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Review of Super Mario Bros.
by Kris on 8/6/2003 (13) 
 | Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo
Genre
Plumbing Adventure
Origin
US
Release Date
Now
Number of players
2
Number of vampires
0
| The year is 1985. Atari dominates the home gaming scene with such hits as Hockey, Adventure, and Primal Rage. It seems all but inevitable that not only will Atari run all other video game systems out of business, but then implode upon itself and take themselves out too! All hope was lost until one Shigeru Miyamato arrived on the scene. Miyamato was well versed in the arts of video games, coming from a long line of Pong Grand Champions. Straight out of college, Miyamato's style was raw but brilliant. Drawing inspiration from a plumber who fixed his sink and the strange story he told of a Mushroom Kingdom, Miyamato made up a simple mock-up game of Super Mario Brothers fashioned out of old bottle caps and rubber bands. While the gameplay was crude, the executives at Nintendo were very impressed and decided to give the young game designer a shot. Handed an unlimited budget, Miyamato hired the best in the business to craft his masterpiece. Ted Yoshi, a disgruntled former cop turned dune buggy driver, was hired to create the artwork. Bob Yoshi (no relation), a former pimp trying to turn legit, was hired to do the sound effects and to supply the developers with fine cocaine. Finally Steve Yoshi (no relation), a self-proclaimed madman and explosive weapons specialist, was hired to keep the ideas safe from the Communists, who wished to use Super Mario Brothers as a missile delivery system. After nearly six weeks of straight work, Pong was released. Shortly after, the team realized that Pong had been released years early and began on what would soon become known as Super Mario Brothers (SMB). Upon the release of SMB three days later, the entire industry pulled out of it's downward spiral and grabbed onto the coattails of the next big thing, Nintendo. Having read this all, you are most likely wondering if such a revolutionary game still holds up to today's standards. Well, over twenty-seven years after it's release, Smooth Operator will finally answer this daunting question.
Facts
8 Worlds to explore.
2 player mode.
Playing SMB will qualify you for entry level plumbing positions.
Eating an entire large pizza in five minutes can lead to severe stomach pains.
Whales are mammals, not fish.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Super Mario Brothers is the standard side scrolling fare that has been the norm since the days of Pitfall! and later games like Pitfall 2 or Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure. You run, you jump, you bang your head on some blocks and coins come out. There are different tilesets and enemies, but the action is pretty much the same throughout. Some enemies you can stomp on and kill, others you must avoid altogether. It is dull and repetitive, not unlike Nebraska. There are no cool weapons to use like flamethrowers or rocket launchers. There are no advanced fighting moves or any sort of combo system in place. SMB should have taken a cue from other innovative games such as NFL Blitz or Dance Dance Revolution, instead it flounders in a pool of it's own mediocrity.
Graphics
The graphics for Super Mario Brothers are poorly drawn, low resolution sprites. The look of the game barely holds a candle to such current games such as Halo or even SMB sequel Super Mario Sunshine. One can only speculate as to what exactly happened that lead the graphics so far aria, but it was defiantly not a lack of technology or strict t
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