Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros (Japanese スーパーマリオブラザーズ, Sūpā Mario Burazāzu) is a platform video game by the Japanese company Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 13, 1985 for the Famicom home console. By 1987, the game was also released in the West for the Famicom's counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The player takes on the role of Mario the plumber, who must overcome obstacles and defeat enemies to free Princess Toadstool from the clutches of King Koopa. To do this, Mario runs and jumps through the game world, which is presented in two-dimensional side view. Unlike its predecessors, Mario Bros (Arcade, 1983) and Donkey Kong (Arcade, 1981), the gameplay does not take place in a rigid section of the screen. Instead, the game uses side-scrolling.

Super Mario Bros. was created under the direction of Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Donkey Kong, and Takashi Tezuka. The game's music was composed by Kōji Kondō. The game was one of the last modular games for the Famicom. It was developed within eight months in parallel with The Legend of Zelda (FDS, 1986).

Super Mario Bros. is one of the most influential video games of all time. It has had a major impact on the platforming genre and has served as an inspiration to many game developers. At the time of its release, as well as for the most part in retrospect, the trade press gave positive reviews to almost all elements of the game, especially the gameplay and the design of the game's sections. With approximately 40 million units sold, Super Mario Bros. was the best-selling video game for decades. Its release allowed Nintendo to revitalize the North American video game market with the NES after a period of economic stagnation. Nintendo has adapted, remade, or re-released the game that started the successful Super Mario series several times for other consoles.

Game description

Backstory

One day, the Mushroom Kingdom was occupied by the Koopa, a tribe of turtles who can use powerful dark magic. Their magic was used to turn all the inhabitants of the kingdom into inanimate objects such as stones, bricks, and even horsehair, signifying the kingdom's demise. Only Princess Peach can reverse the spell and bring her people back to life, but she is held captive by Bowser himself. Italian plumber Mario learns of the princess' plight and sets out through 32 levels to overthrow the turtle tribe and save the once peaceful kingdom.

Game principle

Super Mario Bros. is divided into eight worlds, each of which contains four sections of gameplay. Mario (or his brother Luigi in the case of a second player) must complete the level by jumping over various gaps and avoiding enemies. Mario can use several platforms (some of which collapse when Mario lands on them), stairs in the level, as well as trampolines. There are also warp tubes along the way, some of which Mario can enter to visit various secret coin rooms before returning to the level a little further ahead than when he left.

Enemies include Gumbas, Koopas, Beetles, Parakoopas, Bullet Willis, Hammer Brothers, and Jumping Cheep Cheeps. All of these enemies can be defeated if Mario jumps on them. Koopa Troopas and Beetles hide in their shells when the player jumps on them, and Mario can kick them to defeat other enemies. Parakoopas lose their wings and fall to the ground when Mario jumps on them. Other enemies include Piranha Plants and the Stachi-throwing Lakitu, and Mario must either shoot fireballs at them or simply avoid them. There are two levels that take place underwater. Mario can swim freely from top to bottom in the water. The enemies in underwater levels are Bloopers and Cheep-cheeps. Mario can only defeat these creatures by shooting them with fireballs.

If regular Mario takes a hit, falls into a pit, or runs out of time, he loses a life and restarts the level. The point at which Mario continues depends on how far he ran through the level before being defeated. Either from the beginning, or at one of several invisible "checkpoints" throughout the level. If Mario's life count drops to zero, the game ends and Mario must start his journey all over again. However, after a game ends, if the player presses the Start button while holding down the A button on the title screen, the player can continue at the beginning of the last world reached. In a 2-player game, both players start in the same world where the second player's game ended. Luigi's turn begins when Mario loses a life. Luigi has no special abilities in the game that are different from Mario's.

Mario can get special power-ups from question mark blocks or occasionally stone blocks. Most of the 'blocks where Mario finds these items are visible, but some are hidden and only become visible when Mario hits them from below. With the Super Mushroom, he transforms into Super Mario. As Super Mario, he can survive hitting an enemy once, but transforms back into regular Mario. He can also destroy empty brick blocks by jumping underneath them. Additionally, he can also get the fire flower. With the Fire Flower, Super Mario transforms into Fire Mario so he can shoot fireballs at enemies to defeat them from a distance. The 1-up mushroom gives him an extra life. He can also get an extra life by collecting a hundred coins. With the Super Star, which can only be found in stone blocks, Mario becomes invincible for a short time and can defeat enemies by simply touching them.

At the end of each level is a castle with a goal post nearby. When Mario reaches the goal post, he takes down the enemy flag and enters the castle to finish the level. The higher the point Mario hits the goal post, the more points he gets.

The fourth level of each world takes place in a castle. They are usually filled with Fire Sticks and Hotheads. At the end of a castle level, Mario is confronted with a fake Bowser in worlds 1 through 7, and the actual Bowser in world 8. Mario and Luigi usually have no way to hurt the fake Bowsers or the actual Bowser, and must both use the axe to destroy the bridge and send Bowser into the lava, or defeat him with fireballs (which brings out the real faces of the fakes). After Mario defeats an imposter, he frees one of the seven remaining Toads from the castle. At the time of his release, the Toad utters the phrase "Thank you, Mario!", which is considered legendary in the video game world. But our princess is in another castle!" (Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle!). At the end of the castle in World 8, Mario frees the grateful princess and ends his adventure. He has the choice to continue in a "new quest". In this second version of the game, the player can choose a world and repeat some levels, or play through the 32 levels in a modified form. All gumbas are replaced with beetles, all ground enemies are also significantly faster, some platforms and elevator-style lifts are shorter, and the level design has been slightly changed for some levels.

Control

• Control pad (left & right): Move; change the position on a tendril
• Control pad (bottom): duck; enter a warp tube
• Control pad (top & bottom): climb a vine
• A button: jump; swim upwards
• B button: sprint; throw fireballs; restart the game at the end; select world
• Start button: Pause; confirm selected options on title screen
• Select button: Select the number of players on the title screen.

Characters

Playable

• Mario: He is the hero of the story and a plumber by profession. He can jump high and throw fireballs with the help of the fire flower. He wears brown clothes and red overalls.
• Luigi: Mario's younger brother and partner in plumbing. He has the same abilities as Mario. To distinguish him from his brother, his clothes are green and his overalls are white.

Not playable

• Princess Peach: The monarch of the kingdom. She is the only one capable of reversing Bowser's spell.
• Toad: Small creatures with a mushroom-like hat. They are seven in number and have been captured by Bowser.

Opponents

• Blooper: Octopus-like enemies that live underwater. Their tactic is to chase Mario in the water.
• Kugelwilli: Rockets with eyes and arms. They are either fired by Willi blasters or appear by themselves.
• Beetles: Small turtles with a dark blue shell. They act the same as Koopas, except that they are immune to fireballs.
• Cheep-Cheep: A spherical fish. The red ones are faster than the grey ones. In two levels they can also jump.
• Fire Stick: Consisting of several fireballs, they move clockwise or counterclockwise. Their length varies.
• Hammer Brother: Armored Koopas that throw hammers and jump in between.
• Parakoopa: Koopas with wings. The red ones hover above the ground, the green ones jump around.
• Koopa: Bowser's turtle-like soldiers. When you jump on them, they crawl into their shell. The red ones turn back when they hit a pit.
• Lakitu: These special Koopas wear goggles and throw an infinite number of Stachi eggs from their cloud.
• Gumba: A mushroom-like enemy and traitor to the Mushroom Kingdom. He does not turn back before a pit.
• Hothead: Fireball-like guardian of the fortresses. They jump out of the lava to harm Mario.
• Stachi: Lakitus' spiky pet. Because of its spikes, it can only be defeated with fireballs.
• Piranha Plant: Carnivorous plant that lives in tubes. They won't come out if Mario is standing directly on or next to the tube.

Bosses

• Fake Bowser: Enemy who disguises himself as Bowser. Use five fireballs to defeat him and reveal his true form.
• Bowser: King of the Koopas and kidnapper of the princess. He breathes fire and can throw hammers.

Items

Power-Ups

• Super Mushroom: A yellow-red mushroom. Turns Mario into Super Mario.
• Coin: Most common item in the game. If Mario collects 100 of them, he gets an extra life.
• Fire Flower: Turns Super Mario into Fire Mario.
• Super Star: Makes Mario invulnerable for a short time. Resembles a star with eyes.
• 1-Up Mushroom: A yellow-green mushroom. With this, Mario gets an extra life. Most of the time they are hidden.

World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. on a Famicom


The gamepad of the NES; on the left the directional pad, on the right the action buttons


Takashi Tezuka, Shigeru Miyamoto and Kōji Kondō at the Super Mario 30th Anniversary Festival in Shibuya, Tokyo on September 13, 2015.

Publication

Publication in Japan

Before its release, Super Mario Bros. was little known within Nintendo. For example, Masayuki Uemura, the Famicom's chief developer, and Hiroshi Imanishi, the company's director of administration, knew nothing about the game. In contrast, Miyamoto showed the game to company president Yamauchi and his former mentor Yokoi during the prototype phase. Both Yamauchi and Yokoi reacted positively to the game.

Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan on September 13, 1985 for the Famicom. Immediately after its launch, the game received little attention from the video game market and initially spread mainly by word of mouth. Shortly thereafter, the game's popularity increased, especially among children, due to positive reviews in the Japanese press. The game's commercials were "poorly made and put little emphasis on the game" ("[they] were rather poorly made and put little emphasis on the game"). The Japanese launch of the game benefited from the fact that few games with lasting positive impressions had been released in 1985. In addition, most Famicom releases of the year offered simple technology and familiar concepts. At the same time, however, more technically sophisticated titles than Super Mario Bros. were released. By the end of the year, the game's distribution had picked up sharply. It was very popular with both children and adults, and sold out at many retailers.

From the end of 1985, Nintendo also distributed the game as a bundle offer together with the Famicom console. This made it an important reason to buy the Famicom.

Western market launch

Nintendo of America (NoA) decided to launch the Famicom in North America in 1985 under the name "Nintendo Entertainment System". The NoA president at the time, Minoru Arakawa, commissioned the company's game reviewer, Howard Phillips, to select those titles from the Famicom's gaming repertoire that would also be released in North America. Phillips determined 16 games, including Super Mario Bros. , which he selected as the flagship title for the NES's American launch.

NoA released the NES in New York City in late 1985 as part of a test market launch; the console was not available throughout North America until late 1986. Whether Super Mario Bros. was available at the first test releases or only at the national launch is not known. Nintendo itself gives a North American release date of October 18, 1985. The company launched an advertising campaign for the game, which eventually convinced many customers in North America to buy the NES. "Once kids tried Super Mario Bros, Nintendo was put on Christmas lists," reported journalist David Sheff in 1993.

To introduce the NES and its flagship game Super Mario Bros. to a wider audience before its national launch, an arcade port of the game was released in North America and presumably Europe in early 1986.

Since Europe and Australia did not have their own Nintendo subsidiaries at the time, independent local distributors were responsible for releasing Super Mario Bros. in those markets. In European countries, the game was available from June 1986 or September 1987; the latter date applied to Germany, France and the United Kingdom, among others. The response to Super Mario Bros. from the European gaming market, which was mainly dominated by home computers, was rather muted. Its technology did not convince the European market, but its gameplay did.

In North America, Super Mario Bros. was available as a standalone module and as part of the NES Control Deck and Nintendo Action Set console bundles. Later, Nintendo also distributed the game in the form of multi-modules. For example, a 2-in-1 module containing Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt (NES, 1984) was available from 1988, and was later followed by a 3-in-1 module containing the game World Class Track Meet (NES, 1988) in addition to those two titles. In 1990, the Nintendo World Championships 1990 multimodule was released, which included Super Mario Bros. , Rad Racer (NES, 1987) and Tetris (NES, 1989) and is considered one of the rarest video games. In 1991, the Super Mario Bros./Tetris/Nintendo World Cup multimodule was released in Europe.

Global sales figures

The Japanese video game organization Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association announced in 2002 that Super Mario Bros. had sold a total of about 6.81 million copies in Japan. The exact worldwide sales figures of the game, on the other hand, were unclear for a long time. In 1989, Nintendo spoke of 70 million sales in a Japanese brochure. In 1991, the company lowered that estimate to 50 million in an official American game guide. In 2001, Kent wrote that the game had sold 30 million copies, and in 2004, video game journalist Chris Kohler spoke of "well past" 20 million sales.

In 2010, to mark the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros, Nintendo announced that it had sold over 40 million copies of the title worldwide. This made it the best-selling console video game for two decades until Wii Sports (Wii, 2006) surpassed this achievement.

In Japan, Super Mario Bros. was released on September 13, 1985 for the Famicom.