo can claim among its successes Japan's current game best seller, Super Mario Brothers. Introduced in September 1985, sales of the ¥4,900 game soared to2.5 million copies in just four months, generating revenues of more than¥12.2 billion (about$72 million).
^"Business Week".Business Week. No. 3024–32. Bloomberg L.P. 1987. p. 2.Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021.Nintendo's huge fami-com owner base, where a megahit like Super Mario Bros. can sell5 million copies.
^DeMaria, Rusel; Meston, Zach (1991).Super Mario World Game Secrets.Prima Publishing. p. 6.ISBN978-1-55958-156-1.Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021.Super Mario Bros. featured Mario in a romp through eight delightfully varied worlds, each one jam-packed with action and adventure. The game sold more than one million copies in 1986 alone. (Today, Super Mario Bros. comes packaged with the NES.)
^Schnaars, Steven P. (September 30, 1994).Managing Imitation Strategies.Free Press. p. 181.ISBN978-0-02-928105-5.Archived from the original on March 5, 2022. RetrievedSeptember 24, 2021.In 1986, its first year of sales, Nintendo sold1.1 million NES units, largely on the strength of Super Mario Brothers, a game that eventually sold40 million copies.
^"Getting That "Resort Feel"".Iwata Asks: Wii Sports Resort. Nintendo. p. 4.Archived from the original on September 27, 2016.As it comes free with every Wii console outside Japan, I'm not quite sure if calling it "World Number One" is exactly the right way to describe it, but in any case it's surpassed the record set by Super Mario Bros., which was unbroken for over twenty years.
Peckham, Matt; Eadicicco, Lisa; Fitzpatrick, Alex; Vella, Matt; Patrick Pullen, John; Raab, Josh; Grossman, Lev (August 23, 2016)."The 50 Best Video Games of All Time".TIME.Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. RetrievedAugust 30, 2016.
^"100 Best Games of All Time".Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 100.Ziff Davis. November 1997. pp. 134, 136. Note: Contrary to the title, the intro to the article explicitly states that the list covers console video games only, meaning PC games and arcade games were not eligible.
^"The Secret Minus World".Legends of Localization.Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. RetrievedMarch 14, 2018.American gamers eager for more Mario stuff went bonkers when the above trick got out. Of course, since both the Japanese and American versions of the game are the same, this trick exists in the Japanese version too, and Japanese gamers got a kick out of it, of course. But while American gamers were freaking out about a measly single level that goes on forever, Japanese gamers were going crazy about something much more: a trick to reach 256 different levels!
^Information Bulletin. Public Information Bureau (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). 1986. p. 22.Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2021.The biggest hit so far among the large number of games developed by Nintendo for the Family Computer is "Super Mario Brothers," which involves extinguishing the enemy with beam weapons, points being scored for every enemy toppled. Tokuma Shoten publishing company put out a book explaining the special techniques required to gain high scores and bring additional characters onto the screen in this game last October. By the end of January, it had sold 860,000 copies.
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