is a
platform game developed and published by
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
(NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game ''
Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''
Super Mario
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
'' series, it was first released in 1985 for the
Famicom in Japan. Following a limited US release for the NES, it was ported to international
arcades for the
Nintendo VS. System
The is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversio ...
in early 1986. The NES version received a wide release in North America that year and in
PAL regions
The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used in ...
in 1987.
Players control
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
, or his brother
Luigi in the multiplayer mode, as they traverse the
Mushroom Kingdom to rescue
Princess Toadstool
is a fictional character in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' installment. She is the princess regnant and ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she resides in ...
from King Koopa (later named
Bowser). They traverse
side-scrolling stages while avoiding hazards such as enemies and pits with the aid of
power-up
In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
s such as the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman.
The game was designed by
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...
and
Takashi Tezuka as "a grand culmination" of the Famicom team's three years of game mechanics and programming, drawing from their experiences working on ''
Devil World
is a maze video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released for the Famicom in Japan on October 5, 1984, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Euro ...
'' and the side-scrollers ''
Excitebike
is a motocross racing video game developed and published by Nintendo. In Japan, it was released for the Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades as ''Vs. Excitebike'' for the Nintendo Vs. System later that year. In North America, it was ini ...
'' and ''
Kung Fu'' to advance their previous work on platforming "
athletic games
Athletics is a term encompassing the human competitive sports and games requiring physical skill, and the systems of training that prepare athletes for competition performance. Athletic sports or contests are competitions which are primarily base ...
" such as ''
Donkey Kong'' and ''Mario Bros.'' The design of the first level,
World 1-1, serves as a
tutorial for platform gameplay.
''Super Mario Bros.'' is frequently cited as one of the
greatest video games of all time
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...
, with praise for its precise controls. It is one of the
best-selling games of all time, with more than copies sold worldwide. It is credited alongside the NES as one of the key factors in reviving the video game industry after the
1983 crash, and helped popularize the side-scrolling platform game genre.
Koji Kondo
is a Japanese music composer, pianist, and music director who works for the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his numerous contributions to the '' Super Mario'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' series of video games, among others pr ...
's
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
is one of the earliest and most popular in video games, making music a centerpiece of game design. The game began a
multimedia franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
including a long-running
game series, an
animated television series
An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
, an
animated feature film
These lists of animated feature films compiles animated feature films from around the world and is organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...
, a
live-action feature film and another upcoming
animated feature film
These lists of animated feature films compiles animated feature films from around the world and is organized alphabetically under the year of release (the year the completed film was first released to the public). Theatrical releases as well as ...
. It has been re-released on most Nintendo systems. Mario and ''Super Mario Bros.'' have become prominent in
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
.
Gameplay
In ''Super Mario Bros.'', the player controls
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
, the protagonist of
the series. Mario's brother,
Luigi, is controlled by the second player in the game's
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode and assumes the same plot role and functionality as Mario. The objective is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive the main antagonist Bowser's forces, and save Princess Toadstool.
It is a
side-scrolling platform game where the player moves to the right to reach the flagpole at the end of each level.
The game world 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 special item. Other "secret", often invisible, bricks may contain more coins or rare items. If the player gains a
Super Mushroom
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every major Nintendo vid ...
, Mario grows to double his size and gains the ability to break bricks above him. If Mario gets hit in this mode, then instead of dying he turns back to regular Mario.
Players start with a certain number of
lives and may gain
additional lives by picking up green spotted orange
1-up mushrooms hidden in bricks, or by collecting 100 coins, defeating several enemies in a row with a Koopa shell, or bouncing on enemies successively without touching the ground. Mario loses a life if he takes damage while small, falls in a bottomless pit, or runs out of time. The game ends when the player runs out of lives, although a button input can be used on the game over screen to continue from the first level of the world in which the player died.
Mario's primary attack is jumping on top of enemies, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, a
Goomba will flatten and be defeated,
while a
Koopa Troopa
Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, King of the Koopas, the Koopaling ...
will temporarily retract into its shell, allowing Mario to use it as a projectile.
These shells may be deflected off a wall to destroy other enemies, though they can also bounce back against Mario, which will hurt or kill him.
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 the
Fire Flower
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
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 the
Starman
''StarMan'' is a 1996 fantasy novel by Australian writer Sara Douglass. It follows the second book in the series, '' Enchanter'', with Axis marching north with his army to confront a formidable enemy.
Background
''StarMan'' was first published ...
, which often appears when Mario hits certain concealed or otherwise invisible blocks. This item makes Mario temporarily
invincible to most hazards and capable of defeating enemies on contact.
The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels called "stages" in each world."
The final stage of each world takes place in a castle where Bowser is fought above a
suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
; the first seven of these Bowsers are "false Bowsers" who are actually minions disguised as him, whilst the real Bowser is found in the 8th world. Bowser and his decoys are defeated by jumping over them and reaching the axe on the end of the bridge, although they can also be defeated using a Fire Flower. The game also includes some stages taking place underwater, which contain different enemies. In addition, there are bonuses and secret areas in the game. Most secret areas contain more coins for Mario to collect, but some contain "warp pipes" that allow Mario to advance directly to later worlds in the game without completing the intervening stages. After completing the game once, the player is rewarded with the ability to replay the game with changes made to increase its difficulty, such as all Goombas in the game being replaced with Buzzy Beetles, enemies similar to Koopa Troopas who cannot be defeated using the Fire Flower.
Synopsis
In the fantasy setting of the
Mushroom Kingdom, a tribe of turtle-like creatures known as the
Koopa Troopa
Koopa Troopas, known in Japan as , are fictional footsoldiers of the turtle-like Koopa race from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to generically as Koopas, a race that includes Bowser, King of the Koopas, the Koopaling ...
s invade the kingdom and uses the magic of its king,
Bowser, to turn its inhabitants, known as the Mushroom People, into inanimate objects such as bricks, stones and horsehair plants. Bowser and his army also kidnap
Princess Toadstool
is a fictional character in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' installment. She is the princess regnant and ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she resides in ...
, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and the only one with the ability to reverse Bowser's spell. After hearing the news,
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
sets out to save the princess and free the kingdom from Bowser.
After traveling through various parts of the kingdom and fighting Bowser's forces along the way, Mario reaches Bowser's final stronghold, where he is able to defeat him by striking an axe on the bridge suspended over lava he is standing on, breaking the bridge, defeating Bowser, freeing the princess and saving the Mushroom Kingdom.
Development
''Super Mario Bros.'' was designed by
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...
and
Takashi Tezuka of the
Nintendo Creative Department
commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was pr ...
, and largely programmed by Toshihiko Nakago of SRD Company, Ltd.
The original ''
Mario Bros.,'' released in 1983, is an
arcade 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. For ''Super Mario Bros.'', Miyamoto wanted to create a more colorful "athletic game" with a
scrolling screen and larger characters.
Development was a culmination of their technical knowledge from working on the 1984 titles ''
Devil World
is a maze video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released for the Famicom in Japan on October 5, 1984, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Euro ...
'', ''
Excitebike
is a motocross racing video game developed and published by Nintendo. In Japan, it was released for the Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades as ''Vs. Excitebike'' for the Nintendo Vs. System later that year. In North America, it was ini ...
'' and ''
Kung Fu'' along with their desire to further advance the platforming "athletic game" genre they had created with their earlier games.
The
side-scrolling gameplay of
racing game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...
''Excitebike'' and
beat 'em up
The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
game ''
Kung-Fu Master'', the latter ported by Miyamoto's team to the NES as ''Kung Fu'', were key steps towards Miyamoto's vision of an expansive side-scrolling platformer; in turn, ''Kung-Fu Master'' was an adaptation of the
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
film ''
Wheels on Meals'' (1984). While working on ''Excitebike'' and ''Kung 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. ''Super Mario Bros.'' used the fast scrolling
game engine
A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
Miyamoto's team had originally developed for ''Excitebike'', which allowed Mario to smoothly
accelerate from a walk to a run, rather than move at a constant speed like in earlier platformers.
Miyamoto also wanted to create a game that would be the "final exclamation point" for the
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electroni ...
format before the forthcoming
Famicom Disk System was released.
''Super Mario Bros.'' was made in tandem with ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'', 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 the ''Mario'' castle levels began as objects in ''Zelda''.
To have a new game available for the end-of-year shopping season, Nintendo aimed for simplicity.
The team started with a prototype in which the player moved a 16x32-pixel square around a single screen.
[ Tezuka suggested using Mario after seeing the sales figures of ''Mario Bros''. The team chose the name ''Super Mario Bros.'' after implementing the Super Mushroom ]power-up
In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
. The game initially used a concept in which Mario or Luigi could fly a rocket ship while firing at enemies, but this went unused; the final game's sky-based bonus stages are a remnant of this concept. The team found it illogical that Mario was hurt by stomping on turtles in ''Mario Bros.'' so decided that future ''Mario'' games would "definitely have it so that you could jump on turtles all you want". Miyamoto initially imagined Bowser as an ox, inspired by the Ox King from the Toei Animation
() is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
film ''Alakazam the Great
''Alakazam the Great'', known in Japan as , is a 1960 Japanese anime musical film, based on the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. It was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States. Osamu Tezuka was named ...
'' (1960). However, Tezuka decided he looked more like a turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
, and they collaborated to create his final design.
The development of ''Super Mario Bros.'' is an early example of specialization 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. Developers of previous hit games joined the team, 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; and ''Mario Bros.''s enemy attacks, enemy movement, frozen platforms and POW Blocks".[
The team based the level design around a small Mario, intending to later make his size bigger in the final version, but decided it would be fun to let Mario change his size via a ]power-up
In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
. The early level design was focused on teaching players that mushrooms were distinct from Goombas and would be beneficial to them, so in the first level of the game, the first mushroom is difficult to avoid if it is released. The use of mushrooms to change size was influenced by Japanese 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. 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." Miyamoto denied rumors that developers implemented a small Mario after a bug caused only his upper half to appear. 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". Other features, such as blocks containing multiple coins, were inspired by programming glitches.
''Super Mario Bros.'' was developed for a cartridge with 256 kilobits of program code and data and 64 kilobits of sprite and background graphics. 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.[ For instance, clouds and bushes in the game's backgrounds use that same sprite recolored,][ and background tiles are generated via an automatic algorithm. 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.][ 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. 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 a crown into the game, which would appear in the player's life counter as a reward for obtaining at least 10 lives.][
]
World 1-1
During the third generation of video game consoles
In the history of video games, the third generation of game consoles, commonly referred to as the 8-bit era, began on July 15, 1983 with the Japanese release of two systems: Nintendo's Family Computer (commonly abbreviated to ''Famicom'') and Se ...
, tutorials on gameplay were rare. Instead, players learned how a video game worked through being guided by level design. The opening section of ''Super Mario Bros.'' was therefore specifically designed in such a way that players would be forced to explore the mechanics of the game in order to be able to advance. Rather than confront the newly oriented player with obstacles, the first level of ''Super Mario Bros.'' lays down the variety of in-game hazards by means of repetition, iteration, and escalation. In an interview with ''Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'', 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 the player understands the mechanics of the game, the player will be able to play more freely and it becomes "their game."
Music
Nintendo sound designer Koji Kondo
is a Japanese music composer, pianist, and music director who works for the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his numerous contributions to the '' Super Mario'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' series of video games, among others pr ...
wrote the six-track score for ''Super Mario Bros.'', as well as all of the game's sound effects. 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 on ''Super Mario Bros.'' was one of the major forces in the shift towards music becoming an integral and participatory part of video games. 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".
The music of ''Super 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 wasn't the first to do this in a video game; for instance, '' Space Invaders'' features a simple song that gets faster and faster as the aliens speed up, eliciting a sense of stress and impending doom which matches the increasing challenge of the game.[ (Order No. MR84768).] 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.
Before composition began, a prototype of the game was presented to Kondo so that he could get an idea of Mario's general environment and revolve the music around it. Kondo wrote the score with the help of a small piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
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, so he changed it a bit by increasing the songs' tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
s. The music was further adjusted based on the expectations of Nintendo's playtesters.
Kondo would later compose new music for new ''Super Mario Bros.'' ice, desert, and nighttime level themes that appeared in the 2019 level-creator game ''Super Mario Maker 2
is a 2019 side-scrolling platform game and level creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sequel to ''Super Mario Maker'' and was released worldwide on June 28, 2019. The gameplay is largely ret ...
''.
Release
''Super Mario Bros.'' was first released in Japan on Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...
of September 1985, for the Family Computer (Famicom). It was released later that year in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
(NES). Its exact North American release date is debated; though most sources report it was released in October 1985 as a launch game, when the NES had a limited release in the US, several sources suggest it was released between November 1985 and early 1986.
The arcade port for the Nintendo Vs. System
The is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversio ...
debuted in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in January 1986, and was released in other countries in February 1986. It was the first version of ''Super Mario Bros.'' to receive a wide international release, and many outside of Japan were introduced to the game through the arcade version. The NES version received a wide North American release later that year, followed by Europe on May 15, 1987.
In 1988, ''Super Mario Bros.'' was re-released along with the shooting range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...
game '' Duck Hunt'' as part of a single ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electroni ...
, which came packaged with the NES as a pack-in game, as part of the console's ''Action Set''. This version of the game is extremely common in North America, with millions of copies of it having been manufactured and sold in the United States. In 1990, another cartridge, touting the two games as well as ''World Class Track Meet
''Stadium Events'' is a sports fitness game developed by Human Entertainment and published by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This and ''Athletic World'' are the two games in the ''Family Fun Fitness'' series, designed and branded ...
'', was also released in North America as part of the NES ''Power Set''. It was released on May 15, 1987, in Europe, and during that year in Australia as well. In 1988, the game was re-released in Europe in a cartridge containing the game plus '' Tetris'' and ''Nintendo World Cup
''Nintendo World Cup'' is a soccer video game for the Family Computer/NES and Game Boy, developed by Technōs Japan and released in 1990. It is a localization of the fourth ''Kunio-kun'' game released for the Family Computer. Ports for the PC ...
''. The compilation was sold alone or bundled with the revised version of the NES.
Ports and re-releases
''Super Mario Bros.'' has been ported and re-released several times. February 21, 1986 was the release of a conversion to Famicom Disk System, Nintendo's proprietary floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...
drive.
''Vs. Super Mario Bros.''
''Vs. Super Mario Bros.'' is a 1986 arcade adaptation of ''Super Mario Bros'' (1985), released on the Nintendo VS. System
The is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversio ...
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.''
The arcade game was not officially released in Japan. Illegal coin-op versions made from a Famicom console placed inside an arcade cabinet
An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
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. Japanese arcade operators were still able to access illegal coin-op versions through 1987.
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. The arcade game debuted at the 1986 Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) show in London, held in January 1986; this was the first appearance of ''Super Mario Bros.'' in Europe. The arcade game then received a wide international release for overseas markets outside of Japan in February 1986, initially in the form of a ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
software conversion kit. In North America, the game was featured in an official contest during the ACME convention in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, held in March 1986, becoming a popular attraction at the show. It soon drew a loyal following across North American arcades, and appeared as the eighth top-grossing arcade video game on the US '' Play Meter'' arcade charts in May 1986. It went on to sell 20,000 arcade units within a few months, becoming the best-selling Nintendo Vs. System release, with each unit consistently earning an average of more than $200 per week. It became the thirteenth highest-grossing arcade game of 1986 in the United States according to the annual ''RePlay'' arcade chart, which was topped by Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
's '' Hang-On''. In Europe, it became a very popular arcade game in 1986. The arcade version introduced ''Super Mario Bros.'' to many players who did not own a Nintendo Entertainment System.
The game was re-released in emulation for the Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
via the Arcade Archives
is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called is focused on rereleasing Neo Geo ...
collection on December 22, 2017. Playing that release, Chris Kohler of Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
called the game's intense difficulty "The meanest trick Nintendo ever played".
''Super Mario Bros. Special''
A remake of the game titled ''Super Mario Bros. Special'' developed by Hudson Soft
was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...
was released in Japan in 1986 for the NEC PC-8801
The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan.
The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japane ...
and Sharp X1
The , sometimes called the Sharp X1 or CZ-800C, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It is based on a Zilog Z80 CPU.
The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen c ...
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 on '' Mario Bros.'' and '' Donkey Kong''.
Game & Watch
A handheld LCD game under the same name was released as a part of Nintendo's Game & Watch line of LCD games.
Modified versions
Several modified variants of the game have been released, many of which are ROM hack
ROM hacking is the process of modifying a ROM image, ROM image or ROM file of a video game to alter the game's graphics, dialogue, levels, gameplay, and/or other elements. This is usually done by technically inclined video game fans to improve an ...
s of the original NES game.
On November 11, 2010, a special red variant of the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
containing a pre-downloaded version of the game was released in Japan to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Several graphical changes include "?" blocks with the number "25" on them.
a promotional, graphically modified version of ''Super Mario Bros.'', was officially released in Japan in December 1986 for the Famicom Disk System as a promotional item given away by the popular Japanese radio show ''All Night Nippon
is a Japanese radio program broadcast by Nippon Broadcasting System and other radio stations from 1–5 am (JST). It preempts broadcasts from TBS Radio's programming heard on stations under both JRN and NRN (TBC Radio, CBC Radio, etc.).
D ...
''. The game was published by Fuji TV, which later published '' Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic''. 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, and DJs as well as other people related to ''All-Night Nippon''. The game makes use of the same slightly upgraded graphics and alternate physics featured in the Japanese release of ''Super Mario Bros. 2
''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in October 1988, and in the PAL region in 1989.
After the smash hi ...
''. The modern collector market considers it extremely rare, selling for nearly $500, ().
' is a redux of the original ''Super Mario Bros.'' with the exception of the title changed and the game was sped up to 2×. It was released on ''Ultimate NES Remix
''NES Remix'' is a compilation video game series for Wii U, developed by Nintendo. The first and eponymous game was simultaneously announced and released on December 18, 2013, on the Nintendo eShop following a Nintendo Direct presentation. A seco ...
'' on the Nintendo 3DS.
''Super Luigi Bros.'' is a redux of the game, featured within ''NES Remix 2
''NES Remix'' is a compilation video game series for Wii U, developed by Nintendo. The first and eponymous game was simultaneously announced and released on December 18, 2013, on the Nintendo eShop following a Nintendo Direct presentation. A seco ...
'', based on a mission in ''NES Remix
''NES Remix'' is a compilation video game series for Wii U, developed by Nintendo. The first and eponymous game was simultaneously announced and released on December 18, 2013, on the Nintendo eShop following a Nintendo Direct presentation. A seco ...
''. It stars only Luigi in a mirrored version of World 1–2, scrolling from left to right, with a higher jump and a slide similar to the Japanese ''Super Mario Bros. 2''.
''Super Mario Bros. 35
''Super Mario Bros. 35'' was a 2020 online multiplayer platform game with battle royale elements. Developed by Arika and published by Nintendo, the game was part of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of ''Super Mario Bros.'' in 2020. I ...
'' was a 35-player battle royale version of the game released in 2020 that was available to play for a limited time for Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) is an online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch video game console. Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud saving, voice chat via a smartphone app, access to a library of Ninten ...
subscribers.
Remakes
''Super Mario All-Stars''
''Super Mario All-Stars'', a compilation game released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
, features a remade version of ''Super Mario Bros.'' alongside remakes of several of the other ''Super Mario'' games released for the NES. Its version of ''Super 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 various ''Super Mario'' games.
''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe''
sometimes referred to as ''Super Mario Bros. DX'', was released on the Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
on May 10, 1999 in North America and Europe, and in 2000 in Japan exclusively to the Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
retail service. Based on the original ''Super Mario Bros.'', it features an overworld
An overworld (sometimes referred to as a hub world) is, in a broad sense, commonly an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other vide ...
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 game ''Super Mario Bros. 2
''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in October 1988, and in the PAL region in 1989.
After the smash hi ...
''. It is compatible with the Game Boy Printer
The Game Boy Printer, known as the in Japan, is a thermal printer accessory released by Nintendo in 1998 which ceased production in early 2003. The Game Boy Printer is compatible with all the Game Boy systems except the Game Boy Micro and is des ...
. Compared to ''Super 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.
It was released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
in 2014. In Japan, users who registered a Nintendo Network
The Nintendo Network is Nintendo's online service which provides online functionality for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems and their compatible games. Announced on January 26, 2012 at an investors' conference, it is Nintendo's second online ser ...
ID on their Nintendo 3DS system between December 10, 2013, and January 10, 2014, received a free download code, with emails with download codes being sent out starting January 27, 2014. In Europe and Australia, users who registered a Nintendo Network
The Nintendo Network is Nintendo's online service which provides online functionality for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems and their compatible games. Announced on January 26, 2012 at an investors' conference, it is Nintendo's second online ser ...
ID on a Nintendo 3DS system between December 10, 2013, and January 31, 2014, received a free download code, with emails with download codes being sent out from February 13 to 28, 2014. It was released for purchase on the Nintendo 3DS eShop
The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was ena ...
in Europe on February 27, 2014, in Australia on February 28, 2014, and in North America on December 25, 2014.
GamesRadar+ placed the game at number 15 in its list of the greatest Game Boy games of all time, explaining that Nintendo could have simply ported the game but instead they expanded on it. The staff opined that the only downside was the camera in the game. Jeremy Parish of USGamer praised the game, comparing it more favorably to ''Super Mario All-Stars
''Super Mario All-Stars'' is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four '' Super Mario'' games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the F ...
'', which he said basically just improved the graphics from 8-bit
In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...
to 16-bit
16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors.
A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...
. Instead he praised ''Super Mario Bros. DX'' for adding "considerably more" to the original games like the secret unlockable bonus, the addition of ''The Lost Levels'', new objectives, modes, and multiplayer mechanics, along with the ability to play with Luigi's reduced friction and higher jumping physics. He described it as "a comprehensive overhaul" of the whole ''Super Mario Bros.'' video game. Additionally, Kevin Webb of ''Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' named the game as one of greatest Game Boy games of all time. The ''Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'' staff ranked it as the 9th greatest Game Boy game.
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 the Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
sporting its own port or remake of the game with the exception of the Nintendo 64.
In early 2003, ''Super Mario Bros.'' was ported to the Game 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 best-selling Game Boy Advance game from June 2004 to December 2004. In 2005, Nintendo re-released this port of the game as a part of the game's 20th Anniversary; this special edition of the game went on to sell approximately 876,000 units.
It is one of the 19 unlockable NES games included in the GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
game '' Animal Crossing'', for which it was distributed by Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
as a prize for owners of Dobutsu no Mori+; outside of this, the game can't 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 a GameShark or Action Replay.
''Super Mario Bros.'' is one of the 30 games included with the NES Classic Edition
NES Classic Edition is a dedicated home video game console by Nintendo, which emulates the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It launched on November 10, 2016 in Australia and Japan, and November 11, 2016 in North America and Europe. Aesthet ...
, a dedicated video game console. This version of the game 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.
In November 2020 a new version of the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. was released, which features the original NES version of the game with some modifications. It starts with the A button, adds the "unlocking" of hard mode after completing the normal game (which was originally lost when the NES is turned off), and adds an "infinite Mario" mode which starts the game with unlimited lives if the A button is held at the title screen.
Virtual Console
''Super Mario Bros.'' has been re-released for several of Nintendo's game systems as a part of their Virtual Console
A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
line of classic video game releases. It was first released for the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
on December 2, 2006, in Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, December 25, 2006 in North America and January 5, 2007, in PAL regions. The release is a complete emulation of the original game, meaning that nothing is changed from its original NES release. This version of the game is also one of the "trial games" made available in the "Masterpieces" section in '' Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', where it can be demoed for a limited amount of time.
A Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
release of the game 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 the Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
's Virtual Console in Japan on June 5, 2013, followed by Europe on September 12, 2013, and North America on September 19, 2013.
Reception
''Super Mario Bros.'' was immensely successful, both commercially and critically. It helped popularize the side-scrolling platform game genre, and served as a killer app for the NES. Upon release in Japan, copies were sold during its September 1985 release month. Within four months, about copies were sold in Japan, grossing more than , equivalent to at the time (which is inflation-adjusted to $ in ). The success of ''Super Mario Bros.'' helped increase Famicom sales to units by January 1986. By 1987, copies of the game had been sold for the Famicom. Outside of Japan, many were introduced to the game through the arcade version, which became the best-selling Nintendo Vs. System release with 20,000 arcade units sold within a few months in early 1986. In the United States, more than copies of the NES version were sold in 1986, more than by 1988, by mid-1989, more than by early 1990, nearly by April 1990, and more than by 1991. More than copies of the original NES version had been sold worldwide by 1994, and by April 2000, for which it was awarded the Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for best-selling video game of all time.
Altogether, excluding ports and re-releases, 40.24 million copies of the original NES release have been sold worldwide, with 29 million copies sold in North America. Including ports and re-releases, more than units had been sold worldwide. The game was the all-time best-selling game for more than 20 years until its lifetime sales were ultimately surpassed by ''Wii Sports
''Wii Sports'' is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The 1.0 (pre-release) version of the game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and the 1. ...
'' (2006). The game's Wii Virtual Console release was also successful, reaching number 1 by mid-2007, and at an estimated 660,000 units for outside of Japan and Korea in 2009. In August 2021, an anonymous buyer paid for a never-opened copy of ''Super Mario Bros.'' according to collectibles site ''Rally'', surpassing the sales record set by ''Super Mario 64
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combining traditional ''Su ...
'' the previous month.
Contemporary reviews
Clare Edgeley of ''Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' gave the arcade version a positive review upon its ATEI 1986 debut. She felt the graphics were simple compared to other arcade games (such as Sega's '' Space 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. In the fall of 1986, ''Top Score'' newsletter reviewed ''Vs. 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. The arcade game received the award for the " Best Video Game of 1986" at the Amusement Players Association's Players Choice Awards, held during their first US national competition in January 1987 where the game was popular among arcade players.
Reviewing the NES version, the "Video Game Update" segment of ''Computer 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. In early 1987, ''Top Score'' reviewed the NES version, 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.
''The Games Machine
''The Games Machine'' is a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published ''CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', ''Amtix!'' and other magazines.
History
The magazine ran head to head with ...
'' 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. In 1989, ''ACE
An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...
'' 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. ''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."
Retrospective reception
Retrospective critical analysis of the game has been extremely positive, with many touting it as one of the best video games of all time. ''Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' named it the fourth best NES game, describing it as the beginning of the modern era of video games and "Shigeru Miyamoto's masterpiece". ''Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' ranked it first on its list of the "Greatest 200 Games of Their Time". '' Official Nintendo Magazine'' also award the game first place in a 2009 list of greatest Nintendo games of all time. ''IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' included it in its lists of the best 100 games in 2005 and 2007. In 1997, ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' named the ''All-Stars'' version of ''Super Mario Bros.'' the 37th best game of all time. In 2009, ''Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' named ''Super Mario Bros.'' the second greatest game of all time, behind ''The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'', saying that it "remains a monument to brilliant design and fun gameplay". The ''Game Informer'' staff also ranked it the second best in their 2001 list of the top 100 games. In 2012, ''G4'' ranked ''Super 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 the video game crash of 1983
The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...
. In 2014, ''IGN'' named ''Super Mario Bros.'' the best Nintendo game, saying it was "the most important Nintendo game ever made". In 2005, ''IGN'' named it the greatest video game of all time. In 2015, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted ''Super Mario Bros.'' to its World Video Game Hall of Fame. In 2017, Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
ranked it the eighth best ''Super Mario'' game, crediting it for starting "this franchise's habit of being an exception to so many rules". In 2018, ''Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' named it the second best ''Super Mario'' game.
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. '' AllGame'' gave ''Super Mario Bros.'' a five-star rating, stating that " e 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". Reviewing the Virtual Console Release of the game, ''IGN'' called it "an absolute must for any gamer's Virtual Console collection." Darren Calvert of Nintendo 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.
Game Boy versions
The Game Boy Advance port of ''Super Mario Bros.'' holds an aggregate score of 84 on Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Many critics compared the port to previous ports of the game such as ''Super Mario Deluxe'' and ''Super Mario All-Stars'', noting its seeming lack of brand new content to separate it from the original version of the game. Jeremy Parish of ''1up.com
''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...
'' 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 to ''Deluxe'' while greatly criticizing its lack of new features. ''IGN'' 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." 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."
The Game Boy Color port of the game also received wide critical appraisal; ''IGN'' Craig Harris gave ''Super 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. GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
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 by '' Super Mario Galaxy 2'' which holds a perfect 10). Both gave it their Editors' Choice Award. ''Allgame'' Colin Williamson praised the porting of the game as well as the extras, noting the only flaw of the game being that sometimes the camera goes with Mario as he jumps up. ''Nintendo World Report'' Jon Lindemann, in 2009, called it their "(Likely) 1999 NWR Handheld Game of the Year," calling the quality of its porting and offerings undeniable. Nintendo Life gave it a perfect score, noting that it retains the qualities of the original game and the extras. ''St. Petersburg Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' Robb Guido commented that in this form, ''Super Mario Bros.'' "never looked better." The '' Lakeland Ledger'' Nick S. agreed, praising the visuals and the controls. In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port of ''Super Mario Bros.'' (part of the Classic NES Series) was released, which had none of the extras or unlockables available in ''Super 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. ''Super Mario Bros. Deluxe'' ranked third in the best-selling handheld game charts in the U.S. between June 6 and 12, 1999 with more than 2.8 million copies in the U.S. It was included on Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...
flights in 2006. Lindemann noted ''Deluxe'' as a notable handheld release in 1999.
Legacy
The success of ''Super Mario Bros.'' led to the development of many successors in the ''Super Mario
(also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...
'' series of video games, which in turn form the core of the greater ''Mario'' franchise. Two of these sequels, ''Super Mario Bros. 2
''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in North America in October 1988, and in the PAL region in 1989.
After the smash hi ...
'' and ''Super Mario Bros. 3
''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...
'', were direct sequels to the game and were released for the NES, experiencing similar levels of commercial success. A different sequel, also titled ''Super Mario Bros. 2'', was released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 exclusively in Japan, and was later released elsewhere as a part of ''Super Mario All-Stars
''Super Mario All-Stars'' is a 1993 compilation of platform games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It contains remakes of Nintendo's four '' Super Mario'' games released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the F ...
'' under the name '' Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels''. The gameplay concepts and elements established in ''Super Mario Bros.'' are prevalent in nearly every ''Super Mario'' game. The series consists of over 15 entries; at least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released on nearly every Nintendo console to date. ''Super Mario 64
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combining traditional ''Su ...
'' 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 is one of the best-selling, with more than 310 million units sold worldwide . In 2010, Nintendo released special red variants of the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
and Nintendo DSi XL consoles in re-packaged, Mario-themed limited edition bundles as part of the 25th anniversary of the game's original release. To celebrate the series' 30th anniversary, Nintendo released '' Super Mario Maker'', a game for the Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
The W ...
which allows players to create custom platforming stages using assets from ''Super Mario'' games and in the style of ''Super Mario Bros.'' along with other styles based around different games in the series.
The game's success helped to push Mario as a worldwide cultural icon; in 1990, a study taken in North America suggested that more children in the United States were familiar with Mario than they were with Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, another popular media character. 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 single ''Super Mario'' game. Alongside the NES platform, ''Super Mario Bros.'' is often credited for having resurrected the video game industry
The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide.
The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...
after the market crash of 1983. In the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case ''Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association
''Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association'', 564 U.S. 786 (2011), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court that struck down a 2005 California law banning the sale of certain violent video games to children without parental supervision ...
'', the Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
submitted an ''amicus'' brief which supported overturning a law which would have banned violent video games in the state of California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The brief cited social research that declared ''Super Mario Bros'', among several others, to contain cartoon violence similar to that found in children's programs such as Mighty Mouse and Road Runner that garnered little negative reaction from the public.
Because of its status within the video game industry and being an early Nintendo game, mint condition
Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...
copies of ''Super Mario Bros.'' have been considered collectors items. In 2019, the auction of a near-mint, sealed box version of the game was sold for just over $100,000 US dollars, and which is considered to have drawn wider interest in the field of video game collecting
Video game collecting is the hobby of collecting and preserving video games, video game consoles, and related memorabilia. Most video game consoles, and their games, are considered to be collectors' items years after their discontinuation due to t ...
. A 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, went for , at the time the highest price ever for a single video game.
Video game developer Yuji Naka
, credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game programmer, video game designer, designer and video game producer, producer. He is the former head of the Sega studio Sonic Team, where he was the lead programmer of the original ''Sonic t ...
has cited ''Super Mario Bros.'' as a large inspiration towards the concept for the immensely successful 1991 Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
game, ''Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
''; according to Naka, the general idea for the game first materialized when he was playing through ''Super Mario Bros.'' and trying to beat its first level as quickly as possible, and thought about the concept of a platformer based around moving as fast as possible.[
''Super Mario Bros.'' has served as inspiration for several fangames. In 2009, developer SwingSwing released '']Tuper Tario Tros
''Tuper Tario Tros.'' is a Flash platform video game first released on Newgrounds on December 24, 2009 by the French developer Swing Swing Submarine. It is a combination of ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Tetris'', using mechanics from both games. The ...
'', a game which combines elements of ''Super Mario Bros.'' with '' Tetris''. '' 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 of ''Super Mario Bros.'' that allows the player to alternatively control various other characters from Nintendo games, including Mega Man
''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
, Link from ''The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'', Samus
is a Character (arts), fictional character and the playable protagonist of the video game series ''Metroid'' by Nintendo. She was created by Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano (video game designer), Makoto Kano. She was introduced as a p ...
from ''Metroid
is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...
'', and Simon Belmont from ''Castlevania
''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...
''. ''Mari0
''Mari0'' (pronounced "mari-zero" or "Mario") is a 2012 side-scrolling platform video game developed by German indie developer Maurice Guégan and released onto his website Stabyourself.net. It combines gameplay elements from Nintendo's ''Super M ...
'', released in December 2012, combines elements of the game with that of ''Portal
Portal often refers to:
* Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel
Portal may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
'' (2007) by giving Mario a portal-making gun with which to teleport through the level, and ''Full Screen Mario
''Full Screen Mario'' is a 2013 browser game created by American programmer Josh Goldberg. It is an unofficial remake of the 1985 game ''Super Mario Bros.'' and was built using HTML5.
Gameplay
As a remake of ''Super Mario Bros.'' (1985), ''Full ...
'' (2013) adds a level editor. In 2015, game designer Josh Millard released ''Ennuigi
''Ennuigi'' (or ''Ennuigi 1.0'') is an art, browser and fangame created using Pico-8 that combines ''Super Mario Bros.'' and boredom. ''Ennuigi'' is a portmanteau of the French word "ennui" and the name of Mario's fraternal twin brother Luigi. ...
'', a metafiction
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...
al fangame with commentary on the original game which relates to Luigi's inability to come to terms with the game's overall lack of narrative. ''Super Mario Bros.'' is substantial in speedrunning
Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and can exploit glit ...
esports
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
, with coverage beyond video gaming and a specific version for ''Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''.
Minus World
The "Minus World" or "World Negative One" is an unbeatable glitch level present in the original NES release. World 1-2 contains a hidden warp 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 the heads-up display
A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
, it is actually World 36–1, with the tile for 36 being shown as a blank space.
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 level color palette and underwater level music and contains sprites 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
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...
's usual message is displayed, but Toad himself is absent. After completing these levels, the game returns to the title screen
A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television show, television programmes present their title and key filmmaking, production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a ...
as if completed, and is now replayable as if in a harder mode, since it's higher than world 8. 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 as cheat codes or ROM hacking.
Other media
The ''Super Mario Bros.'' series has inspired various media products. In October 1985, Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, m ...
published the book ''Super Mario Bros: The Complete Strategy Guide''. Its content is partly recycled from ''Family Computer Magazine'', plus new content written by Naoto Yamamoto who received no royalties. It is Japan's best-selling book of 1985 at 630,000 copies sold. It is also Japan's best-selling book of 1986 with 860,000 copies by January 1986, and a total of . Nintendo of America
is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...
later translated it into English as ''How to win at Super Mario Bros.'' and published it in North America via the Nintendo Fun Club
''Nintendo Fun Club'' was a fan club marketed by Nintendo. It was free to join, and its members received a free subscription to ''Nintendo Fun Club News'', a periodical that discussed popular games and games that were planned for the near future. ...
and early issues of ''Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' magazine.
The 1986 anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
film '' Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' is acknowledged as one of the first feature-length films to be based directly off of a video game, as well as one of the earliest '' isekai'' anime. The live-action '' Super Mario Bros.'' film was released theatrically in 1993, starring Bob Hoskins
Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...
as Mario and John Leguizamo
John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...
as Luigi. The American animated television series
An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' is an American live-action/animated television series airing from September 4 to November 30, 1989, on syndication. The series is based on the video games ''Super Mario Bros.'' and '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' by ...
'' ran from 1989 to 1990, starring professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells
Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series ''T ...
as Luigi. An animated film based on the series created by Illumination Entertainment is currently in production.
''Super Mario Bros.'' was adapted into a pinball machine by Gottlieb, released in 1992. It became one of America's top ten best-selling pinball machines of 1992, receiving a Gold Award from the American Amusement Machine Association
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade vi ...
(AAMA).
Notes
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1985 video games
Arcade video games
Famicom Disk System games
Video games about size change
Game & Watch games
Game Boy Advance games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
NEC PC-8801 games
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Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Nintendo Switch Online NES games
Nintendo Vs. Series games
Pack-in video games
PlayChoice-10 games
Sharp X1 games
Side-scrolling platform games
Bros.
Video games scored by Koji Kondo
Video games developed in Japan
Video games designed by Shigeru Miyamoto
Video games directed by Shigeru Miyamoto
Video games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS
Virtual Console games for Wii
Virtual Console games for Wii U
World Video Game Hall of Fame