Mario Bros.
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It has been suggested that this article be split into Mario Bros. (Arcade), Mario Bros. (Nintendo Entertainment System), Mario Bros. (Atari, Inc), Mario Bros. (Ocean Software), Mario Bros. (Westside Soft House), Mario Bros. (Atari Corporation). (discuss) |
This article needs game improvement. Specifically:
- Famicom Box release date and version
- This article is about the arcade game. For other uses, see Mario Bros. (disambiguation).
- Not to be confused with Super Mario Bros. or Wario Bros.
| Mario Bros. | |||||||||||||
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 A flyer for the original arcade game For alternate box art, see the related gallery. | |||||||||||||
| Developers | Nintendo R&D1 Intelligent Systems (Famicom/NES port) Atari, Inc. (Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 ports) MISA (PC-8001 port)[1] Choice Software (Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum ports) Ocean Software (Commodore 64 port) ITDC (Atari 7800 port) Sculptured Software (Atari 8-bit port) | ||||||||||||
| Publishers | Nintendo Atari, Inc. (Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 ports) Westside Soft House (PC-8001 port) Ocean Software (Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64 ports) Atari Corporation (Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit ports) HAMSTER (Arcade Archives) | ||||||||||||
| Platform | Arcade
Family Computer, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, PC-8001, Famicom Box, Nintendo PlayChoice-10, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit computers, Game Boy Advance (e-Reader), Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS), NES Classic Edition/Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, Nintendo Switch (Arcade Archives), Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Classics
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| Release dates | Arcade: June 21, 1983[2] July 20, 1983[?]
Family Computer:
September 9, 1983[3]Nintendo Entertainment System: June 20, 1986[?] September 1, 1986[?]Atari 2600: December 1983[?]Atari 5200: February 1984[?]PC-8001: February 1984[?]Nintendo PlayChoice-10: August 1986[?]Amstrad CPC: June 19, 1987[?]Commodore 64: 1987[?]ZX Spectrum: 1987[?]Atari 8-bit computers: November 22, 1988[?]Atari 7800: December 1988[?]e-Reader: November 11, 2002[4] October 31, 2003[5]Game Boy Advance: May 21, 2004[6]Virtual Console (Wii): November 19, 2006[?] December 7, 2006[?] December 8, 2006[?] December 12, 2006[?] December 30, 2008[?]Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS): May 8, 2013[?] January 9, 2014[?] January 9, 2014[?] January 30, 2014[?]Virtual Console (Wii U): May 29, 2013[?] June 20, 2013[?] June 20, 2013[?] June 20, 2013[?]NES Classic Edition: November 10, 2016[?] November 10, 2016[?] November 11, 2016[?] November 11, 2016[?]Nintendo Switch (Arcade Archives): September 27, 2017[?] September 27, 2017[?] September 27, 2017[?] September 27, 2017[?]Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Classics: September 18, 2018[?] September 19, 2018[?] September 19, 2018[?] September 19, 2018[?] April 23, 2019[?] April 23, 2019[?] | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Genre | Platformer | ||||||||||||
| Ratings |
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| Modes | Single player, multiplayer (up to two players simultaneously) | ||||||||||||
| Format |
Built-in
 CartridgeNES:
 Game PakWii:  Digital download Digital download Digital download Game Pak e-Reader card Digital downloadBuilt-in
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| Cabinet | Upright and cocktail | ||||||||||||
| Input | Joystick
NES:
Wii:  Wii Remote (horizontal) Wii Remote (horizontal) Joy-Con (horizontal) | ||||||||||||
| Serial codes | Family Computer: HVC-MA Game Boy Advance: AGB-FMBJ-JPN | ||||||||||||
- Everyone
- All ages
- Three years and older
- All ages
- General audience
- General
- “Something's gumming up the plumbing! Poor Luigi's in a bind! Giant turtles out to get him! Creepy crabs are right behind! Fighterflies! Jeepers, yipes! They're all coming out of the pipes! Mario, where are you?”
- —Commercial for Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 versions
Mario Bros. is an arcade game developed by Nintendo and released on June 21, 1983.[2] It was also released on the Nintendo Entertainment System under the Arcade Classics Series of games (a version itself later ported to other systems), Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800 as well as a large multitude of home computer systems. This was the first game of the Super Mario franchise to introduce a simultaneous two-player mode, coins, pipes, and POW Blocks. The game is often stated to be the first appearance of Luigi, such as by Nintendo during the Year of Luigi that commemorated his debut, despite the fact that Luigi had actually previously appeared in the Game & Watch game of the same name, though the arcade game was in development first.[citation needed] Beyond featuring Mario and Luigi, the Game & Watch game bears no similarity to the arcade game.
Mario Bros. is also included as a separate minigame, functioning like the original game with updated graphics, in the two-player mode of Super Mario Bros. 3, as well as in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and all four games in the Super Mario Advance series.
The soundtrack to the NES release of Mario Bros. is available on Nintendo Music; it was added on July 21, 2025.
Story[edit]
The premise of the game revolves around twin plumbers Mario and Luigi, who are in the sewer system of New York[7][8] (or their house, according to Atari).[9] The sewers are overrun by waves of enemies, which must be defeated for coins.
Gameplay[edit]
The game features a simple stage in which the player plays in an endless game. Much of the gameplay appears to have been inspired by an arcade game named Joust. Enemies come from the pipes on the top and head downwards, where they may enter the pipes again to return to the top. The game features 22 unique phases (although Phase 2 was removed from non-Japanese versions of the game), and after the last phase has been completed, it merely loops the phase order from then on; the screen will still read "Phase 23" onward up to "Phase 98" (99 in Japan). After reaching Phase 98/99, screen text will stop incrementing, though the order of unique phases still loops. The phase counter at the bottom of the screen reads "KO" from Phase 25 onward.
The goal in each phase is to defeat all enemies, which is done by jumping up and hitting the floor below enemies. This flips them, giving the player the chance to kick them away, which is rewarded with 800 points. Enemies that are kicked over in succession quickly enough after the first will award 800 more points, up to 3200 points. The highest score that the game can display is 999,990 points, and scoring any more will overflow the display and make it start counting from 0 again. The POW Block can also be used to flip enemies; however, it can be used only three times. After an enemy is knocked away, a coin (a "wafer" in the Atari 2600 version of the game) appears from one of the pipes, and gives 800 points when collected. When all enemies are defeated, the player continues to the next phase. In later levels, different types of enemies and harming fireballs appear. In Phases 4, 9, and every seventh phase after that (Phase 3 and every fifth phase after that in the NES version), a bonus level appears where all the coins have to be collected in order to get an extra 5,000 points (during the first bonus level) or 8,000 points (during the second bonus level onwards). The time limit of the bonus level at first is 20 seconds, but starting from the second bonus level (third in the NES version), it is reduced to 15 seconds. Excluding the first bonus level, all bonus levels have floors of ice. The POW Block regenerates after the second bonus level and every subsequent bonus level. Unlike the arcade original, upon reaching Phase 100 in the NES version, the screen reads "Phase 0", and completing it will start incrementing the phase counter again as normal.
Controls[edit]
| Action(s) | Famicom/NES | Game Boy Advance | Wii | Nintendo 3DS | Wii U | Nintendo Switch | |||
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| Wii Remote | Classic Controller | GameCube Controller | Dual Joy-Con Pro Controller |
Single Joy-Con | |||||
| Move Mario / Luigi | 
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| Jump / Punch from underneath | 
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| Pause / Start the game | 
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| Select game mode | 
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Characters[edit]
Playable[edit]
| Image | Name | Information |
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Mario | The older Mario brother, who serves as player one. |
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Luigi | The younger Mario brother, who serves as player two. |
Enemies[edit]
Target enemies must be defeated to clear the phase while other enemies should be defeated by the player's discretion. Each phase consists of one or two types of targets with a maximum of six targets. Shellcreepers and Sidesteppers appear together only in Phase 5 (6 in Japan). The last target enemy will always move at its fastest pace unless said enemy is a Fighterfly.
Target enemies[edit]
| Image | Name | Debut | Information and abilities |
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Shellcreeper | Phase 1 | The first enemies in the game and inspiration for later games' Koopa Troopas. They are replaced by Spinies in remade versions. This is the only target enemy to appear before the first bonus round. |
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Sidestepper | Phase 4 (Phase 5 in Japan) - The next phase after the first bonus round. | Crab creatures that are harder to defeat and have appeared in various games. The first time the player hits them, they will gain an angry expression and walk faster. The player thus needs to hit them twice before kicking them off. They are the most common target enemy in the game. |
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Fighterfly | Phase 6 (Phase 7 in Japan) - The next phase after the first two to contain Sidesteppers. | Flies that jump up and down. The player cannot hit them while they are airborne, and must wait for them to land. After the second bonus stage, all subsequent non-bonus phases will have one or two of them. |
Other enemies[edit]
| Image | Name | Debut | Information and abilities |
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Slipice | Phase 9 (Phase 10 in Japan) | Ice creatures that possess the ability to "self destruct" and cover the floor they are on with ice. Ice-covered floors give the Mario Bros. less traction. Renamed to Freezie in later games. |
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Icicle | Phase 16 (Phase 17 in Japan) | Icicles that at first appear as droplets of water, before forming into a sharp icicle. The icicle will eventually fall over, defeating Mario or Luigi if they go underneath. |
 
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Fireball | Phase 1 | Gigantic balls of fire that come in two varieties. Red ones bounce diagonally around the stage while Green ones travel horizontally. They can be defeated by bashing them from underneath, just as they hit the ground. The player can also use a POW Block to defeat them as well. |
Items[edit]
| Image | Name | Effect |
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Coin (Wafer in Atari 2600 version) | Coins that appear each time an enemy is defeated, with the exception of the last one defeated. They also make an appearance every five stages in a "Test Your Skill" event. If the player collects all of these coins, they will receive a point bonus. In the Atari 2600 version, the coins spawned from defeated enemies are replaced by Wafers. |
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POW Block | POW Blocks always appear in the center of the level, knocking over all enemies on-screen when a brother hits it. They can only be used three times; after the third time, the block disappears and does not reappear until later stages. |
Reception[edit]
The arcade game was given a preview at the Amusement Operators Expo held at the O'Hare Exposition Center in Chicago from March 25-27, 1983. The reviews were mixed. Steve Arrants of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games considered it his favorite among the ten games showcased[10] while William Michael Brown of Electronic Fun with Computer Games thought it was a dud with difficulty being the main issue.[11] John Holmstrom of Video Games criticized the slippery controls.[12] However, the version they reviewed was a prototype.[2] Michael Brown noted that the released game was much easier than the version he played at the expo.[13] The promo photo that Nintendo handed out showed a standing red Shellcreeper as the stand-in for the "P" in the phase counter. It also shows Shellcreepers and Sidesteppers together in Phase 4 which is not the case in either the Japanese or international arcade releases.
IGN rated the Famicom/NES port 91st in their Top 100 NES Games list.[14]
Re-releases, ports, and remakes[edit]
Re-releases[edit]
The international version (first bonus level is phase 3) is part of the compilation Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Mario Bros. arcade system published by Namco and released in 2004 in North America.
An emulation of the original Japanese arcade version (first bonus level is phase 4) was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on September 27, 2017 as part of HAMSTER Corporation's Arcade Archives series, under the name Arcade Archives: Mario Bros. The Joy-Con can be used to play in two-player mode.[15]
Ports[edit]
By Nintendo[edit]
Mario Bros. received three ports for the Family Computer, Nintendo Entertainment System consoles along with the Family Computer Disk System add-on:
- The first port was released in Japan in 1983 for the Famicom and abroad as part of the NES' Arcade Classics Series in 1986. It follows the international arcade phases up to Phase 11. This version introduced two difficulty settings: game A (beginner) and game B (expert). Due to hardware limitations, cutscenes have been removed, enemies have much simpler animations, fireballs are made smaller, and icicles do not appear. The bonus rounds appear on different stages and none of them have invisible floors. Mario and Luigi's clothes are colored differently, notably featuring the first appearance of Mario's current color scheme, with a red cap and shirt and blue overalls. This port has been re-released many times (see below).
- The second port was released in 1988 for the Family Computer Disk System, a Japan-exclusive accessory to the Famicom, under the title Mario Bros. Returns It is based on the previously released Famicom/NES version, but adds several elements to make the game more arcade-accurate such as icicles. It follows the Japanese arcade phases. In addition, a new mode titled "Nagatanien World" has been added, and the player can now change direction in mid-air. This version has never been re-released.
- The third port is the European-exclusive Classic Serie version, released in Germany in 1993. It was based on the aforementioned Mario Bros. Returns, and retained all the arcade features from it, while removing everything else except for the mid-air change in direction. This version was perhaps the closest port of the arcade game, and was one of only two ports to have the original arcade intermissions (the other being the 1988 Atari 8-bit version). Of note is that while the enemies use their sprites and colors from Mario Bros. Returns, Mario & Luigi use theirs from the first NES port. It also restores the game A and B difficulty modes that were missing in the 1988 version. Along with the above version, they are the only two ports to use the Japanese arcade phase system. This version has never been re-released.
Ports of the Arcade Classics Series version[edit]
Several direct ports of the 1983 Famicom/NES version, running under emulation, have been released on later consoles. The first was in 1986 on the Nintendo PlayChoice-10, an arcade machine that played NES titles for a certain amount of time based on the amount of cash inserted.
For the Game Boy Advance, Mario Bros.-e is a US exclusive released as part of Series Two for the e-Reader on November 11, 2002, which omitted the two-player support. Japan next got an exclusive release in the Famicom Mini series, unconnected with the remade version described below, on May 21, 2004.
Mario Bros. is included in Animal Crossing on the Nintendo GameCube. Excluding hacks, the only way to access the game is through an e-Reader card released only in North America on May 12, 2003.[16] The e-Reader and Game Boy Advance must be connected to the GameCube during the scan.[17]
It was also re-released on Virtual Console for Wii for 500 Wii Points in November/December 2006, and for 3DS on May 8, 2013 (Japan), January 9, 2014 (Europe and Australia), and January 30, 2014 (North America, US$4.99). It has also been released on the Wii U for the same price.
The Famicom/NES version is also one of the 30 titles included in the NES Classic Edition and Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, respectively.
Mario Bros. was made available as one of the 20 NES titles at the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service's launch in September 2018, and features online play.[18]
Additionally, Luigi Bros. is an unlockable minigame found in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch port Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. The only difference is the title screen and that Mario is replaced by Luigi with his modern color scheme (a green hat and shirt with blue overalls).
By Atari[edit]
Atari, Inc.[edit]
Previously, Nintendo split the rights for Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. between Coleco and Atari, Inc. with the former publishing for home consoles and the latter for home computers outside of Japan. Coleco's demonstration of Donkey Kong on their upcoming Coleco Adam computer at the June 1983 Consumer Electronic Show scuttled a deal between Nintendo and Atari, Inc. to distribute a localized version of the Famicom to North America.[19] One week after the incident, Nintendo awarded rights to Atari, Inc. to publish Mario Bros. for both consoles and computers outside of Japan, which they did for the Atari 2600 for the Christmas '83 season.[20] The Atari 5200 port missed the intended shopping season and was released the following February.[21] A port for the Atari 8-bit computers was planned to be released in April 1984 as a straight port of the Atari 5200 version, but was canceled for unknown reasons. Atarisoft, the division which handled ports to competing computers, completed but did not release ports for the Apple II and Commodore 64 (NTSC) but they were leaked anyway. This was likely a result of the company undergoing partitioning.
Atari Corporation[edit]
In 1988, Atari Corporation, a successor company, published ports for the Atari 7800, and Atari 8-bit computers such as the Atari XE Game System. The former appears to be visually based off the NES port, while the latter is completely unrelated to the unreleased port and is noted to be very arcade-accurate.
By Westside Soft House[edit]
For the Japanese home computer market, Westside Soft House published a port for the PC-8001 in 1984.[22][23] It is noted to be extremely loud with screeching sound effects, along with low-quality visuals and animation.[24][25] This may have been the result of a poorly done conversion. However, it does include icicles which are missing from most ports.