Mario Bros.
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| Mario Bros. | |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D 1 |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| System | Arcade NES e-Reader Game Boy Advance Virtual Console Various Non-Nintendo Systems |
| Release Date | Arcade 1983 NES JP September 9, 1983 US June 1985 EU September 1, 1986 e-Reader US November 11, 2002 Game Boy Advance JP May 21, 2004 Virtual Console US November 19, 2006 EU December 8, 2006 JP December 12, 2006 |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
| Rating | E |
Mario Bros. is a two-player arcade game by Nintendo. It is Mario's first game outside of the Donkey Kong series, and the game introduces his brother Luigi as well as the Shellcreeper enemy (which seemed to be a form of the Koopa Troopa, a staple enemy of the later Mario games) and coin-collecting. The was popular even with the decline of the video game industry at the time, and has been often ported to other systems.
Gameplay
The first player controls Mario (while the second player, if any, controlled Luigi) in exterminating various types of pests which infested the sewers. The game was split up into various phases which was each cleared when every main enemy (the Shellcreepers, the Sidesteppers and the Fighter Flies) were eliminated. The enemies were all beaten in the same way, by jumping into the platform beneath them to flip them over onto their backs, then running up to them and kicking them away. There were also several other enemies (the fireballs and the Freezies) which did not have to be defeated in order to complete a level.
Ports and Remakes
- In the 80's Mario Bros. was ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari 8-Bit, Apple II and Commodore 64. Most versions featured inferior graphics.
- A Game & Watch game of the same name was released not long after the arcade game. This game was later ported to the Commodore 64 as Mario Bros. II.
- Mario Bros. was released for the NES in the 80's. This version had less detailed sprites and was later released as an unlockable game in 2001's Animal Crossing, for the e-Reader in 2002 and on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2006. It was also released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 in Japan as part of the Famicom Mini series.
- Mario Bros. appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 as the two-player Battle Mode. This version replaced the Shellcreepers with Spinies, likely so that players of the Super Mario Bros. games would not be confused into jumping on them.
- The Virtual Boy game Mario Clash was loosely based on Mario Bros.
- An updated version of Mario Bros. was included in Super Mario Advance in 2001. This version allowed up to four players to play. The additions included items from other games and an appearance by an invincible Bowser as an obstacle in one of the multiplayer levels. This version was also included in Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 and even Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Using the link cables, any two of these games could be used to play multiplayer Mario Bros.