Super Mario Bros 1–1 Documentation

Super Mario Bros and I have an interesting relationship. My best friend since elementary school was gifted this game for her Wii when I was in fifth grade. I really, really, really wanted to be good at it. Instead, I was tasked with always playing and I could never make it past the second world (sad, I know). Therefore, I had pretty low expectations of my abilities while trying this game out on the Famicom.

Yet, upon realizing how to use the simple controls, I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the game was. It required some timing abilities on behalf of jumping (and avoiding those pesky Goombas). As far as controls go, I found the movement in this game to be very smooth, and I enjoyed how you could jump higher by holding down the button for longer. Though this game was a side-scroller, I found it interesting that you couldn’t go back to the terrain you just traversed on the left side of your screen. However, this feature was actually useful, making the game simpler and keeping the focus on what lied ahead.

Though the Wii has arguably better graphics than the Famicom, I enjoyed this version better, I preferred the simplicity it had to offer (and also the fact that I could make it past multiple levels without losing all my lives). This version of Super Mario Bros was easier than what I’d played in the past, but it was still hard enough to pose a challenge, and I was captivated by the gameplay. Overall, I’d have to say I prefer to stick with the classics with this game, as I preferred the simplicity it had to offer along with the strategic timing of the game.