Super Mario Bros.

The specific video game that hooked you for life is something nearly ever gamer can point to.  Why is that?  Does anyone remember the first movie they watched – that made them think of how much they enjoyed watching movies?  Or televsion show?  I remember plenty of movies and television shows I watched when I was young (and there are probably countless I have forgotten about), but I don’t remember what my firsts were.  Yet for some reason, I have many memories playing Super Mario Bros. (ironically with my brother) which led to my lifelong enjoyment of video games.

Is it the number of hours you can spend playing?  The number of hours it takes to get good?  The interactivity?  It’s probably a combination of all those factors and more.  The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in North American when I was too young to even understand what it was, and it wasn’t for a few more years until my family got one.  This makes me too young to be part of the arcade generation or to have enjoyed the Atari 2600 which are other common points of entry.

While Mario made his first appearance in the arcade classic Donkey Kong and was then seen in the arcade game Mario Bros, the 1985 release of Super Mario Bros. for the NES is when the Tsunami really began.  Now with over 200 million sales to his name, Mario has certainly come a long way since his humble 8 bit youth.  So why did this game have such an impact?  The unique combination of skill, strategy, and narrative which would become the staple trifecta of making great games that continues until this day.

As the quintessential platformer, you had to get good at controller Mario in split-second situations in order to progress.  There are no saved games – no do-overs.  Run out of lives and you get a gameover and must start completely over.  Jump a half-second to soon or too late and it might mean the difference between life and death.  Movement and jumps have to be extremely precise, or you will die.  My older brother still reminds me of the trouble I had on an early level where two turtles were next to each other.  My skill remained insufficient longer than I would have liked until I eventually learned how to pass this obstacle.  Getting past some of the hammer brothers can also be quite tricky.

Despite seeming simple by today’s standards, there is a surprising amount of strategy present.  Do you try to get all the coins so you can get extra lives?  Or is that too risky, and he safer move is to just press forward?  Likewise, do you kill all the enemies to create safety, or is it safer to just run past the enemies?  The choice of aggressiveness is up to the player.

Last, but certainly not least, is the narrative.  Mario is a unique protagonist with a face.  The instruction manual that came with the game outlined the dilemma facing the world and what Mario must try to accomplish.  There is a memorable villain, a princess to save, and more.  It’s all so simple, but each character is memorable.  Decades later, the same formula continues as Mario continues his adventures.

During the course of the game, level design is varied and difficulty appropriately increases.  Some levels have you running on the ground, others have you swimming, sometimes you are jumping up with the clouds, and other times you are in a dark, dungeon-like environment.  While early levels are largely instructional to teach you how to play the game, some of the later levels can get very difficult.  Without being able to save your game, the knowledge that any incorrect move could be your last is always in your mind.  The secret pipes also keep you on your toes and wondering what could be on the other side.

Probably my only complaint has to do with the game’s ending.  After completing the last level, you finally find princess Peach.  She proceeds to tell you that she has another quest for you to pursue.  You can then replay the game in a modified fashion to make it slightly more difficulty.  The problem, is that when you complete it again, she just tells you the same thing – that she has another quest for you.  Only this time, you just are sent to do the same thing over and over.  It breaks the narrative.  Really, there are two options which would have been better.  Option number one would be to just conclude the game after finishing the last level and have princess Peach thank you.  The second option would be to have you go back and replay levels on a harder difficulty, but there has to be some kind of different ending to conclude the game.  It’s also narrative breaking because the whole plot revolves around Bowser kidnapping Peach, yet when you beat Bowser and save her, she just sends you out to save her again?

Confusing ending aside, Super Mario Bros is the game that started it all for many, many people.  Decades later, and Mario is still selling games like hotcakes.