By Mark Valdes, Staff Writer
REVOLUTION: With the release of the Mario Bros back in 1985, why would people still look back at the game 35 years later?
As a company, Nintendo has been through a lot in its time. It started out as a playing card company in 1889 and then switched to gaming consoles in 1985. But of all of Nintendo’s accomplishments, the biggest and most popular one was undoubtedly the Super Mario Bros franchise.
Super Mario Bros, which came out in 1985, was released on and in the same year the Nintendo Entertainment System came out. The game features two brothers, Mario and Luigi who save the princess of the mushroom from Bowser king of the koopas by traveling through various worlds. Users control the character Mario, as he jumps onto platforms, avoids enemies, and gains power ups which is similar to “side scrolling platformers games,” a very popular genre of games that has the player look at their character in a 2D world where you can only move left or right which was very popular at the time. Mario has actually been in previous games like the first platformer made, including Donkey Kong in 1981. In this game, Mario saves his girlfriend from an ape named Donkey Kong who throws barrels down a construction site. Mario Bros features Mario and his brother, Luigi who are both seen fixing pipes in the sewer from various amounts of monsters. This was where Mario’s name was first introduced. Recently, Nintendo announced that this year marks the 35th anniversary of when Super Mario Bros hit the shelves for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. So, what does this mean for the series?
With the announcement of the Mario Bros’ 35th birthday, Nintendo released multiple Mario based goodies on September 18th for fans to enjoy. One example of the merchandise is theSuper Mario 35, a battle-royale type game based off of the original Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this game, there are 35 other players that can mess up your play-through by sending enemies while you are in inconvenient places. The Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury game that was released originally on the Wii U, will also be making a return. on the Nintendo Switch. The Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury game stars a more 3D 3d type Mario game where you can move up, down, left, and right instead of only right, just the traditional only right. Then there is Mario Kart: Home Circuit, an interactive game which connects the real world with the experience of the Mario Kart series through a remote controlled Kart. Super Mario All Star is available for free (if you have a Nintendo Switch online membership) the day the 35th anniversary was announced and includes Super Mario Bros 1-3 in their remastered states. Nintendo also came out with a new device that was based off of the classic 1980 Game and Watch. This device plays Super Mario Bros with the lost levels which are the extra levels in the Super Mario Bros Nintendo Entertainment System release. It also includes ball games with nameless characters doing tasks like cleaning and simply throwing a ball in the air then catching it from the original Game and Watch.
Out of all the exciting announcements, the one game that got everyone and their dog talking is Super Mario 3d All Stars. This game brought buyers Super Mario 64 which came out in 1996 and is the first 3D Mario game that has the camera behind the user instead of the traditional 2D side-scroller and a fully explorable castle! It may seem a bit lame nowadays but back in 1996 it was amazing! Mario in this game can now wall kick, dive, slide, long jump, punch and more! Super Mario Sunshine which was put on shelves in 2002 has the same camera in Super Mario 64 but new platforming mechanics are introduced, which involves the spin jump to get to higher places, the water slide which makes Mario slide for seemingly ever and the most popular which is the FLUDD that shoots water to clean up messes or to propel Mario up like a jet pack to get to higher places. Super Mario Galaxy came out in 2007, and placed Mario in space. The game also introduced a mix between a fixed camera and a free camera for the player to control, to go with the new gravity system for Mario to use on different planets. Mario’s abilities were similar to his Super Mario 64 move-set. In Super Mario Galaxy the spin attack was introduced for attacking enemies and interacting with certain objects. All these classic games can now finally be played on newer consoles. However, people didn’t just praise Nintendo for bringing back one of the most critically acclaimed games in history to their newest console. Many heavily criticized Nintendo for selling 3 previously made games for $59.99 and making the game limited until the end of March 2021 causing fans to describe the unreleased game as a scam. In a video for Nintendo Life, entitled “The Problem With The Super Mario 3D All-Stars Release” reporter Liam Doolan explained how some people believed the release was “… bad for game preservation, bad business, and most of all bad for the consumer,” so clearly some people believe that this move Nintendo did is a bad idea.
Despite this, Nintendo has effectively created a massive footprint in videogame history. Some might even say that the rise of Nintendo signified the start of video games going mainstream. Anyone can play Mario Bros games, but only a true fan can master them. The fact is that everyone’s two favorite mustachioed plumbers Mario and Luigi have been making the world smile for 35 years and that alone is deserving of a celebration. After all, there’s a reason eyes tear up when fans hear Mario thanking them for playing his game. It goes to show how incredibly special Mario games are to so many that grew up with them.