Mario Bros. (Arcade) Playthrough

A playthrough of Nintendo's 1983 arcade game, Mario Bros.

Played on the medium difficulty level.

Mario Bros., a spin-off of the Donkey Kong series, was Nintendo's first time giving Mario a shot at being the headlining star. Our hero, now a plumber, has teamed up with his newly introduced twin brother, Luigi, to fight the creatures of the sewers.

They had to earn that "super" designation somewhere, after all.

In this single-screen platformer, Mario and Luigi's task is to clear each area of the enemies that spill from the pipes at the top of the screen. Since beating these creatures to death with a spanner isn't an option, the bros have to headbutt the floor beneath the enemies' feet to flip them on their backs before kicking them off the screen.

Every stage has the same layout, but new enemies, patterns, and hazards are introduced with each passing round, and before long, the game becomes a chaotic free-for-all as the screen fills with fireballs, icicles, and angry crabs with human teeth.

The gameplay is faster paced than Donkey Kong and Popeye's, but it still requires a methodical approach to make it past the opening stages. Reflexes are important, but real success comes with learning the patterns.

How fast do enemies move in relation to one another? What determines when and where fireballs appear? What's the best angle to stun an enemy from? When is it prudent to prioritize score to earn extra lives? There are a lot of things to consider at any given time.

Once you start getting a feel for how each element affects the ebb and flow of the action, the order behind the chaos begins to make sense and real progress can be made. It's a tough game, but there's a lot of fun to be found in developing the strategies you'll need if you ever hope to see your initials on the high score table.

It was a stepping stone to bigger and better things, but what a super kick off this game was for the careers of these blue-collar Italian joes! Mario Bros. has seen a bazillion ports, rereleases, remakes, and homages over the years, but few have lived up to sheer fun, challenge, and playability of this, the first true "Mario game."
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!