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After the success of Donkey Kong
and Donkey Kong, Jr. Nintendo needed
to keep pumping out successful video games but didn’t want to return to
the Donkey Kong well yet again. So
what did they do? They took the
character that no one cared about from those two games and placed him in
his own adventure and a star was born.
Mario Bros. was released in 1983 to arcades and many home consoles
including the Atari 5200 where I first encountered it. I was never a big fan of this game due
to its poor controls and repetitive gameplay. I am pleased to say, though, that Mario
Bros. was ported over to the NES in an excellent version  that easily tops any previous home
versions.
The story in this game is very
simple. You are Mario, a soon to
be very famous plumber, who must rid the sewers of some pesky
animals. You will come across
turtles, crabs and something that looks like a dragonfly. You have to knock them upside down by
hitting the ledge that they are standing on from below. Once they are flipped onto their backs,
you jump on to their ledge and knock them into the water. You also have a POW block that you can
hit three times over the course of the game that will knock all creatures
on to their backs. Beware though,
because if they are already on their backs when you hit the POW block
they will hop back up and start walking around again. You will notice a few things that were
carried over into Super Mario Bros. including turtles as an enemy, sewer
pipes looming large in the plot, coins (including the same sound effect)
for points, and of course Luigi as Mario’s 2nd player
equivalent.
Mario Bros. is very repetitive
because after Round 11 the rounds begin to repeat themselves and there is
no one ending or goal other than to get a high score. This is unfortunate because in both of
Nintendo’s big hits prior to this there was a goal that gave you
something to look forward to after every three stages. Because of this you will probably soon
tire of the game even though Nintendo went to great pains to make sure
that Mario’s first adventure was a given a high quality translation.
One interesting not was that the
Famicom Disk System later released a version that roughly translates to Return of Mario Bros. that
reportedly features better graphics and controls (you now have the
ability to control Mario mid-jump!) as well as new stages. This version was  released in Europe
as Mario Bros. under their
“Classic Serie” banner.
Positives:
The game’s graphics are gorgeous
for a game that originally came out in 1983. Mario looks like his pre-Super Mario
Bros. self. The gameplay itself is
much smoother than any previous incarnation of this game.
Glaring
Negatives:
The main thing that brings down
Mario Bros. is its repetition.
This game is seriously lacking in the variety department. The game goes along pretty well until you
hit the 12th stage and you realize that you are now repeating
old stages with just an increase in difficulty. The bonus stages are fun since you
can’t die and have to collect coins but they aren’t enough to keep you
going for too long.
Graphics
and Sound: Good
When you compare these graphics
to the previous home versions of Mario Bros. then you really understand
why I’m impressed with them. There
is no doubt that this is the crispest version of Mario Bros. outside of
the arcade. The sound effects are
solid; picking up a coin gives you the same sound effect you hear in Super Mario Bros. for getting a
coin.
Gameplay
and Controls: A little awkward
The controls are a bit awkward
but that is on purpose. Once Mario
starts his jump there is no going back even if you now see that it is
going to end in disaster. The
controls are just all-around a little bit tough to get used to but I
think the game would be too easy otherwise.
Features:
Bonus rounds
Every few levels you get a bonus
round where you have to collect all the coins on the screen in 10
seconds.
Fun?:
For a little while
Mario Bros. is pretty fun in
small doses. It has a cool
two-player competitive mode, which is neat and is always worth
playing. The game itself loops
after only 12 rounds, which causes you to get tired of the game a little
quickly.
Challenge:
A bit tough
 Like most early NES games the challenge is
more up to you. I usually just
want to clear every available stage, which isn’t hard in this game. If your goal, though, is for 500,000
points then you are in for quite a challenge.
Replay:
A little
This is one that I bust out a
couple times a year. It is a minor
classic.
2
Player: Yes
You and a partner play at the
same time, which is a bit different than most early Nintendo video games
on the NES. You can either compete
for points or play co-operatively to see how high of a level you can get
to.
Online
Manual?: Yes
http://www.nintendoage.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NES.Manual&Game_ID=994
Bottom
Line: Only for old-school gamers
This is a great translation of a
mediocre old-school arcade game.
If you love early video games or are a huge fan of Mario then you
won’t be disappointed. Otherwise
you can give this one a pass.
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