Playing with Power: Super Mario Bros.

At face value, “Super Mario Bros.” is weird. Really weird.

It’s about a pair of Italian plumbers, Mario and Luigi, who grow by eating magic mushrooms, jump on their enemies and run their way through the Mushroom Kingdom as they attempt to rescue a princess from an giant, evil, fire-breathing turtle. As a character, Mario had played both hero and villain in the first two “Donkey Kong” games and was joined by Luigi in “Mario Bros.” when the duo worked to clear pests from pipes in a sewer under New York. Needless to say, the story makes quite the departure from Mario’s earlier roles.

But, it’s hard to overstate the impact “Super Mario Bros.” had in 1985. For most, the game was packaged with their Nintendo Entertainment System console and was their first game. The fact the game 40.24 million copies worldwide, a number that excludes later reissues on other hardware, is proof of how far reaching Mario initially was. A survey in 1990 concluded Nintendo’s mascot had more recognition with children than Mickey Mouse. Beyond the games, Mario could be seen on cans of Shasta soda pop, on the “Super Mario Bros. Super Show” television program and even boxes of breakfast cereal. For a kid, Mario was everywhere.

However, “Super Mario Bros.” is also important because it also saved the North American video game industry. Prior to Nintendo making game consoles, Atari and its 2600 system had already peaked, but collapsed due mainly from the commercial failures of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Pac-Man.” For “Pac-Man,” the port of the arcade game failed to adequately replicate the original experience while game based off the popular Steven Spielberg film was rushed for the 1982 Christmas season, famously having less than six weeks of development time. E.T. failed so spectacularly that Atari quietly buried 728,000 unsold game cartridges at a landfill in Alamogordo, N.M.

While Atari’s failure isn’t the sole reason, it was a major factor in what became known the video game crash of 1983. By 1985, retailers had soured on video games, which forced Nintendo to redesign the look of its game console to resemble a VCR and steer away from calling it a video game system. Regardless of that challenge, Mario sold the NES and sold the idea of video games being a viable business to both retailers and the general public.

As for the gameplay, while a lot of other NES games haven’t aged well, “Super Mario Bros.” remains fun to play and easy to pick up. Mario runs, jumps and can throw fireballs if he gets a fire flower. However, there is a lot to do and a lot that can be done with those simple actions. Despite its age, its also a game that retains a lot of its initial challenge, especially in the later levels.

Now, 34 years after its release, “Super Mario Bros.” remains a relevant. Nintendo has even made a series where people can build their own Mario stages and share them online. The game also has a hand in creating the present day video game industry, which is estimated to have grossed $43.3 billion in 2018.

Not bad for a guy starting out as a plumber.

 

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