hey everybody do the mario

Swing your arms from side to side.. aw forget it.

History of the game
Super Mario bros. is what shot the Mario bros. to super star status, Mario was already a big star in the arcades, but this game made him a house hold name. Super Mario Bros. was released with the NES in 1985, and might be considered the game that revived the crash video game market. The game was redone for the SNES in 1993, in the Super Mario all stars game pack which contain updates on all 3 super Mario bros. games, and the Japanese version of Mario bros. 2.

Now one of the greatest classic games in history has made its jump to the portable game system. It couldn’t have been done any better.

Story.
The mushroom kingdom was a peaceful place until King Koopa invaded it. He has now turn all the mushroom folk into stone, the only person who can break the spell and turn the people back into normal is Princess Toadstool (yes according to the instruction booklet it’s Toadstool not Peach). Unfortunately King Koppa has heard of this and has locked her up in one of the 8 castles in the mushroom kingdom. Now the mushroom kingdom problems have reached the ears of 2 humble plumbers Mario and Luigi. These two plumbers have vowed to rescue the princess and bring order back to the mushroom kingdom. Yeah I know the story is a pretty cliché platform story, but hey it works.

Graphics
The graphics either stink or rule depending on how you look at them, while Nintendo could have easily done an update on them, they didn’t. The graphics are the same has the classic NES game right down to the blocky look of Mario, to the flat look of the characters, to the limited colors. While Nintendo did add some extra animation in a few of the small things (they animated the lava, Toads, and the Princess), but other then that the game remains true to the original. The only major thing they change was the color of Luigi’s clothes; Luigi’s clothes are blue and green in the game boy version instead of white and green.

Now all you tech nerds are probably wondering how could they fit the game on the game boy screen. A television screen is bigger, and rectangle, compare to the game boy’s smaller square screen. Well Nintendo had two options, they could shrink the sprites to fit the game, however this would mean that a lot of the original feel of the game would go out the window. So they went with option two, they would put less screen on the screen. Because of this you have to push up and down to control the camera in order to see what you would see on a regular television screen. They also allow some back word scrolling, so there is no longer any need for whining for items you missed because they’re just outside of the screen. However the smaller screen does pump up the challenge level when it comes to Lakitu and the hammer bros., having to constantly check where these two enemies’ are while looking at the ground becomes a real hassle.

Sound.
All the music from the original game is here from the classic over world theme, which did eventually become the Mario bros. theme. To the simple rhythm that they play for caves, to the creepy castle music the game has it all down to a tee. They also keep all the sound effects from the boing sound of Mario’s jump, to the sound of Mario going down a pipe. There is one sound effect they added in that I wish they didn’t and that is the screeching sound effect for when Mario grinds to a stop. I know this has been in every Mario bros. game since 3, but it sounds annoying do to the game boy’s small speaker.

Gameplay.
For those of you who have not played super Mario bros. out there, let me say that I am pleased that you’re out of your 16-year comma, and here are the rules of the game. In all of the stages the goal is to get from one side to the other before time runs out. To help Mario out there are a bunch of? Blocks, which Mario can punch and release, power ups from. These power ups can make Mario grow, let him shoot fireballs, or make him invincible for a short time. If Mario collides with a goomba while he’s Super or fire ball Mario he will shrink back to regular Mario, if regular Mario collides with an enemy it’s lights out and 1-life lost.

Seeing how nobody would buy a 30-dollar super Mario bros. game even if it’s a portable one, Nintendo decided to throw in some extra goodies. Here are all the modes.

Original
This is the original Super Mario Bros, prepare for some nostalgia has you stomp on goomba’s and throw fire balls just like you did 16 years ago. This mode has the NES more or less intact.

Challenge.
After you beat a stage in the original mode, it will open it up in challenge mode. There are two goals in challenge mode other then getting to the flag at the end of the stage. The first one is to collect 5 red coins and a Yoshi egg, the 2nd goal is to score has high a score has you can. You will be graded and given awards on your performance at the end of the stage.

VS mode.
Challenge your friend to a link cable match, the goal here is to reach the flag first. You can hit blocks that can help or hinder you or your friend. I haven’t been able to play against a human opponent yet but there is a VS boo mode you can play, and while it’s not the best mode to play in, it does add some replay to this classic.

Toy box and other cool gadgets.
This is a bunch of toys and albums that you can unlock while you play. You can do stuff has to have your horoscope read to making a calendar (need a gameboy printer). All these toys are really nifty but if you don’t have a gameboy printer it’s mostly junk at which you can just look at.

Super Mario for super players (lost levels)
Super Mario for super players is the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2. Now you won’t be picking up Japanese vegetables and throwing them at enemy’s this is a completely different game.

Why did they not give us there version back in 1986 when are version of SMB2 came out, well that’s because some big shot at Nintendo thought it would be to hard for us Americans to handle. So they picked an easier non-Mario game and put Mario in it and then shipped it to our shores.

Now the lost levels are just like the original Mario bros. from the music, to the graphics are exactly identical. The one area that has changed is the game play and the challenge is definitely there.

There is one thing I should say that I didn’t like about the super player’s mode and that is there is no longer a difference between Mario and Luigi. On the SNES version Luigi could out jump Mario but he couldn’t stop making it easier for him to collide with enemy’s this made the game even more challenging and up the replay valued significantly. Instead they decided to give each character the same stats, and to average out the two in the SMB all star version. This means they both jump and stop at the same time, There jump is greater then Mario’s but less then Luigi, and there is stop is also in between the two characters.

Breakdown of the difficulty in the lost levels mode.
Now has I said they didn’t release this for the NES because they thought it was to hard, so this is definitely the game to pick up for all those pro’s who think Mario bros. games are to easy for you. How hard is the lost level’s here is a break down for you.

World 1: difficulty probably around worlds 4 through 6 pro’s of the original game should have no problem.
World 3: By the time you make it to world 3, world 8 on the original looks like a cakewalk.
World 6: Has your game boy been picking up frequent flyer miles for the many times you have tossed it across the room in anger.
World 8:If you have high blood pressure don’t play any further then this; your life could be in danger.
World B:have you thought of getting mental help your starting to act psycho.
World D:If you manage to beat world D it will be inside a padded cell at your local mental institution. I have only been able to beat world D once on the Super Mario All star game pack, and I still say that it’s a miracle my game pack still works after the many times I jumped up and down on it out of frustrating, it’s that hard.

Recommendations.
If you loved the NES Super Mario Bros. game then this is 30 dollars well spent.