Super Mario Bros.

When Super Mario Bros. was released for the NES in 1985 it was universally considered a classic of the video game world, Super Mario Bros. was one of the first side-scrolling platform games of its kind, introducing players to huge, bright, expansive worlds that changed the way video games were created. Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling game of all time, selling 40.23 million copies and was largely responsible for the initial success of the Famicom, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and video games in general. It has inspired countless imitators (eventually founding an entire genre) and was one of Shigeru Miyamoto's most influential early successes. It also brought Mario, who would later go on to become Nintendo's mascot and more recognizable among worldwide children than Mickey Mouse, to prominence. Shigeru Miyamoto described his initial idea for Super Mario Bros. as "a character that bounces around. And the background should be a clear, blue sky."

Story
One day King Bowser Koopa, the great and powerful leader of the militaristic Koopa Troop invades the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom. To do this, Bowser casts an evil spell upon the kingdom and transforms all of its inhabitants into clouds, hills, blocks and other odd objects. It is foretold that only the Mushroom King's daughter Princess Peach can undo the spell, so Bowser kidnaps her. Fortunately, the heroic Mario Bros. get wind of the Mushroom Kingdom's plight and race to its rescue.

The player takes the role of Mario, or in the case of a second player, Mario's brother Luigi. The ultimate object is to race through the worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom, evade or eliminate Bowser's forces, and save the Princess.

Advancing through the game
In this game Mario and Luigi had to go through various levels to reach Bowser. To go to the next level Mario or Luigi had to grab the flagpole at the end of each level.

Attacks and Moves
Jump - To perform this move, the player must press A. Mario can jump farther distances while running. To run, the player must hold down the B button.

Fireball - To perform this move, the player must acquire a Fire Flower. Afterward, to throw a fireball, the player must simply tap B.

Shell Kick - To perform this move, the player must first find a Koopa Troopa or a Buzzy Beetle, then have Mario jump on it. The Koopa Troopa should remain inside its shell for a few moments, Mario can kick the shell by colliding with it and have the shell go sliding across the platform, possibly hitting other enemies.

Mario's primary attack is simply jumping on top of his enemies, which kills the mushroom traitors, known as Goombas, and sends the turtles known as Koopa Troopas into their Shells. Mario can then kick these shells into other enemies, which will conveniently dispatch them. Conversely, kicked shells can bounce back off of walls or other vertical obstructions and hit Mario. Jumping on enough enemies in succession, or kicking a shell into enough enemies in succession (combos), results in double points earned with each enemy killed, eventually earning Mario an extra life and another chance to pass the level.

Aiding him in his quest are several power-ups, including the Super Mushroom, which would turn Mario into Super Mario, doubling his size; the Fire Flower, which turns Super Mario into Fiery Mario, allowing him to throw fireballs; Starman that give him temporary invincibility; and the 1-up Mushroom which gives him another life.

Mario can be hurt if he touches an enemy. If he takes a hit from an enemy as Super Mario or Fiery Mario, he simply reverts back to regular Mario and the game continues. However, if he takes a hit as regular Mario, falls down a pit (regardless of status), or if the time clock runs out, he loses a life, and starts again. The point where Mario continues depends on how far he ran through the level before dying; either from the very beginning, or at one of several invisible "checkpoints" throughout the level. The game consists of eight worlds with four levels in each. Though each world is substantially different, there are basic similarities: typically the first sub-world is a generic above-ground (overworld) level, the second is in an underground dungeon or underwater (or in the overworld with a unique challenge), the third is a series of platforms suspended high in the sky, and the fourth is a fortress or castle. At the end of each castle level, Mario fights "Bowser" (who, until the final level, is actually a lesser enemy disguised as Bowser) across a bridge over a pool of lava. In the later worlds, Bowser throws hammers as well as occasional fire breaths. Bowser may be defeated in one of two ways; either by touching the axe at the edge of the bridge (thereby dropping Bowser into the lava), or, as Fiery Mario, throwing fireballs at him to defeat him directly.

After beating the game, the player is given the option to start the game again in "'Hard' Mode," where all Goombas are replaced by Buzzy Beetles (Koopa Troopa-like enemies who cannot be killed by fireballs), and all enemies walk faster. In addition, some of the elevator-style lifts are about 60% their original size.

Glitches
There are many glitches in Super Mario Bros. Here are a few:


 * Minus World
 * Small Fire Mario
 * Long World

Alternate Versions

 * 1985 - Original release (US/Japan)
 * (Year Unknown) - Ported into the American arcade machine, the Nintendo Playchoice-10.
 * 1986 - Re-released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan.
 * 1988 - Re-released on the NES in the US as part of the 2-in-1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt compilation, packaged with the NES Action Set.
 * 1990 - Re-released on the NES in the US as part of the 3-in-1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet compilation, packaged with the NES Power Set.
 * 1993 - Remake available on the SNES as part of the Super Mario All-Stars compilation (known as Super Mario Collection in Japan). Graphics and sound were updated, and many glitches were removed.
 * 1994 - Remake available on the SNES in the US as part of the Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World compilation, packaged with the SNES Mario Set.
 * 1998 - Remake released on the Game Boy Color as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. The game featured the original game's graphics but loads of additional content.
 * 2001 - The original game is available as an unlockable NES game in Animal Crossing. Unfortunately, it can currently only be unlocked using an Action Replay cheat.  It has been speculated that the item that allowed players to play the game would be activated via a code released in Nintendo Power, as other such items had been.  This was one of many items left unrevealed.
 * 2004 - The original game was re-released on the Game Boy Advance as part of the NES Classics / Famicom Mini collection, celebrating 20 years of the Famicom in Japan.
 * 2006 - Available on the Nintendo Wii as part of the virtual console.

Enemies

 * Blooper
 * Bowser
 * Bullet Bill
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Cheep Cheep
 * False Bowser
 * Firebar
 * Goomba
 * Hammer Brother
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Lakitu
 * Piranha Plant
 * Podoboo
 * Spiny

Trivia

 * Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to jump over the flag in certain levels. When this happens, the level will go on indefinitely, only stopping when the timer runs out.
 * The third and sixth worlds take place at night, and all other worlds take place during the day.
 * The Super Mario Bros. Stamps set was released in Japan at the end of May, 2007. The stamps feature sprites of characters and items from this game.

Videos
Super Mario Bros.