Mario Bros. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mario Bros. |
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North American arcade flyer
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo R&D1 Intelligent Systems (NES) Nintendo R&D2 Atari, Inc. (2600, 5200) MISA (PC-8001) Choice Software (CPC, Spec) Ocean (C64) ITDC (7800) Sculptured Software (Atari 8-bit) |
| Publisher(s) |
Nintendo (arcade)
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| Producer(s) | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Designer(s) | Shigeru Miyamoto Gunpei Yokoi |
| Composer(s) | Yukio Kaneoka |
| Series | Mario |
| Platform(s) |
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| Release date(s) |
1983
Arcade
Famicom/NES
Atari 2600, 5200
PC-88
FM-7
Commodore 64 Amstrad CPC
Atari 7800
ZX Spectrum
Atari 8-bit
Nintendo e-Reader
Game Boy Advance
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| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Mario Bros. is a classic platform game made by Nintendo in 1983. It was first released in arcades. The game was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi.
In Mario Bros., you play as the Italian twin plumbers, Mario and Luigi. They go into the sewers to get rid of strange creatures. These creatures include turtles and crabs. To defeat them, the brothers must flip them over and then kick them away.
This game is part of the famous Mario series. It actually started as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong games. Many ideas from Mario Bros., like bonus coins and Luigi, were later used in Super Mario Bros. and became key parts of the series.
You can find an updated version, Mario Bros. Classic, in games like the Super Mario Advance series. It's also in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The original Mario Bros. has been re-released on newer Nintendo systems too.
Contents
How to Play Mario Bros.
In Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi explore the sewers because weird creatures are showing up. Your goal is to defeat all the enemies in each level. The game is simple: you can only run and jump.
Unlike newer Mario games, you can't just jump on enemies to defeat them. You have to hit the platform right below an enemy to flip it onto its back. Once an enemy is flipped, you then need to kick it to get rid of it. If you wait too long, the enemy will flip back over and recover.
Each level has platforms and pipes in the corners. These pipes are where enemies come from. There's also a special "POW" block in the middle. If you go off one side of the screen, you'll reappear on the other side. You earn points for defeating enemies. The game ends when you lose all your lives.
Enemies You'll Face
There are different types of enemies in the sewers:
- Shellcreepers: These are turtle-like creatures.
- Sidesteppers: These are crab-like enemies.
- Fighter Flies: These enemies move by jumping. You can only flip them when they are touching a platform.
- Slipice: These creatures turn platforms into slippery ice.
- Fireballs: These enemies float around the screen instead of staying on platforms.
The "POW" block is a useful tool. When you hit it from below, it shakes the ground. This flips over all enemies that are touching a platform or the floor. The game also has special bonus rounds where you can earn extra points.
Making the Game: Development Story
Mario Bros. was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi. They were also key developers for the game Donkey Kong.
In Donkey Kong, Mario would lose a life if he fell too far. For Mario Bros., Yokoi suggested that Mario should be able to fall from any height without getting hurt. Miyamoto wasn't sure at first, but he agreed. He thought it would be okay for Mario to have some special abilities. Miyamoto then made a test version where Mario could jump and bounce around, and he liked it.
The idea of hitting enemies from below came from Yokoi. He thought it would work well since the game had many different platforms. At first, it was too easy to defeat enemies this way. So, the developers added a rule: players had to touch the flipped enemies to defeat them. This is also how they came up with the turtle enemy, which could only be hit from below.
Mario wore overalls, a hat, and had a thick mustache in Donkey Kong. Because of this, Miyamoto decided Mario should be a plumber instead of a carpenter. The game's setting, with its many giant pipes, also fit the idea of plumbers. The music for the game was made by Yukio Kaneoka.
Why Mario is a Plumber
A popular story says that Mario got his name from Mario Segale. He was an Italian-American landlord who visited Nintendo of America's office. Miyamoto also felt that New York City was the best place for the game. This was because of its huge underground network of sewer pipes.
The pipes in the game were inspired by Japanese comics, called manga. Miyamoto said these comics often showed waste areas with pipes. In Mario Bros., pipes let enemies enter and leave the stage. This stopped too many enemies from piling up at the bottom. The pipes were made green because Miyamoto had a limited number of colors. He wanted to keep the game colorful. He found that two shades of green worked well together.
Mario Bros. also introduced Mario's brother, Luigi. Luigi was created for the two-player mode. He looked like Mario but had different colors. The idea for a two-player mode and some gameplay elements came from the game Joust.
The game uses music from Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik at the start. This song has been used in other video games too.
Game Release and Versions
The arcade version of Mario Bros. was released in 1983. There are slightly different dates reported for its release. Some sources say it first appeared in North America in March 1983. Others say it was released in Japan on July 14, 1983.
When it first came out, Mario Bros. was sometimes called the third game in the Donkey Kong series. For home versions of the game, Nintendo held the rights in Japan. But they let Atari, Inc. release the game in other countries.
Different Ways to Play
Mario Bros. was made for many different home systems. Other companies created versions for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 7800, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The Commodore 64 even had two versions!
Nintendo also released its own version for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America in 1986.
In some parts of Asia, like Taiwan, the game was sometimes called Pipeline or Mr. Mary. This was because pirated copies were common. The pirate companies couldn't use the real names due to copyright.
The NES version of Mario Bros. has been re-released on newer Nintendo systems. You can play it through the Virtual Console service on the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. The original arcade game is also available on the Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives series. The NES version was even a launch title for Nintendo Switch Online.
Nintendo has included Mario Bros. as a bonus in other games. You can find it in Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario Advance series for the Game Boy Advance. It's also in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The NES version is even a piece of furniture in the game Animal Crossing for the GameCube.
In 2004, a special arcade machine was released. It had Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros. The Mario Bros. game was changed to fit the screen used by the other games.
Mario Bros. Legacy
Other Games Inspired by Mario Bros.
In 1984, Hudson Soft made two different games based on Mario Bros..
- Mario Bros. Special was a new version with different levels and gameplay.
- Punch Ball Mario Bros. added a new way to play. You could punch small balls to stun enemies.
Both of these games were released for older Japanese computers.
A version of Mario Bros. was planned for the Virtual Boy system in 1994. It showed the game in red and black 3D graphics. However, this version was never released. Instead, some of its ideas were used in Mario Clash (1995), which was a new take on the original game.
The game Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U includes a special version called Luigi Bros.. In this game, you play as Luigi instead of Mario.
High Score Record
On October 16, 2015, a player named Steve Kleisath set a world record for the arcade version of Mario Bros.. He scored an amazing 5,424,920 points! This record was officially checked by Twin Galaxies.
See also
In Spanish: Mario Bros. para niños
