Mario Bros. (game)

Mario Bros. is an arcade game made by Nintendo and released in July 14, 1983. It was also released on the NES, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800 as well as a large multitude of home computer systems. The game introduces the first appearance of Luigi in a game, and is the first installment in the Mario Bros. after the Game & Watch game of the same name. It was also released for the Virtual Console on the Wii for 500 Wii Points, and the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U for $4.99.

A very different variant of Mario Bros. released 3 months early also appears on the Game & Watch, but without color and utilizing two screens. Mario Bros. is also included as a separate minigame, playing like the original game with updated graphics in the two-player mode of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES, and for the role-playing game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and all 4 games on the Super Mario Advance series on the Game Boy Advance. For these Game Boy Advance remake games, there is also an added two to four-player battle mode, meaning that other players can join the player's game through the use of a Game Boy Advance link cable. The NES version of Mario Bros. was also ported to the e-Reader under the name, Mario Bros.-e. The game had three obscure sequels: two direct 1984 follow-ups for Japanese home computers called Punch Ball Mario Bros. and Mario Bros. Special, and a 1995 entry for the Virtual Boy called Mario Clash.

Although Donkey Kong was the first official game to feature Mario, Mario Bros. is considerably the first "real" Mario game, as it is the first game to actually use Mario's name. Donkey Kong is also a part of the series of the same name.

Story
The story of this game revolves around two plumbers, Mario and Luigi, who are working in the sewers. . The sewers are overrun by waves of enemies and the Mario Bros. have to defeat the enemies and get coins to receive their pay.

Gameplay
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 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. 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. From time to time, a bonus level appears where all coins have to be collected in order to get an extra 3000-5000 points. The POW Block regenerates after the second bonus level and every subsequent bonus level.

Playable

 * Mario (Player 1) / Red Mario with blue overalls (Player 1 in Super Mario Advance/Superstar Saga remake.)
 * Luigi (Player 2) / Green Mario with purple overalls (Player 2 in Super Mario Advance/Superstar Saga remake.)
 * Yellow Mario with white overalls. (Player 3 in Super Mario Advance/Superstar Saga remake.)
 * Blue Mario with yellow overalls. (Player 4 in Super Mario Advance/Superstar Saga remake.)

Enemies
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 Fighter Fly.

Target enemies

 * Shellcreeper - The first enemies in the game, a possible relation to Koopas. They are replaced by Spinies in remade versions.
 * Sidestepper - Crab creatures that are harder to defeat and have appeared in various games. They first appear in Phase 4 (5 in Japan).
 * Fighter Fly - Flies that jump up and down. They first appear in Phase 6 (7 in Japan).

Other enemies

 * Slipice - Ice creatures that appear in a lot of games. They have been renamed Freezie, and first appear in Phase 9 (10 in Japan). When one self-destructs, it covers its platform in ice, hence the name.
 * Icicle - They first appear in phase 16 (17 in Japan) and attack by dropping from the ceiling.
 * Fireball - 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. The sprites for green fireballs are swapped with Boos in the Super Mario All-Stars version's Battle Game but not for the in-game 2 player mode where both types appear red.

Remake exclusives

 * Koopa Troopa (Super Mario All-Stars version)
 * Spiny (Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Advance series and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga versions)
 * Boo (Super Mario All-Stars version)
 * Bowser (Super Mario Advance series and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga multiplayer Battle Mode)

Reception
The game has received mostly positive reviews. IGN rated the game 91st in their Top 100 NES Games list.

Game Boy Advance remakes
A remake of Mario Bros. is included in every Super Mario Advance game, as well as Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

New features

 * Enhanced graphics
 * Voice clips in single player mode
 * Backgrounds and music for every stage
 * Jumping onto platforms has been made easier (mid-air turning is allowed, as opposed to the original where Mario or Luigi had to stay in one direction during jumping)
 * A second POW Block has been added
 * POW Blocks reset every few stages
 * Power Squat Jumping has been added
 * The bonus stages are noticeably easier
 * Spinies replace Shellcreepers, making it more obvious not to jump on them
 * This also removes potential confusion between Shellcreepers and Koopas, the former of which cannot be jumped upon while the latter of which can, despite being almost identical
 * There is now support for four players (Marios), along with a Battle Mode based on Super Mario All-Stars

Luigi Bros.
A port of the game known as Luigi Bros. is included in Super Mario 3D World as unlockable content, with the only difference being that Mario is replaced by Luigi in his current appearance (green hat and shirt with blue overalls); player 2's Luigi retains his original appearance (white hat and shirt with green overalls, similar to Fire Luigi's color scheme in later Mario games). If the player has save data of New Super Luigi U, Luigi Bros. can be played straight away without having to be unlocked. Unlike Super Mario 3D World itself, which is usually played using a 16:9 "Widescreen" aspect ratio, Luigi Bros. uses a 4:3 aspect ratio, obviously due to the original Mario Bros. NES game using it. Luigi Bros. is unlocked by defeating Meowser in The Great Tower Of Bowser Land in World Bowser.

Mario Bros.-e
Mario Bros.-e is a game for the e-Reader, released on November 11, 2002 in the United States only. The game is a port of the NES version and the plot of the game is exactly same as the original game. The only difference from the NES version is that there is no two-player support.

References in later games

 * Super Mario Bros. 3: The "Battle Mode" is very similar to Mario Bros. ' s gameplay.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: A Mario Bros.-themed level appears in this game. A version of the game itself (as in the Advance ports) is also included besides having the flyfighter as enemy.
 * Mario Power Tennis: A court is named after the game, and features many elements from it, such as Shellcreepers, POW Blocks and even similar music.
 * Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix: The "Underground Mozart" music is based on the first "Stage Start" theme
 * WarioWare: Twisted!: A microgame based on this game appears in 9-Volt's stage.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: There is a stage based on the first stages of the game, as well as a remixed version of the title's music.
 * Super Paper Mario: Super Dimentio indirectly alludes to the Shellcreepers' weakness during the final battle, when taunting Mario and his party that they shall "wallow in helplessness like upside-down turtles!"
 * Mario's Time Machine: The NES version of this game features a stage similar to the sewers from Mario Bros..
 * WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase: A microgame based on this game appears in 18-Volt's stage.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: One of the underground coin battle areas resemble the Mario Bros. arena.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: Round 1 was remade as part of the Gold Classics Pack, a downloadable course pack. Additionally, White Raccoon Mario looks similar to Player 3.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: The second Coin Battle stage overall resembles Mario Bros.'s arenas.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Luigi Bros., a port starring Luigi instead of Mario, appears in this game. It is unlocked after the player completes The Great Tower of Bowser Land level. Alternatively, if the player has save data for New Super Luigi U on their Wii U, Luigi Bros. is available from the start of the game.
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U: Mario's blue recolor resembles the colors Mario wears in the Japanese artwork of the game.

Staff
The Arcade and NES versions were directed by Hiroshi Yamauchi, both versions were designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. The music of both versions was composed by Yukio Kaneoka. However the Commodore 64 version music was composed by Fred Gray.

Trivia

 * Phase 2 was removed for non-Japanese versions of the game.
 * The music that plays when the player begins Phase 1 is Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which is also featured in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.


 * No home port completely reproduces the Arcade experience. For instance, the gameplay tutorials missing in most versions, including the commonly-distributed NES and GBA version. Perhaps the closest is the Classic Series version of Mario Bros. for NES which was released in 1993 in Europe, which was based on Kaettekita Mario Bros..
 * Mario's outfit on the Japanese cover would later be used as an alternate costume for Mario in Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and an alternate costume for Wario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.