Super Mario Bros. (1985) Review


     All four of my grandparents were always very loving.  They have all passed to the other side which means all I have now are their spirits and memories inside my heart.  One of the memories of my mother’s parents was all of the dinners they made for us as at times my family struggled to get by.  One of my most cherished memories of going to their home was playing their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which my grandmother noted that I played with the most out of all of her grandchildren.  Eventually I was the only one playing their NES, and my grandma had finally decided to let me take it home for keeps as the loving grandmother she always was.  The Game I played most was Super Mario Bros 3, however they also had the first Super Mario Bros and which I will be focusing on today.

     Super Mario Bros. was bundled with the NES during its debut in my birth-year, 1985.  It has been noted as the best selling video game of all time and was a game that helped sell millions of NES consoles.  The resales of the NES continue today, not to forget about the new miniature NES Classic Edition that become sold out everywhere!  The game was the first smooth-scrolling platform game, as each screen didn't need to be individually loaded.  The entire level was one smooth experience which I played many times as a child, even though not as much as SMB3.
video games nes luigi smb GIF

      It was the same old story that the princess had been kidnapped by the evil King Koopa who was later referred to as Bowser in the Mario series.  It was Mario with the option of his brother Luigi in the 2-player-mode to rescue her.  All you had to remember was the d-pad to move and only two action buttons, A to jump and holding B to run.  There were two powerups, a mushroom which made Mario/Luigi taller and stronger, allowing them to take a second hit before losing a life, and a fire flower which gave them the ability to shoot flaming balls at enemies.  The fire flower was definitely the best part of defeating each enemy, but for many was short lasted as flying turtles and spiky enemies falling from a cloud riding enemy became hard to dodge.

     There were 8 challenging worlds, stomping on enemies as they pass through, and battling King Koopa at the end of each.  Reaching the end of each level simply proved your skill of the game, even if the player was rarely let down by the controls.  It is also very important to be absolutely accurate among each pixel, especially in jumping from one ledge to another... it takes the proper skill to be accomplished.  While Mario ends up in a bottomless pit, for the most part, the controls do as they're told and are extremely accurate with no delay... unless you are playing it on a new big screen TV of course in which you will experience some delay.  Make sure your big screen is on Game Mode for the closest accuracy!
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      Super Mario Bros. is over three decades old and while certain other gaming companies have had some success with their own gaming mascots in similar ways, this was the game which set the pace for the industry.  All that any developer could do was follow, and hope to be almost as good.  Even with the most successful of these attempts, coming back to play Super Mario Bros. is still just as much fun as ever, and truly makes you appreciate how games were designed in the past and how they should always be made in the future.  The colours were bright and crisp, there was never any slowdown, and the animations were quirky and inspired.  The sound effects are absolutely unforgettable, from the stomping on Goombas' heads to the sound of coins being pumped out of bricks.  And of course the Super Mario Bros. theme!

  This adventure is an absolute must for any gamer's video game collection and while it was too early to show the NES's full capacities, it still deserves a very good rating of 4.5 stars our of 5!  I will always be thanking my grandma for giving me such a cherished gift as a child, rest peacefully my lovely grandmother.  💓

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Source:

Compared notes with IGN
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2007/03/06/super-mario-bros-vc-review

images:

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