Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 platform video game internally developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo as a pseudo-sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. It was originally released in Japan for the Family Computer on September 13, 1985, and later for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985, Europe on May 15, 1987 and Australia in 1987. It is the first of the Super Mario series of games. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario and in a two-player game, a second player controls Mario's brother Luigi as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist Bowser.
The game has been highly influential, popularizing the side-scrolling genre. In 2005, IGN's poll named it as The Greatest Game Of All Time. The game also sold enormously well, and was the best-selling game of all time for approximately three decades, until Wii Sports took that title. The commercial success of Super Mario Bros. has caused it to be ported to almost every one of Nintendo's major gaming consoles. Nintendo released special red variants of the Wii and Nintendo DSi XL consoles in re-packaged, Mario-themed, limited edition bundles in late 2010 as part of the 25th anniversary of the game's release.
The player takes on the role of the main protagonist of the series, Mario. Mario's younger brother, Luigi, is only playable by the second player in the game's multiplayer mode, and assumes the same plot role and functionality as Mario. The objective is to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, survive the main antagonist Bowser's forces, and save Princess Toadstool. The player moves from the left side of the screen to the right side in order to reach the flag pole at the end of each level.
The game world has coins scattered around it for Mario to collect, and special bricks marked with a question mark (?), which when hit from below by Mario, may reveal more coins or a special item. Other 'secret', often invisible, bricks may contain more coins or rare items. If the player gains a red and yellow Super Mushroom, Mario grows to double his size and can take one extra hit from most enemies and obstacles, in addition to being able to break bricks above him. Players are given a certain number of lives, and may gain additional lives by picking up green and orange 1-Up mushrooms, collecting 100 coins, defeating several enemies in a row with a Koopa shell, or bouncing on enemies successively without touching the ground. One life is lost when Mario takes damage while small, falls in a pit, or runs out of time. The game ends when all lives are lost.
Mario's primary attack is jumping on top of enemies, though many enemies have differing responses to this. For example, a Goomba will flatten and be defeated, while a Koopa Troopa will temporarily retract into its shell, allowing Mario to use it as a projectile. These shells may be deflected off a wall to destroy other enemies, though they can also bounce back against Mario, which will hurt or kill him. Another attack, for enemies standing overhead, is to jump up and hit beneath the brick that the enemy is standing on. Another is the Fire Flower; when picked up, this item changes the color of Super Mario's outfit and allows him to throw fireballs, or only upgrades Mario to Super Mario if he has not already. A less common item is the Starman, which often appears when Mario hits certain concealed or otherwise invisible blocks. This item makes Mario temporarily invincible to most hazards and capable of defeating enemies on contact.
The game consists of eight worlds with four sub-levels called 'stages' in each world. The final stage of each world takes place in a castle where Bowser or one of his decoys are fought. The game also includes some stages taking place underwater, which contain different enemies. In addition, there are bonuses and secret areas in the game. Most secret areas contain more coins for Mario to collect, but some contain 'warp pipes' that allow Mario to advance to later worlds in the game, skipping over earlier ones. More details about this game can be found on Wikipedia.org. |
5 different online emulators are available for Super Mario Bros. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic features of each emulator available for this game Super Mario Bros. are summarized in the following table:
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