With Super Mario Galaxy being released for a little while now, we thought that reviewing the original Super Mario Bros. was the only way to go.
Brett’s Review:
Can a game single handedly change the way games are made and be overrated and underrated at the same time? The answer is yes, it can because this game is both at the exact same time. Obviously the graphics back then were not that good, so the game has alright graphics for its time, but the game’s look to me, for the most part, is very repetitive and they should have tried a bit harder in level design due to the easy aspects of certain “cave” levels when all you have to do is be big Mario and go straight through to the Warp Zone. Don’t get me wrong levels can be hard at times, but for the most part the game can be way too easy at times.
The control is alright, they are pretty simple but they can feel forced and slippery at times due to either jumps you have to make to clear a “pit”, or when you need to slow down because you are going to fast you will often find yourself running head-on into a goomba, which will then just piss you off.
I want to say the game is also overrated due to the fact that it is the first Mario game, people automatically say that “Since it was the first it is the best, or at least its up there.”. While compared to other games in the series I would rate it second to last (that’s not including all the bullshit knockoff games such as Mario Hotel), the only one being worse is Super Mario Sunshine and that’s solely because it basically has nothing to do with anything about the series that the other games have.
At the same time it is underrated because a lot of people sleep on this game and refuse to play it compared to the newer Mario games such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, etc. This game was original and it did change side scroll platform gaming in a very positive way. Had it not been for Mario, games like Sonic the Hedgehog would have never been made because Mario had not laid the ground for which that game could have been built on.
Me being the classic gamer I am, can play it from time to time and appreciate what it has to offer, even when I may not think that it’s the game that a lot of people think it is, or give it false credit just based off the fact that Mario’s name is in the title. If you want a classic piece of gaming then this game is not the worst idea, but if your looking for a good Mario game, I would stick to Super Mario 3 for the NES.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIHDjt7y0KI]
Tom’s Review:
Wow… the original Mario Bros. Was this the first platformer? No. Did it single handedly change the way we look at and play games? Yes. Pitfall was a platforming game, although its technology made the gameplay very different.
Pitfall focused on one screen at a time. Although the premise was the same (Move to the right), Mario Brothers did it with much more fluidity and grace than Pitfall ever had. Mario had faster gameplay, better graphics, and more importantly, a very catchy soundtrack. Its the music that drew people into Mario’s world and kept them there. We can see its influence in today’s games even, its hard to find a game that wasn’t influence by Super Mario Bros in some way. Mario wasn’t first, but Mario did it best.
And now, for your classic gaming pleasure, Seventy Two Pin Connector presents:
Just use the emulator’s page on the right sidebar, download Jnes, download Mario Bros. and enjoy yourself!
Could you have picked a more obvious choice for a first game? I would have:
1. Picked something not well-known, such as a hacked version of a certain game (Sonic for the NES, a shitty “say no to drugs” game, etc.
2. Picked something that can be posted on the interwebs without violating an obvious copyright law
3. Picked something that might be amusing to read. Many many many others have already reviewed this game, and while it is a classic…it doesn’t need to be reviewed anymore.