It feels weird reviewing a game like this. It's Super Mario Bros, one of the most iconic games in existence. Um... guys, in this game, you uh, run and jump through 32 levels, fight a big lizard guy named bowser, and rescue a princess. It's insane. On a serious note, I'm going to try my hardest to justify writing this review.
This game is a bit stiffer than most pure platformers. It's not on the level of Castlevania, but changing direction in midair can take a while. Mario has a weight that makes the forward momentum the funnes part of the game. Just keep going, get the coins, and try not to stop. If you do, you'll have to speed up again, and some jumps may be a bit more difficult. For a game this simple, I think that works really well.
One thing that I realized while playing this game is that this is pretty much the only Mario game where I really went out of my way to get coins. Like, most Mario games are really easy, and if you really need lives you could either farm an earlier level or use an infinite 1-Up trick. In SMB1, your farming options are limited and you can't return to previous levels, and assuming you don't use the continue trick (Which, honestly, maybe you should). As such, new players will really need to collect some coins so they can get more lives.
On another note... points contribute nothing. This is an issue in almost all of the 2D Mario games. Well, more of a non-issue, but I think it's worth pointing out because it's interesting. Points made sense in arcade games, and home games like Castlevania used them for earning lives, but in Super Mario Bros, they don't really do anything. One could argue they add replay value, and they were a part of the NWC I guess, but I never really looked at the point counter and said, 'Wow. I did great this level.' Maybe I would've if there was a tangible reward for it. As I said, this was just me pointing out an example of outdated arcade design. It doesn't really affect my enjoyment all that much.
Another issue, one that is a bit more substantial, is that there is only one boss in the entire game. Now, they do change up that one boss a little bit by giving him a new attack and placing some blocks in your way, but the strategy is always the same: Get behind Bowser and touch the axe. Even one more boss that was completely different would've been much better, although I think 4 unique bosses would be a realistic, albeit hopeful expectation.
But hey, wanna know another positive? The ability to warp to later worlds through secret passages. I'm sure few games had such shortcuts at the time of this game's release, and I'm sure even fewer executed them as well as Super Mario Bros. It can drastically change the pace of the game in a fun way, and is something that wasn't really brought back until Super Mario World.
Other than that, the general level design is fairly varied, and the game looks about as good as an NES launch title could. And of course, the music's really good.
All in all, a really good game. I thought about giving it an 8/10, but the lack of boss variety bumped it down to a 7. Obviously though, you should play this game.
This game is a bit stiffer than most pure platformers. It's not on the level of Castlevania, but changing direction in midair can take a while. Mario has a weight that makes the forward momentum the funnes part of the game. Just keep going, get the coins, and try not to stop. If you do, you'll have to speed up again, and some jumps may be a bit more difficult. For a game this simple, I think that works really well.
One thing that I realized while playing this game is that this is pretty much the only Mario game where I really went out of my way to get coins. Like, most Mario games are really easy, and if you really need lives you could either farm an earlier level or use an infinite 1-Up trick. In SMB1, your farming options are limited and you can't return to previous levels, and assuming you don't use the continue trick (Which, honestly, maybe you should). As such, new players will really need to collect some coins so they can get more lives.
On another note... points contribute nothing. This is an issue in almost all of the 2D Mario games. Well, more of a non-issue, but I think it's worth pointing out because it's interesting. Points made sense in arcade games, and home games like Castlevania used them for earning lives, but in Super Mario Bros, they don't really do anything. One could argue they add replay value, and they were a part of the NWC I guess, but I never really looked at the point counter and said, 'Wow. I did great this level.' Maybe I would've if there was a tangible reward for it. As I said, this was just me pointing out an example of outdated arcade design. It doesn't really affect my enjoyment all that much.
Another issue, one that is a bit more substantial, is that there is only one boss in the entire game. Now, they do change up that one boss a little bit by giving him a new attack and placing some blocks in your way, but the strategy is always the same: Get behind Bowser and touch the axe. Even one more boss that was completely different would've been much better, although I think 4 unique bosses would be a realistic, albeit hopeful expectation.
But hey, wanna know another positive? The ability to warp to later worlds through secret passages. I'm sure few games had such shortcuts at the time of this game's release, and I'm sure even fewer executed them as well as Super Mario Bros. It can drastically change the pace of the game in a fun way, and is something that wasn't really brought back until Super Mario World.
Other than that, the general level design is fairly varied, and the game looks about as good as an NES launch title could. And of course, the music's really good.
All in all, a really good game. I thought about giving it an 8/10, but the lack of boss variety bumped it down to a 7. Obviously though, you should play this game.