I mean really, what can I say that hasn’t already been said. It’s Super Mario Bros, a game that entirely revolutionized videogames at the time. The most surprising thing out of all of this is the fact that I had never played up till now. With that in mind, I actually really enjoyed it. I played it twice over, to make sure I felt like I played the game proper, and that second run through of the game was spectacular.
I noticed a clear momentum with how Mario moved. He picked up speed while both running and walking. That momentum influenced how far he can jump, but how high he can jump as well. And it was really engaging to try and control Mario in the way I wanted. I couldn’t count how many times I tried to make a precise jump and just went slightly too far, causing Mario to slide off the platform.
But in that same vein, actively trying to clear the levels I came across was a really fun challenge. Even though I’ve beaten the game twice now, I still don’t fully understand how hammer bros work, leading to 8-3 being one of the harder levels for me. I was eventually able to clear it though, and that was exhilarating. Same thing with 8-4, on that second run I knew the path I needed to get to Bowser, but following that path perfectly required a lot of practice.
There’s really not much more I can add when talking about the original Super Mario Bros. Of course I can further examine its mechanics and whatnot, but that’s been talked about to death already. I want to prioritize my own experience. That sort of figuring out how Mario controlled, and using that to try to clear each level as efficiently as I could. Of course, it’s hard to ignore the historical significance of Super Mario Bros, but taking that out of the picture, it’s still a really solid game.
