Mario Bros.

As much as I love arcade games, here's an example of a game that Isn't a good time. Here's a series that improved so much on nintendo consoles that it's not even funny. I've recently tried to get into this game, but the setbacks are just too much, and the gameplay is just too tedious. Being good at this game involves mastering some of the most frustratingly inflexible controls in platformer history. The game has permament ice physics, but even that doesn't do the awfulness justice; controlling Mario is like trying to move around a statue on wheels on ice. In order to even play at a basic level, you have to master walking off of platforms by stopping near the edge before moving off of them, as otherwise Mario will slide for what feels like an eternity when he lands on the lower platform. Stopping, and then moving again, is incredibly delayed. You have to learn how to do "half jumps" by tapping a direction, letting go, and THEN pressing jump, as this is the only way to make mario do a shorter jump. God forbid if you do a normal jump, and then jump again when you land. You'll basically traverse half the stage at that point (or more if you are sliding off of platforms).

Controlling Mario in this game is painful even with lots of practice. The gameplay is so different from what you expect from a platformer that I would say this game almost feels more like a real time strategy game. Once the game reaches a higher difficulty level, in order to survive consistently, you need to plan every move ahead of time. You need to visualize what the board will look like a few seconds later. Otherwise you will inevitably get into a death trap at some point. You have to learn how to master the controls to survive the game's max difficulty (when you get the most amount of Icicles and there can be 2 red fireballs on screen at once). The controls are so bad that the only way to make the game playable once there's falling icicles is to really take your strategies seriously. This involves learning exactly where green fireballs move up and down so you know where Mario can jump over them. Learning that Icicles sparkle exactly 6 times before they fall. Learning exactly how to open every type of stage. The game has 6 stages and then a bonus stage in each loop. The order is Shellcreeper->Crab>Fly+Crab. Each one requires a different opening setup and subsequent sub-patterns depending on the RNG, as well as backup plan for certain icicle placements or green fireballs. Your biggest nightmare is going to be the red fireball, which forces Mario to be in or avoid certain parts of the level.

Enemies are brutal. They bounce around like crazy, they can even bounce on coins which can screw everything up. If you make any mistakes at all, you can end up with an unplayable board and lose all your lives. This is where the POW block comes in. The POW block can be used 3 times per loop, before it regenerates. Although you really should only use it 2 times unless you are right at the end of the last level before the bonus stage, as using up the entire POW block deprives you of an important platform to stand on. You can jump over green fireballs while standing on the POW, meaning that the only things that can ever kill you, are red fireballs which sometimes get there, and the Fighterfly which can jump on the pow if it is jumping from the very edge of the lowest platform.

Learning to play the game is possible, but the controls are so painful and the pacing is so slow that I wouldn't recommend learning how to play the game. It doesn't help that once you're able to play the max difficulty even remotely decently, the first 10 minutes of the game will be so boring as to be completely pointless. Playing the game without learning strategies and mechanics is also not very enjoyable, so I can't really say this is a game worth playing. Playing it with 2 players might actually be the best way to enjoy this game. Mario and Luigi get in each others way, which makes the game even harder to control. Proper team work is actually kinda OK, but only for a few runs. Future Mario games would make him handle much better. Some level of momentum physics in platformers are fun, and I think SMB3 is a game that truly got it right. The problem with Mario Bros here is that the game isn't really fixable just by making the controls easier. With easier controls, the game would lose its depth, as the entire point of the game is that the controls suck. That's what the game is balanced around. Basically, the game is just fundamentally bad and unfixable.

I think the most interesting thing about this game is how much it hates patience and throws fireballs at you for being too slow and taking your time. I think that and the "so bad it's kinda interesting" control physics definitely make it stand out a little more among the earlier NES games for me.

Mario Bros. is just good old fun. Nothing much left to say. It's not the game that changed video games forever... But we are getting there.

Mario Bros was released back in 1983 and is simply an Arcade Game where you gotta rack up those points.

Mario and his brother Luigi are plumbers in Brooklyn, New York. Until all of a sudden, Turtles, Crabs, Flies, and more are invading the sewers. Mario and Luigi must clean the sewers.

The gameplay is really neat. Enemies are walking down toward you and you have to jump on the platform they are standing on to knock them on their back. Do this enough and you move on to the next phase. You also can use the POW Block to instantly knock them down. But you can only use it three times until it's gone forever. As far as I'm aware, the phases are infinite. But I might be wrong. Still a very fun game

Mario Bros isn't the groundbreaking title that put the series on the map. But it's a fun little game that is just a blast to play

While I fondly remember playing this off to the side of the Main titles on the GBA, Mario Bros. sadly is a game that doesn't hold its legacy as well as the SMB series. As an arcade game the theory is sound, you platform on multiple levels, hitting the roof to strike the enemy bug, crab, turtle, etc. Sadly the biggest hurtle to the game is the jumping and running physics which sadly feels very sluggish. Its debatable whether refining the character handling to make it more akin to the Super Mario series would make this more enjoyable. Still a fun little pack in game that I would rather miss if it weren't included at all.

This game is remembered fondly but this is seriously as boring as early nes games get. It’s to Super Mario Bros what Street Fighter 1 is to Street Fighter 2 aka shit into absolute classics.

No jumping on the Koopas!

The first Mario Bros. is an extension of Joust, complete with the sloppy, oversensitive controls. You kill enemies by jumping from below and then walking across them, and a all-to-rare but useful POW block. It's way better when it's played competitively so you can quarrel with which Mario brother is better. It's too rudimentary of a game for its position.

As is traditional, the NES port is easier compared to the arcade version. Atari 5200 is okay, but, boring.