VS. Super Mario Bros.

VS. Super Mario Bros. is a two-player VS. System version of Super Mario Bros. which was released in 1986.

Story
The plot is the same as the original Super Mario Bros., featuring Mario and Luigi (second player only) setting out on a quest to free Princess Toadstool from the evil Bowser and restore the fallen kingdom of the Mushroom People.

Differences
This game has higher gameplay difficulty than the original Super Mario Bros., with fewer warp zones and power-ups, and more enemies. Six new levels were created for the game, all of which were reused in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Detailed set of level differences
The original version of Super Mario Bros. has some levels repeat, with an easier version with some obstacles removed (fire bars in the castle, fewer enemies, etc) earlier on, and then a later "full" version, e.g. 1-3 is the easier version of 5-3; 1-4 is the easier version of 6-4; 2-2/2-3 are the easier version(s) of 7-2/7-3; and 2-4 is the easier version of 5-4.

In the arcade version, most of the "easier versions" (all except 1-3) are replaced by the "harder version" to make way for new levels.


 * Some of the bricks above the end pipe in World 1-2 are removed to prevent anyone from performing the Minus World trick, although if the player goes to here, it is possible to see that the Minus World seems to still be in place.


 * The ground before the staircase at the end of World 1-3 is removed, resulting in the player either using a lift or performing a long jump to reach the staircase.


 * 1-4 is replaced by a new level which was reused as 1-4 in The Lost Levels.


 * The Koopa Troopa at the ending staircase of 3-1 is replaced with three Goombas, making the infinite 1-Up exploit in that level impossible.


 * 3-2 is replaced by a new level, reused later as 2-2 in The Lost Levels, which is similar, but with more obstacles such as open gaps and a floating pipe towards the end that the player has to use hidden blocks to reach in order to make the jump across a wide gap.


 * 5-3 is replaced by 6-3 from the original game, and 6-3 is replaced by a new level reused as 4-3 in The Lost Levels. This has extremely long jumps to the platforms, and in one case, the player has to hop onto a Paratroopa next to the bluff (when it's at the right height) to reach the platform.
 * Since 6 is a night world in both the NES and the arcade version, yet 4 is a day world in all three games (including The Lost Levels), the level is a white-grounded night scene, whereas it became grassy daytime in The Lost Levels.


 * 2-4 is replaced by 6-4 from the original game, and 6-4 is replaced by a new castle, later reused as 5-4 in The Lost Levels, which also has a lot of long, hard jumps (and some tricky small ones), and an extra long firebar (only seen in 5-4 in the original NES version).


 * 7-2/7-3 move up to replace 2-2/2-3, and have their slots filled by new levels which became 6-2/6-3 in The Lost Levels. These are harder and longer versions of 7-2/7-3, with 7-2 (a water world) having very little floor, with stretches of low hanging reef, and 7-3 being an extra long bridge (with lots of gaps) with many more jumping Cheep-Cheeps (and flying Koopas as well).


 * The solution to the "maze" in 7-4 is slightly different.


 * 4-4 and 5-4 trade places in the arcade version.


 * The invisible block used to reach the floating pipe in World 8-4 is moved one block higher, requiring a long jump to reach it. Also, the area where Mario/Luigi fights Bowser now has bricks above, making the area between it and the bridge narrower.

The Warp Zone in level 4-2 has been modified from the NES version to remove the warps to Worlds 7 and 8, allowing warping only to world 6; there is no way around the extremely difficult levels imported into Worlds 6 and 7.

Various ? Blocks, especially those that contain power-ups, are often either moved to much harder-to-reach places, or even removed altogether, or the power-ups are replaced with coins.

Depending on operator settings, the player may now start with two lives instead of three and the timer may be set to run faster than the NES version's timer did. The coin counter now has three digits instead of two, meaning that Mario/Luigi may have to collect more than 100 coins (can be set to 100, 150, 200, or 250 by the operator) to earn an extra life. After a game over, depending on operator settings, the player may continue with four lives instead of three.

Many of the 1-Up mushrooms are removed, with only invisible ones remaining. The remaining ones are:


 * World 1-1
 * World 3-1 (Available only if the player collects at least 21 coins in World 1-3, or all 35 coins in World 2-3)
 * World 5-1 (Available only if the player collects all 22 coins in World 3-3, or all 27 coins in World 4-3)
 * World 7-1 (Available only if the player collects at least 23 coins in World 5-3 or at least 24 coins in World 6-3)

The ending music had a slightly different variation: It uses the original Super Mario Bros.s instrumentation but with Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels second section. The second verse was removed to make for a looping song.

Production and release
VS. Super Mario Bros. was to be called VS. Mario's Adventure. The only remnant of this earlier title is an arcade flyer with a trademarked name.

Despite the arcade version of the game never being officially released in Japan, Japanese arcade operators allegedly found ways of getting access to the game to use in their arcades.

Arcade Archives port
In the September 2017 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced Arcade Archives: VS. Super Mario Bros., a port of VS. Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Switch as part of 's Arcade Archives series. This time, two detached Joy-Con are used to play with two players. It was released in Japan, the Americas and Europe on December 22, 2017, and in Australia on December 23, 2017.

Trivia

 * The game contains a rearrangement of the original Super Mario Bros. theme song, which is played during Name Registration on the rankings list. This song was re-used as the world select theme in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, a bonus stage song in the Super Mario Maker series for Super Mario Bros. style, and plays in part of the Sky music for Super Mario Maker 2 in the Super Mario Bros. style.