Ahoy Mateys, it be Captain Nostalgia here to bring ‘ye a story about one of the greatest video games ever created, and that game be the one n’ only Super Mario Bros, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Any kid born in the late 70’s, or sometime in the early 80’s, knows that unmistakable feeling of playing the game for the first time and experiencing that magical feeling of wonder that only Super Mario Bros can supply. So, Captain Nostalgia was sittin’ around in his quarters the other day thinkin’ about what to kick me blog off with and I be figurin’ that the best thing to do is to write about the one game that single handedly brought video games back from the dead and made them cool again. Thanks to Nintendo and some mighty fine landlubbers Super Mario was born and the industry would never be the same again.
As many who are fans of the hobby are aware, in the early to mid 80’s the video game industry was sufferin’ something fierce and experienced it’s legendary “crash” that saw many stores that once proudly sold games heavily discounting them or cease carrying them altogether. The entire landscape of home video gaming was in shambles and it looked as if this “fad” was about to come to an untimely end after a rash of titles with poor quality began infesting the the seven seas. Somethin’ was desperately needed to put some spark into the gaming industry otherwise the beast would be slain and video games would soon be an afterthought. Somethin’ was seriously needed to take this floundering business and give it a jug of rum it needed to be sailing proud once again. Luckily a Japanese company known as Nintendo had just the rum that be needed to put gaming’s ship back on the high seas. That rum came in the form of a game known as Super Mario Bros. for the brand new Nintendo Entertainment System, and home video games were once again ruling the oceans with a rage somethin' fierce.
The game was sold as a pack in title with Nintendo’s new machine which was marketed and saw release in 1985, but Nintendo didn’t want 'ye to think 'ye were buying video games and demanded that their new console be sold and marketed as an “entertainment system”, fearing skallywag’s would be turned off from it otherwise. They tried to hide the fact that the NES was a gaming console by originally adding the now famous zapper gun and a toy robot known as “R.O.B”, but consumers quickly saw past the gimmick and R.O.B was quickly abandoned and forgotten. Nintendo soon issued a re-release as the “Action Set” sans the silly robot and 1986 is when the console would begin to enjoy mass market success. Nintendo was extremely scared that marketing a video game machine after the big crash to be a risky move and wanted to find a new way to sell what was essentially a dead product in a dead industry. Any which way, in the end they didn’t have anything to worry about thanks to the console selling well in test markets before it’s national launch and the well received pack in game having a huge factor in it’s success. One reason it succeeded so easily early on was because the president of Nintendo of America offered to buy back any unsold inventory during its first year of release which enticed more and more retail outlets to stock the NES. Nintendo even offered to bring in monitors and set up displays which meant that stores wouldn’t have to do any work and would benefit from a sales increase should the console be a success, so it was a win-win situation for everyone involved.
For those of 'ye cod-faced deck washers who aren’t in the know, Super Mario Bros. is a side scrolling action game that stars the world famous Mario (and his brother Luigi) and follows their adventure through the Mushroom Kingdom. For it’s time the game sported graphics that were head and shoulders better than any home video game before it and had a legendary musical score that was more advanced than anything the Atari 2600, 5200, Colecovision, or the Intellivision could achieve. Think about it. Pretty much any landlubber worth his salt knows the classic Mario theme, it’s been etched into minds of almost any kid who grew up in the 80’s or spent significant time with the NES during it’s heyday and has been used in everything from commercials, movies, and even the recording industry. It’s a true staple in American culture and aside from one or two other gaming themes the good captain would be hard pressed to find any other tune more notable than the one found in Super Mario Bros.
Fun little fact: Super Mario Bros. was once an arcade game too! Cap’n Nostalgia had actually played the arcade version of this game back in 1988 at a pizza shop that used to exist in a small town near the port I grew up in. They only had two arcade games, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (not part II) and Super Mario Bros. and whenever the good captain would order a pizza there, or go visit my grandfather, my mother would give the captain some change to play those arcade machines. Man, the memories Cap’n Nostalgia has in his memory bank of experiencing Mario in arcade form will live on throughout the seven seas forever. Aye, the cap’n is just glad that I can be sayin’ I’ve played the original Super Mario on its original arcade cabinet, oddly enough knowing that kind of gives me goosebumps. Just don’t be repeatin’ that or it’ll be the plank for ‘ye! Anyhow, I’m sure you all have played this game at least once in your lives so I won’t go into too much detail about it’s story line, instead I’d like to discuss some of the fond memories I have of this classic title and share some thoughts on the game as a whole. Cap’n Nostalgia fondly remembers visiting the store and bringing home his booty which consisted of the NES Action Set and a copy of Skate or Die from a toy store back at the port. Magical be the memories stored deep inside of me’ brain as I directed the crew to set it up as I held the Mario/Duck Hunt cartridge in my hands with a deep excitement to begin playing and experiencing what many scallywags of mine were raving about. The good captain couldn’t secure himself an NES until a couple years after it’s release because me’ ship had an Atari 2600 at the time and I was still having a blast with it in the mid to late 80’s. In all honesty, my parents felt I didn’t really need to take the next step yet and looking back I’m actually glad that I hadn’t until I did because I was still in love with my 2600. But let me be tellin’ 'ye, when the cap’n finally did take the next step he was pleasantly surprised because the games that could play on the NES were vastly superior and extremely advanced when compared to the ol’ 2600. Needless to say me being locked inside me’ quarters having a blast playing my Nintendo morning, noon, and night was a sight seen often.
One fond memory that comes to mind is that I remember my neighbor (who was about my age) came upstairs and played Super Mario with me the night I got it. I didn’t know he already had a Nintendo and when I watched him pull off some of the tricks and uncover things that were hidden within SMB I nearly flipped out, having never seen anything quite like it before. It was awesome to see a character in a game do some of the neat things Mario was doing and I made sure to remember how to do them all myself and that night Cap’n Nostalgia stayed up for hours playing the game after my neighbor had left to go back downstairs. I felt like the king of the world as I uncovered secret 1up’s, went down pipes, collected hidden coins, and traveled through warp zones. It was like nothing I had ever experienced on the seven seas before. Aye, it be rare when you get these kinds of feelings while playing video games these days, I can only think of maybe 10 times in me’ entire life when I felt this way while playing a game but this moment was definitely up there as the top dog of “awe” worthy excitement, even more so than when I killed the Kraken and took 4 ships down in the process!.
Super Mario 2 (the captain’s personal favorite of the NES trilogy), and Super Mario 3 would later come out on the NES and continue to grow the Mario brand beyond anything the Nintendo brass would have thought possible, but this is the game that started it all and because of my fond memories of SMB it will always have a small piece of Cap’n Nostalgia’s heart all it’s own. With that said, I would rank the original as my 3rd favorite Mario game on the NES behind it’s following two titles. Yeah, I know, Super Mario 2 isn’t considered by the masses to be nearly as good, but the cap’n loves SMB 2 and 3 to death and both games caused me to miss quite a bit of sleep in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love the original Super Mario. How can you not? If 'ye be disagreein' than 'ye be disagreein' but don’t think for one second that 'ye captain isn’t going to inflict some punishment for ‘ye thoughts, matey! But now it’s time for Captain Nostalgia to switch route and discuss the game and how it stacks up while actually playing it. We’ve already discussed the score and the legendary tunes SMB brings to the table, but what about the control and how the game handles? Honestly the game is an absolute dream to control thanks to it’s simplistic style of gameplay and the wonderful NES controller being so perfect for side scrolling platform games such as this. Mario stops on a dime, jumps in cohesion with you pressing the buttons, and runs along at a speed appropriate to his surroundings. The game just feels amazingly responsive which adds to the game being so fun. Arrrgghh ‘me be hating games that have laggy controls or are just clunky to move around in, those developers need to be shot at the stake or face the gallows for such poor design. It’s just a fun experience all around to play Super Mario Bros. and it totally holds up to this day, especially if you’re playing it for the first time and are discovering all of the hidden Easter eggs located within the game. But what are the chances of someone who’s reading this has never having played Super Mario before?
Believe the cap’n when I be sayin’ this, for it’s time this game was absolutely above and beyond anything video games had ever seen with long and drawn out stages and pretty graphics, this game just had it all. A musical score that everyone knows and loves, hidden underwater worlds, secrets, glitches, and other little nooks and crannies that people will never forget as long as they live. There was just something about it during it’s heyday. Super Mario Bros. is a timeless classic that will never be forgotten as long as a controller is in the hands of someone who knows where it all began and will forever live in legend on the seas of retrogaming. Period.
Cap'n Nostalgia salutes Super Mario Brothers with 8.5 swigs of RUM out of 10!
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