DAY 145 / GAME 145
Super Mario Brothers
For most of us, it's not a question of whether or not you've played the first Super Mario Brothers game for the Nintendo Entertainment System it's when. If you're my age or older, there's a good chance you were playing the first real installment of the Mario series when it was originally released on the NES. If you were lucky, on your own unit at home. If you weren't as lucky, you found yourself watching over your friend or neighbour's shoulder a he refused to pass on the controller. For myself, I never did own an NES, but a lot of people I knew did; from friends to relatives to the sitter's husband. I had many opportunities to play most of it most of the way through, but it wasn't until I borrowed a copy of Mario All Stars for the SNES that I really had the chance to sit down with it on my own time.
Super Mario Brothers is where gaming really took off in my mind. I played a few C64 games and a handful of old PC titles, but most of them felt more like work that games. Mario though, Mario tasted like candy. It was much better than I felt was healthy for me. When people talked about video games being bad for you like violent movies and comic books, I figured they must be talking about this because it was just as enticing as both those things. Of course, we know better now but as a kid, I wasn't trying to get into trouble. I was happy being the good kid and so, Mario and console games in general felt like a kind of forbidden fruit. If we were at someone's house, I wouldn't ask to play their Nintendo, I would always wait for the offer, which almost never came. But when it did, it was a special time.
Super Mario Brothers was just this solid, simple, well-rounded side-scrolling platformer. Where games I'd played before this felt like I was there to learn something; math or spelling or logic. But this, this was like an action movie. You ran, killed some weird looking dudes, tried over and over to make insane jumps that required expert timing and coordination. Everyone could enjoy Mario. It was appealing, somewhat easy at first to get into, but also offered great levels of difficulty for those who really wanted to press their skills at electronic gaming and prove themselves the best. Also, my aunt said that the nighttime levels scared her and I will never forget that because it's generally hilarious.
As it stands, I've never been able to beat this game. I've come close, but even with the ability to put the game down and return to it -since the newer versions that include a save option- I still can't do it. It's bloody difficult. I've even managed to beat Lost Levels and Mario Brothers 2; but this one is just too much. So for those of you who've managed to complete Super Mario Brothers, I salute you.
Super Mario Brothers has set in stone a place in gaming history. Pretty much everyone knows it by name and can most definitely describe it to you. It's easily found on many platforms and still holds up as a simple, easy to play game. If you're reading this and for some godawful reason you've never actually tried it, stop what you're doing and play it. Right now. Heck, just go here and play it. Because having never played Mario is like having never looked at the sun, even though it's there, cooking eggs on your driveway, all the time.
Super Mario Brothers
For most of us, it's not a question of whether or not you've played the first Super Mario Brothers game for the Nintendo Entertainment System it's when. If you're my age or older, there's a good chance you were playing the first real installment of the Mario series when it was originally released on the NES. If you were lucky, on your own unit at home. If you weren't as lucky, you found yourself watching over your friend or neighbour's shoulder a he refused to pass on the controller. For myself, I never did own an NES, but a lot of people I knew did; from friends to relatives to the sitter's husband. I had many opportunities to play most of it most of the way through, but it wasn't until I borrowed a copy of Mario All Stars for the SNES that I really had the chance to sit down with it on my own time. Super Mario Brothers is where gaming really took off in my mind. I played a few C64 games and a handful of old PC titles, but most of them felt more like work that games. Mario though, Mario tasted like candy. It was much better than I felt was healthy for me. When people talked about video games being bad for you like violent movies and comic books, I figured they must be talking about this because it was just as enticing as both those things. Of course, we know better now but as a kid, I wasn't trying to get into trouble. I was happy being the good kid and so, Mario and console games in general felt like a kind of forbidden fruit. If we were at someone's house, I wouldn't ask to play their Nintendo, I would always wait for the offer, which almost never came. But when it did, it was a special time. Super Mario Brothers was just this solid, simple, well-rounded side-scrolling platformer. Where games I'd played before this felt like I was there to learn something; math or spelling or logic. But this, this was like an action movie. You ran, killed some weird looking dudes, tried over and over to make insane jumps that required expert timing and coordination. Everyone could enjoy Mario. It was appealing, somewhat easy at first to get into, but also offered great levels of difficulty for those who really wanted to press their skills at electronic gaming and prove themselves the best. Also, my aunt said that the nighttime levels scared her and I will never forget that because it's generally hilarious.As it stands, I've never been able to beat this game. I've come close, but even with the ability to put the game down and return to it -since the newer versions that include a save option- I still can't do it. It's bloody difficult. I've even managed to beat Lost Levels and Mario Brothers 2; but this one is just too much. So for those of you who've managed to complete Super Mario Brothers, I salute you.
Super Mario Brothers has set in stone a place in gaming history. Pretty much everyone knows it by name and can most definitely describe it to you. It's easily found on many platforms and still holds up as a simple, easy to play game. If you're reading this and for some godawful reason you've never actually tried it, stop what you're doing and play it. Right now. Heck, just go here and play it. Because having never played Mario is like having never looked at the sun, even though it's there, cooking eggs on your driveway, all the time.
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