Despite being a Nintendo fan since forever, I just recently played the OG, that many still consider a title that holds up
And in a sense yeah, it still is kinda decent, definitely not a bad time.
But as a platformer especially considering what will come up later... the original SMB is weird.
If we have to compare it to something I wanna say that Super Mario Bros is like..... the Formula 1 car of Mario Games.... lemme explain.
Racing cars tend to go all out: they tend to reach victory as quickly as possible, while also try to make riskier moves to give it all... but once they try to turn around they feel slower than anyone else, meaning that changing direction is kinda stiff, since turning a high speed going car is tough and may take some time.
I know it is a weird comparison, but Mario in SMB feels really similar to me: he is fast and you feel tempted to go forward at higher speed. The game kinda makes you want to sprint forward with less hesitation, for different reasons: you can't go back on the left side of the screen so going forward is your only option: whenever you exit pipes, piranha plants step where you were, as an indirect signal to suggest you to go forward; running at higher speed means you can potentially find hidden passages like the infamous pipes in 1-2, that makes you literally jump worlds. Jumping Cheep cheeps and Lakitus can be completely skipped if you just keep on running,
The issue is that the moment you hesitate..... ehhhh mario feels like a car that is struggling stopping: it's not and immediate top but it's slippery and extremely janky. I feel that enemies like Hammer Bros and Bloopers are so hated mainly because they tend to stop your flow and more likely kills you because of the wackier way you turn around.
Most of the levels are also linear, with the only exception being the castles with labyrinth like paths (which kinda sucks, I can't believe these have been brought back in some instances of NSMB Wii), meaning that you barely get this feeling of turning a car on the highway, but it doesn't mean I felt it kinda too much. I ain't sure if this is because of the version present on the NSO, or the fact I grew up with later titles before jumping on SMB, but regardless I felt the jankier controls way harder.
Not to mention that the variety of the levels, while of course revolutionary at the time, today ust feel too samey. I swear I remmeber playing a level in world 7 and being pretty sure it was the same I found in world 2 or something. Having all levels not changing that much compared to other titles also bland the whole mushroom kingdom together, and you feel kinda like you saw everything the game has to offer around the fourth world or something.
Overall of course SMB is a mile stone that everyone should try at least once, its importance cannot be overstated and so on,... but I feel it didn't age as well as other people may claim. Sorryyy.
And in a sense yeah, it still is kinda decent, definitely not a bad time.
But as a platformer especially considering what will come up later... the original SMB is weird.
If we have to compare it to something I wanna say that Super Mario Bros is like..... the Formula 1 car of Mario Games.... lemme explain.
Racing cars tend to go all out: they tend to reach victory as quickly as possible, while also try to make riskier moves to give it all... but once they try to turn around they feel slower than anyone else, meaning that changing direction is kinda stiff, since turning a high speed going car is tough and may take some time.
I know it is a weird comparison, but Mario in SMB feels really similar to me: he is fast and you feel tempted to go forward at higher speed. The game kinda makes you want to sprint forward with less hesitation, for different reasons: you can't go back on the left side of the screen so going forward is your only option: whenever you exit pipes, piranha plants step where you were, as an indirect signal to suggest you to go forward; running at higher speed means you can potentially find hidden passages like the infamous pipes in 1-2, that makes you literally jump worlds. Jumping Cheep cheeps and Lakitus can be completely skipped if you just keep on running,
The issue is that the moment you hesitate..... ehhhh mario feels like a car that is struggling stopping: it's not and immediate top but it's slippery and extremely janky. I feel that enemies like Hammer Bros and Bloopers are so hated mainly because they tend to stop your flow and more likely kills you because of the wackier way you turn around.
Most of the levels are also linear, with the only exception being the castles with labyrinth like paths (which kinda sucks, I can't believe these have been brought back in some instances of NSMB Wii), meaning that you barely get this feeling of turning a car on the highway, but it doesn't mean I felt it kinda too much. I ain't sure if this is because of the version present on the NSO, or the fact I grew up with later titles before jumping on SMB, but regardless I felt the jankier controls way harder.
Not to mention that the variety of the levels, while of course revolutionary at the time, today ust feel too samey. I swear I remmeber playing a level in world 7 and being pretty sure it was the same I found in world 2 or something. Having all levels not changing that much compared to other titles also bland the whole mushroom kingdom together, and you feel kinda like you saw everything the game has to offer around the fourth world or something.
Overall of course SMB is a mile stone that everyone should try at least once, its importance cannot be overstated and so on,... but I feel it didn't age as well as other people may claim. Sorryyy.