Super Mario Bros.
A 1985 platform game that revived the video game industry.
In 1985, Nintendo released *Super Mario Bros.* for the NES, a platform game directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto. It followed the 1983 arcade title *Mario Bros.* and kicked off the Super Mario series. Players guide Mario—or Luigi in two-player mode—through the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Toadstool from King Koopa (later called Bowser). The side-scrolling levels require avoiding pits and enemies while grabbing power-ups like the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman. The game is often ranked among the greatest and most influential video games ever, praised especially for its tight controls.
Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka designed *Super Mario Bros.* as a culmination of their team’s prior work on *Devil World* and the side-scrollers *Excitebike* and *Kung Fu*. Miyamoto aimed for a more colorful platformer with a scrolling screen and larger characters. The first level, World 1-1, was crafted as a tutorial for platform gameplay. Koji Kondo’s soundtrack was among the earliest in video games to make music a central design element. The game was released in Japan in September 1985 for the Famicom, followed by a US test market release for the NES and an international arcade version on the Nintendo VS. System in early 1986. The NES version reached North America that year and PAL regions in 1987, with subsequent rereleases on most Nintendo systems.
Gameplay involves collecting coins, hitting question-mark bricks for items, and using power-ups. The Super Mushroom makes Mario grow and lets him break bricks; the Fire Flower allows him to throw fireballs; the Starman grants temporary invincibility. Players start with lives and can earn extras by collecting 1-Up Mushrooms, gathering 100 coins, or defeating enemies in sequence. The game features eight worlds, each with four stages, including underwater levels and castle boss fights against Bowser or his decoys. After completing the game once, players can replay with increased difficulty, such as all Goombas replaced by Buzzy Beetles. *Super Mario Bros.* is credited alongside the NES with reviving the video game industry after the 1983 crash and popularizing the side-scrolling platform genre. Its soundtrack is frequently named among the best, and Mario became a cultural icon, spawning a multimedia franchise including games, television, and feature films.
- Release year
- 1985
- Developer
- Nintendo
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Platform
- Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
- Director
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Genre
- Platform game
- Sales
- More than 58 million copies
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Following the events of Mario Bros., the game is set in the fantasy land of the Mushroom Kingdom after Mario and Luigi had arrived through a clay pipe from New York City. In the Mushroom Kingdom, a tribe of turtle-like Koopa Troopas invade the kingdom and use the magic of their king Bowser to turn the Mushroom People into inanimate objects such as bricks, stones, and horsehair plants. Bowser and his army also kidnap Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, the only one with the ability to reverse Bowser's spell. After hearing the news, the brothers set out to save the princess and free the kingdom from Bowser. They fight Bowser's forces while traversing the Mushroom Kingdom. After each defeat of a decoy Bowser, a Toad retainer proclaims, 'Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!'. Finally, they reach Bowser's true stronghold, where they defeat him by either throwing fireballs or by dropping him into lava with an axe, freeing the princess and saving the Mushroom Kingdom.
Reader's Guide
Super Mario Bros. is a platform game in which the player controls the titular protagonist Mario, who is tasked with exploring the Mushroom Kingdom to defeat Bowser and rescue Princess Toadstool. His brother, Luigi, is controlled by the second player in multiplayer mode and assumes the same plot role and functionality as Mario. The game takes place through a side-scrolling perspective where the player moves to the right to reach the flagpole at the end of each level. The Mushroom Kingdom includes coins for Mario to collect and special bricks marked with a question mark (?), which when hit from below by Mario may reveal more coins or a special item. If the player gains a Super Mushroom, Mario grows to double his size and gains the ability to break bricks above him. Mario may also acquire the Fire Flower from certain '?' blocks that when picked up changes the color of Super Mario's outfit and allows him to throw fireballs. A less common item is the Starman, which grants Mario temporary invincibility from all minor dangers. The game consists of eight worlds, each with four sub-levels or stages. The final stage of each world is in a fiery underground castle where Bowser is fought on a suspension bridge above lava; the first seven of these Bowsers are actually minions disguised as him, and the real Bowser is in the eighth world. Bowser and his decoys are defeated by jumping over them or running under them while they are jumping and reaching the axe on the end of the bridge, or with fireballs. After completing the game once, the player is rewarded with the ability to replay with increased difficulty, such as all Goombas replaced with Buzzy Beetles.
Did You Know?
- Super Mario Bros. used the fast scrolling game engine originally developed for Excitebike, which allowed Mario to smoothly accelerate from a walk to a run.
- The team designed the first level, World 1-1, as a tutorial for platform gameplay.
- Koji Kondo's soundtrack is one of the earliest in video games, making music a centerpiece of the design.
- The game initially used a concept in which Mario or Luigi could fly a rocket ship while firing at enemies, but this went unused.
- After completing the game once, the player can replay with increased difficulty, such as all Goombas replaced with Buzzy Beetles.
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