Super Mario Brothers 1v1
Detailed aspects of the design and controls
As an already big fan of the Super Mario Bros games, seeing the original Nintendo NES with the classic NES controllers was an absolute delight. However, I wasn’t able to actually play the game on the classic, but luckily I brought my Nintendo DS with me, and of course had the Super Bros game as well.
On the DS, you enter a small chip and on the 2 screens it pops up. The game itself is very well thought out. From the catchy background music that is now universally recognized to the pixelated art and animations. The side-screening component of the game adds to the element of surprise and user eagerness to see what will come up on the screen next, which prompts the player to want to continue playing more and more different levels as more and more variety comes.
When the game starts, you are immediately thrown into the game. You then see shining questions marks on some of the blocks, and from there you are already captured into the game by the element of these mystery boxes. The sound effects are great as well. When you jump up to hit the block and a coin comes out, a very positively reinforcing sound is played, or when a mushroom comes out of a block, a increasing pitch mirroring a growing sound is played. When Mario eats a mushroom, a “growing” sound is also played. Whenever Mario jumps, a sound is produced as well, making almost a spring like sound. When a bad guy is jumped/killed, a reassuring sound effect also accompanies it. Overall, all the sounds effects produced in this game is very effective in drawing the user in to want to continue playing.
By having special powers you can receive through the levels, like the flower that allows Mario to throw flames and kill the bad mushroom guys, this entices the user to want to keep playing as well. This opportunity to receive these abilities and powers makes the user want to keep playing to see if there are more different powers, as well as wanting them to make finishing the level a bit easier. Because, what human being doesn’t want the easy way through? In addition, the hidden effect where one block has multiple coins is a good way to add to the games element of mystery, which keeps the game interesting and adds variety.
The controls of the game are fairly simple, which is what I believe another large contributing factor that makes this game so successful. You really only use a few buttons to jump and move left or right, forward and backward. But you can’t move more backward than the screen has moved forward.
You can tell that the end of the level is when there is a big hill made of blocks. At the end of the level, however high you jump onto the flag pole results in however many extra coins you receive for finishing the level. There are also fireworks that symbolize that you passed the level. The game itself is very well thought out and effectively attracts customers to buy and continue playing the game through many little aspects including sound effects and the element of mystery.
