30
Super Mario Bros
Platform: NES
Before you guys jump down my throat and tell me I must be crazy to have Super Mario Bros only at number thirty, hear me out. This is arguably one of the greatest games of all time to many people but because it is nearly 30 years old and one of the first games to grace a successful home console it is hard for it to stand the test of time as well as some other games on my list.
I first want to apologize to people that think this is their favorite game. I don’t mean to step on the toes of nostalgia but there are a lot of people like me who can go back and play this right now, have fun, beat the game and set it aside and not play it again for a few years. That’s how I feel about this game, I can play it and beat it quickly in 10 minutes using the warp zones or play it all the way through. Either way once I beat it I move on and don’t really want to play it again. Now why is that? The game is very dated. I don’t nearly have as much fun playing it as I did when I was way younger. Hell when I think of Mario I think of this game but as far as fun goes, I don’t think of this game. So now that I’ve gotten why I don’t have this game higher, I’ll get into why it is such a great game. Thank you for hearing me out.
Super Mario Bros was a release game for the Nintendo. This came out way back in September of 1985 and pretty much made gaming fun again. Previous to the Nintendo launching, The Video Game market was literally nothing; enter Nintendo and an Italian plumber named Mario. I was just a little fetus in my mother’s womb when this game came out so I can’t say how popular it was at the time but after talking to my Dad he told me that the years in between the Atari and Nintendo were terrible for gaming and when Nintendo came out it was a household name. My pops got a Nintendo a few weeks after launch and caught onto the Mario craze just like gamers did all across the world. Mario starts you off on a journey through the Mushroom Kingdom to pass through stages, defeat enemies, collect coins, gain power-ups, and defeat Bowser once and for all. Through each stage you race against time, which isn’t really that hard to do, and defeat enemies such as Goombas and Koopa Troopas. Occasionally in certain levels you’ll face enemies like The Hammer Bros, bullet bills, cheep cheeps and many more. Like I said though, Goombas and Koopa Troopas are the most prevelant enemies throughout the game. Each level is different as well. They have coins to collect, warp pipes to areas containing more coins and some levels like 1-2 contain warp pipes to different worlds. This makes the game go by faster if you’re in a rush and looking to complete the game quickly. It’s common knowledge that as you complete the first three levels you will go to a castle and jump and dodge fire, pits and enemies but at the end of every castle you have to face off against a Bowser like clone. You have one of two options here, you can shoot fireballs at him if you have maintained your fire Mario state. By doing this you will reveal who the bowser clone really is, be it a goomba or hammer brother. If you’re in a rush or just don’t have the fire power, you can strategically jump over him and hit the axe to take down the bridge and drop him into the firey pit below. Typically I went that route because I’m lazy as fuck or just got hurt too many times and not had the fire power with me. Every time ,until you actually face Bowser himself in the 8th world, Toad is there to tell you that he’s sorry but the princess is in another castle. The first time I played the game I wanted to choke his ass out but kept going waiting on that final level. When you reach World 8, you’ll kind of know it’s the last world based on how difficult it is. The final castle is a maze and trying to dodge Bowser’s attacks can be frustrating but once you do it, Toad’s faggot ass isn’t there and you can finally complete the game by getting a kiss from Princess Peach.
Ok second part here, Graphics for this game have always seemed to amaze me for some reason. Even still to this day. The Nintendo was an 8 bit console and didn’t have much to work with here. When I look at this game and the fact that it was the first game for the Nintendo blows my mind. Sure for the most part the backgrounds are recurring and there isn’t a whole lot of detail to the environment, look at the detail on Mario, the enemies and when he powers up. Nintendo really put all their eggs into this basket hoping it would be a slam dunk and it definitely was. Everything is instantly recognizable in the world. You can tell Mario from Luigi, fire from water and Mushrooms look different that Goombas. I know that sounds silly but for the time, Super Mario Bros had amazing graphics. Sound is great in the game too. The Mario theme is a classic and with 8bit audio, another insane accomplishment by Nintendo. The sounds and music in the game are perfect for what they were going for and anything else wouldn’t have had the same effect.
Super Mario Bros is a classic and there isn’t much more I can say about it. Watch the Video.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8LbrAYVrEw"]Super Mario Bros. Speed Run - YouTube[/ame]
