Mario Bros. (game)

Mario Bros. is an arcade game made by Nintendo and released in 1983. It was later also released on the NES, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800. It marked the first appearance of Luigi in a game, and was the first installment in the Mario Bros. series.

A port of the Mario Bros. also appeared on the Game & Watch, but without color and two screens. Mario Bros. was included as a separate mini-game, playing like the original game with updated graphics in the Two-player mode of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the SNES, and for the RPG game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and all 4 games on the Super Mario Advance series on the Game Boy Advance. For the GBA games, there was also an added two-to four-player battle mode, meaning that other players could join the player's game through the use of a GBA link cable. Also, in every remake for the Game Boy Advance, the Shellcreepers were replaced by Spinies.

Gameplay
The game features a simple stage in which the player plays in an endless game. 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. This is done by jumping against the floor when enemies are walking on from below to knock them out, and then the player has to kick them away. When all enemies are defeated, the player gets to the next phase. In later levels, different types of enemies and harming fireballs appear. From time to time, there is a bonus level where the player has to collect all coins in order to get a 1-Up.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi

Enemies

 * Shellcreeper - The first enemies in the game, possibly related to Koopas. They were replaced by Spinies in the Super Mario Advance games.
 * Sidestepper - Crab creatures that were harder to defeat and have appeared in various games. They first appear in Phase 4.
 * Fighter Fly - Flies that jump up and down. They first appear in Phase 6.
 * Slipice - Ice creatures that have appeared in a lot of games. They have been renamed Freezie, and first appeared in Phase 9. When one is defeated, it covers its platform in ice, hence the name.
 * Icicle - They first appear in phase 16 and attack by dropping from the ceiling.
 * Fireball - They attack by bouncing around the stage. They can be defeated by bashing them from underneath, just as they hit the ground. The player could also use a POW Block to defeat them as well.
 * Green Fireball - Also known as Hurricanes, they act slightly differently than fireballs, going straight instead of bouncing around.

Remake Exclusives

 * Koopa Troopa (Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario All Stars versions)
 * Spiny (Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario All Stars, Super Mario Advance and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga versions)
 * Bowser (Super Mario Advance and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga versions)

References in Later Games

 * Super Mario Land: Fighterflies appear as enemies in a few stages.
 * Super Mario Advance: In this game, it was revealed that Clawgrip was a Sidestepper, which is an enemy species that debuted in Mario Bros.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: Slipice (now known as Freezies) appears as an item.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Slipice (Freezy) appears as an item in this game as well; there is also a stage based on Phase 1 of Mario Bros.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: Fighter Flies and a Mario Bros.-themed level appears in this game. The game Mario Bros. itself is also included.

Trivia

 * There is a minigame entitled "Mario Bros." in Game & Watch Gallery 3, in which Mario and Luigi have to prepare cakes moving along a conveyer belt.
 * There's a trick in the game where Mario or Luigi can stay behind a Warp Pipe and not get damaged by enemies. However, fireballs can still harm Mario and Luigi behind there.
 * The music that plays when the player begins Phase 1 is Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik.