A Mario Retrospective - Part I

Welcome to a multiple-part retrospective of the Mario series, starting with Super Mario Bros. and working its way to the latest Mario adventure, Super Mario Galaxy. It will only cover the core games in the Mario series. Spinoffs will not be included. This is Part 1.

Super Mario Bros.

Mario’s plumbing/adventuring career began with the legendary Super Mario Bros., a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a simple yet engaging game that jump-started the ailing video game industry and is considered by many to be the greatest game of all time.

Recent experience tells me that that may no longer be the case, but this game still holds a special place in my heart. It’s one of the first (and finest) games I’ve ever played, and I find myself playing it over and over again to this day. My question: what makes the game so damn special? The following is an exploration of the game as a whole, examining its individual elements.

You can't tell me you don't remember this.

The most essential part of any game is its story. Not really whether it’s a good story or not, but just that it has one. The Mario Bros.’s first foray into Mushroom Kingdom savior-hood actually has a pretty interesting story. Bowser, the King of the Koopas, takes over the Mushroom Kingdom by turning its denizens, the Mushroom People, into blocks, mushrooms, and multiple other weird knick knacks. Only Princess Peach, the Mushroom King’s daughter, can undo the spell, and Bowser kidnaps her to prevent her interference in the matter. Little does Bowser know that the humble plumber duo, Mario and Luigi, are the only ones with the courage to save the princess and take on the evil Koopa Clan.

Sure, it sounds like standard fairy tale fare, but compared to some of the subsequent storylines in the Mario series, it’s by far the most original (Ignore Super Mario Bros. 2). Not only is this where we witness the transformation of the Bros. from plumbers to full-fledged heroes, but there’s an actual reason Bowser has kidnapped the princess.

By now, most basic elements in the Mario series seem like nothing new. However, twenty-three years ago, nobody had heard of walking mushrooms, giant turtles whose shells were oh-so-kickable or an Italian man who could shoot fireballs. Every element we’ve seen in Mario games over the years has originated in this game. Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros., you name it – it all started here.

The sound is something special here, too. I get chills every time I hear the sound of Mario going down a pipe or collecting a Magic Mushroom, causing him to grow. Everybody recognizes the classic Mario theme music, which we first heard in this game. In fact, every bit of music in this game is as recognizable today (maybe even more) as it ever was. To be perfectly honest, every single bit of sound in this game is some of the most influential in video game history.

The graphics of the game, compared to some of today’s, are a bit outdated. Granted, this was when the modern video game era was in its infancy, so the graphics designers can be given a little slack here. For the time, they were some of the best anybody had seen. For one, this was the first game to take part in more than one screen, and was one of the first to feature scrolling landscapes. The color palette of the NES was out in full force here, and for many the capabilities of the system were amazing. I think the only complaint I have here is that the princess’s sprite looks like it came out of the circus or something.

Uhh...let's be friends and call it a night.

All in all, Super Mario Bros. is considered to be one of the most influential games of all time, and can be considered the game that single-handedly revived a dying video game industry. Though the entire package looked a bit modest, it nevertheless delivered a gameplay experience that launched a thousand games and is imprinted into gamers’ minds the world over.