Super Mario Games in the 90′s

Date: Monday July 26, 2010
Posted in: Famicom,Game Boy,NES,Nintendo 64,Remembering,Super Mario Bros,Super Nintendo,Virtual Boy

Last time on the show we looked back at all the wonderful games and appearances by Mario in the 80′s! His big hits included Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros 1-3, Tetris and of course Punchout!! This time we travel all the way back to the 90′s where we look at even more of those 200 some odd games that the Italian Plumber has been seen in!

1990s

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

There is no shortage of hits in this decade! Super Mario World, Dr. Mario, Mario Kart… And it’s a real shame that all you kids out there will never experience Mario Paint. To be honest, I’m not sure WHY it’s such a shame because I don’t know (honestly) if it was all that good, but it pretty original at the time, pretty unique, and it had flyswatting a music composer that you can still find in use today!


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Super Mario Games in the 80′s

Date: Friday July 23, 2010
Posted in: Arcade,Atari,Famicom,Game Boy,NES,Remembering,Super Mario Bros

It’s no secret that Mario (otherwise known as Mario Mario) is the biggest and most famous videogame character in history. He has appeared in over 200 games including platformers, racers, rpgs, and fighting games! While we were originally thinking about putting together a list of all the Super Mario games throughout the years, it quickly became an overwhelming task so we thought to go by the decade – At least for now. (#):)

1980s

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

You can see that the 80′s had some of Mario’s more iconic releases and appearances including the original Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros 1-3, and Punchout!! with Mario of course playing the TKO loving referee.


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Super Mario Bros Remembered Part 2

Date: Wednesday May 27, 2009
Posted in: NES,Remembering,Super Mario Bros

In Part 1 of Super Mario Bros Remembered, we looked at what Super Mario Bros was all about and talked briefly about how it started something really special with games. Now as we look back at this classic, is it possible to really review it objectively? Probably not. But let’s try anyway in the same vein that most games are reviewed… By way of graphics, music, and gameplay.

Graphics and Level Design
If you go back to the games of yesteryear, the graphics of Super Mario Bros were top notch. No really! They were bright, colorful and they always seemed to match the mood of the level you were in. And to that end, let’s remember that Super Mario Bros basically INVENTED the now de facto lava levels and water levels. Of course now they’ve been played to death but back then it was very original and all the rage. And while the elements in the actual levels were pretty similiar (coin boxes, goombas, koopas etc) they way they were presented kept things moving nicely by use of palette swaps, positioning and the like.

Super Mario Bros Music
In videogamedom, is there any piece of music more iconic and well known than the Super Mario Bros theme song? DOUBTFUL. Created by the legendary Kōji Kondō, it is still going strong some 25 years later and has been featured and remixed in countless other video games and media adaptations including the ever popular Super Mario Brothers Super Show! But even outside of the theme song – The overworld music, the underworld music, the castle music, the starman music… It’s just all sensational stuff. I mean, I challenge you to find music this beloved anywhere else.

I Like the Way You Move
Super Mario Bros is a a pretty tight game when you really think about it. When you expect to run or walk and jump, you do it. Sure, you’re saying “Well, what else would you do?” But if you’ve played games long enough, you know that sometimes the developers don’t get that right. What’s more, in Super Mario Bros you really have nice control when you’re in the air – How far you jumkp as well as which way you’re jumping. That’s what I call, good stuff. And you know, when you’re talking about the gameplay, you’re not only talking about the way Mario and Luigi control but also the cool stuff you can do throughout the levels including picking up mushrooms, fire flowers and the starman which are varied enough to add that extra dimension the gameplay needed.

Conclusion
If we’re still talking about the original Super Mario Bros in 2009, maybe the only conclusion we can make is that the game is classic. Everything about the game is timeless… The characters, music and games will likely last until the end of human civilization and I think for most of us, that would be quite alright. Well so much for keeping this post objective. ha ha


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Super Mario Bros. Remembered

Date: Tuesday May 26, 2009
Posted in: NES,Remembering,Super Mario Bros

How do you write a post about arguably the most popular game of all time? I mean, according to Wikipedia the original masterpiece Super Mario Bros is the second biggest selling game of all time only behind the Nintendo’s Wii Sports. And you have to imagine that Wii Sports will never enjoy that special place in our culture that is currently held by the likes of Super Mario. Why is that?

Super Mario Bros is Where it All Began
For so many of us gamers, Super Mario Bros is where our gaming lives started. ::Hmph. I don’t know that I ever thought of that until now.:: For me personally, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was the first console I had and thus Super Mario Bros was the first game I spent any intimate time with. Though I have to imagine that if I had owned an Atari or something, I would still be singing the same tune.

Super Mario Bros for NES

I mean, was there a game before this that had the players actually thinking or caring about the characters in it? Can’t say that anyone cared about the characters in Pac-Man or Centipede like they did with Super Mario Bros. Certainly by today’s standards, the characters were primitive at best but they did have discernible names, looks and they had motivations for doing what they were doing. And at THAT time (some 24 years ago in 1985), that was a big thing not really seen before.

Boy Meets Girl. Girl Gets Kidnapped.
When you get down to it, the story is as old as time. There’s a princess and she’s being held in a faraway castle by a menacing dragon and it’s up to the hero to save her. It’s so funny looking back at the games of this time because they were SO much fun to play and they were so unbelievably simple! I guess when all you have is 8bit graphics and sound to work with, you better damn well have a great playing game if you’re hoping to move units!

Well next post we’ll continue this conversation as we try to figure out what made Super Mario Bros SO special. (I wanted to cover all of this in the same post but obviously it’s a subject TOO BIG to contain in just one place!!!)


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