“Swing your arms from side to side. Come on,
it’s time to go. Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again. Let’s do the
Mario, all together now!
You got it! It’s the Mario! Do the Mario!
Swing your arms from side to side. Come on,
it’s time to go. Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again. Let’s do the
Mario, all together now! Come on now. Just like that!”
For those of you who remember these ending lyrics, I bet memories are rushing
back from your childhood. For those of you who are wondering what this is from
let me explain. Back when I got my NES, which came with Super Mario
Brothers/Duck Hunt, I remember this TV show that came on called the Super Mario
Brothers show. It was about Mario and Luigi and their adventures in the Mushroom
Kingdom. It was one of my favorite shows, especially Fridays which they had a
special Zelda cartoon.
The reason why I am bringing this up, because it astounds me how big the Mario
franchise is. There are video games that span multiple consoles, a TV series, a
movie, McDonald toys, and much more. The game that brought me into the “Mario
Brothers Universe” is Super Mario Brothers. This was a classic game, that
brought multiple hours of fun, to many different people throughout the years,
and many people have tried to copy the formula, but it has not been as
successful. Nintendo has decided to bring this game back as part of its Classic
NES series for the Game Boy Advance, but does this game hold up throughout the
years? Read on to find out!
The first thing that you will notice once you boot up Super Mario Brothers is
that the gameplay has remained 100% the same as the original NES game. You can
still grab mushrooms, flower power ups, star invisibly, and everything else that
made the original so fun to play. Everything from the original game can and will
be found in this game. From all of the hidden 1up mushrooms to all of the warp
points, anything you could do in the NES version you can do it in here. Even
though this game is nearly twenty years old, it will still offer players plenty
of challenge, as it did way back when it was released.
The graphics for this game were really great at the time, but players can
definitely tell that it is a first generation NES game. Once you look at this
game, then check out Super Mario Brothers two or three, you can tell how far the
NES came. I compared it on the GBA to the NES, and it is nearly one hundred
percent accurate. The thing I noticed before I did my comparison was something
was different about Mario, once I compared the NES with this version, I
confirmed that he is squished. While it isn’t the worse thing in the world, if
you played the original game it might be a distraction, but it was never
anything that really hampered the game play.
The sound is as memorable as always. I just love hearing the classic sound
effects, such as breaking bricks, stomping on people, star power ups and
everything else. The classic music is in the game as well, from the “sea”
levels, to underground levels, and even the castles! The music in this game is
so popular that there is even techno remixes of some of the levels, and it is
good to hear the original once more.
Super Mario Brothers is rated E for Everyone!
Gameplay: 9.0
Super Mario
Brothers is classic platforming fun!
Graphics: 6.0
Players will be able to tell that this is a first generation NES game especially
when it is compared to later Mario games.
Sound: 8.0
Classic Mario sounds and music make for a fun time.
Difficulty: Medium
This game is really challenging, especially if you can go through the entire
game from start to finish without warping.
Concept: 8.5
Super Mario Brothers inspired many other games, knock offs, and help innovate
gaming.
Multiplayer: N/A
The game offers linked play, but I do not have two GBA’s to test this feature
out.
Overall: 8.8
Even though I still have my NES with Super Mario Brothers it is still really fun
to play this game on the go. I highly suggest you pick up this game, even if you
have it on the NES, and if you don’t, pick it up now, because it is a part of
gaming history!
