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.

The following table summarizes the changes. Unlisted levels are mostly the same as the corresponding level in Super Mario Bros., but with minor difficulty increases. 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. Many bottomless pits have been added as well.

The hidden 1-Up mushrooms in 2-1, 4-1, 6-1, and 8-1 have been removed. The ones in 3-1, 5-1, and 7-1 are only available if enough coins are collected in one of two previous -3 levels:


 * World 3-1: Must collect at least 21 coins in World 1-3 or all 35 coins in World 2-3
 * World 5-1: Must collect all 22 coins in World 3-3 or all 27 coins in World 4-3
 * World 7-1: Must collect at least 23 coins in World 5-3 or at least 24 coins in World 6-3

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.

The ending is identical to that which would later appear in The Lost Levels, including awarding 100,000 points for each life the player has left, but the music uses the original Super Mario Bros.'s instrumentation. The second verse was removed to make for a looping song. After the song ends, the game is over and the player can enter his/her initials. Additionally, there is no Warp Door after the final Bowser like in The Lost Levels, and Peach is still in the area behind him, making the ending cutscene more jarring.

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.

The game made its debut at the American Coin Machine Exposition held in Chicago from March 7-9, 1986. 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 by mid-April.

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. overworld theme, 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.