Mario Bros. (Game & Watch)

Mario Bros.
Developer	Nintendo R&D 1, Thundersoft (Commodore 64 version)
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game & Watch
Release Date	Multiscreen March 14, 1983 Commodore 64 1987

Mario Bros. (not to be confused with the arcade game of the same name) is a Game & Watch game starring Mario and Luigi. The game was one of Game & Watch's Multi-Screen models, although the two screens were aligned left-to-right rather than one above the other.

Information

Mario and Luigi are workeers in a cake factory. Each is located on one screen, with a series of conveyor belts between them. The player must constantly move Mario and Luigi to catch the cakes before they fall off the conveyor belts, and then pass the cake up to the next conveyor belt. After a cake reaches the top, Luigi can toss into into a waiting truck. A filled truck will drive away and give mario and Luigi a break before it returns empty.

Legacy

This game was notably released several months before the arcade game of the same name. That makes it the first released game bearing the Mario Bros. name and the true first appearance of Luigi.

Ports/Remakes

• Mario Bros. was ported to the Commodore 64 under the name of Mario Bros. II, most likely in order to distinguish it from the arcade Mario Bros.. This version featured color graphics.
• Mario Bros. was included in Game & Watch Gallery 3, both as the original "Classic" mode and a new "Modern" mode. The Modern version added in Bowser, who would pound the ground at random points and reverse the direction of the conveyor belts. Mario or Luigi could return the conveyor belts to normal by pressing nearby levers. Wario also made a cameo appearance as the truck's driver.
• Mario Bros. was later included as an unlockable minigame in Game & Watch Gallery 4. It was identical to the release in Game & Watch Gallery 3, except that the graphics of the Modern version had been updated.