Super Mario Bros.
Reviewed 9/5/00

A Super Mario Bros. review NOT praising the game to no end because of it's stature? Surely you're comparing me to satan about now. For some reason, not a lot of people review this game, and the few reviews there are are more about the nostalgia and magic of playing the game (since it was most peoples first videogame ever) than the actual game. Sure, I remember being taken in by the game, but I remember much more vividly being bored to tears because it was the only game I owned, and every time I wanted to play NES, there it was, staring back at me. It gets boring.

It's a simple enough game, and fast-paced. Mario starts out small, can grow bigger with a mushroom, and then with a fire-flower he can shoot fireballs (do I really need to even say this? If you haven't played the game you got problems). Other than flower power Mario's only offensive manuever is jumping on his enemies. The level design is good, and completely unprecedented for it's time. There are underwater levels, bridge levels with a non-stop flow of evil fish jumping up at you, levels with lakitus raining down on you, far too many great level designs to mention. Each of the stages are grouped into 8 worlds with 4 levels apiece (32 in all), in the end you must go through the fortress stage of each world and free Toady, or, at the very end, Princess Toadstool. One of the best things about the game is the glitches and tricks, getting into the minus world, getting oodles of extra men from the turtle trick and jumping over the flagpole never get old.

The game has distinct first generation graphics, which I like for some reason. The animation is choppy at points though. The sound is fairly catchy but in a bad way. It is the kind of stuff that can get stuck in your head forever and make you want to kill yourself. All in all a fair game, I pull it out every now and then but usually put it right back away. It still manages to score a few points over SMB3 in my book.

Graphics 7
Pixilated, very early-NES looking
I like the early-NES look
Sound 6
Catchy tunes
MAKE IT GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!
Innovation 10
Is there any debate here?
Gameplay 7
Simple, fast paced, has variety and good level design
Seems monotonous after time
Replay Value 6
A typical "pull out once every few months game" for me

72%
Overall Score

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