Super Mario Bros.

While Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600 shaped the stories of games to come, Super Mario Brothers wrote the blueprint to sidescrolling games to come for years to come, even today! More often than not, this is a gamers' first game (or at least one of their first) and it always leaves a good impression. Regardless, everyone would've played it at least once in their lives. This review just serves the purpose of giving you one man's opinion; everyone knows and most likely has played this game.

Story: The Mushroom Kingdom used to be calm and prosperous until King Koopa (Bowser) kidnapped Princess Toadstall (Peach). It's up to the Italian plumber in red, Mario, to save the princess from the evil king himself. It's a simple story of good vs evil and the valiant hero rescuing the princess, but you have to take into consideration that this is an early NES game, so plotlines didn't really matter (well, except to influence later 8-bit and 16-bit games), but regardless,...

While you young 'uns may be used to sprawling 3D environments, a myriad of special techniques and collecting various special items to reach the end, we of the older generation had a more simpler straightforward experience with our Mario games growing up. Yes, this game is pretty far back in the Mario line of games, and probably helped mold the platform genre into what it is today.

Based on its looks the game is fairly mixed. There's a lot of blandness with the sprites used, with a general lack of definition in the details. It's not quite at the level of a blotchy mess, but they could certainly look better. The environments certainly look much better, with a much cleaner look to the objects and a great use of colour for a vibrant kingdom. The animation seems to work well enough, although some of them could probably use with a few extra frames for a smoother transition there isn't anything bad there.

The music is more agreeable. The music quality is held back by...

THE GOOD:
Simple yet effectively excellent gameplay, 2-player mode so people can take it in turns to see who finishes the game first, difficulty level has a perfect balance of being fair so you won't smash your controller without being too generous with free lives so you'll still feel challenged, controls are very responsive and are easy to remember, graphics look excellent for the time (actually they still look excellent today), soundtrack was memorable and always fun to listen to mainly because it suited the levels, sound effects are simple but they work with what they're given...I could go on all day about this...

THE BAD:
Nothing.

SUMMARY:
Created in 1985 by Nintendo, Super Mario Brothers, along with 17 other games, kickstarted the NES all across the globe (excluding Japan, but they had a different sort of NES altogether known as the Famicom, so it doesn't matter). Back in the day, it and Duck Hunt came with an NES, and naturally this...

THE GOOD:
Good old 8-bit retro with great gameplay.
Controls are really easy.

THE BAD:
None in particular as the graphics go quite well with this game, simple.

SUMMARY:
Super Mario Bros. was the first Mario game on a proper console and started the whole Mario series off properly. The games controls were very easy to master as there was only a few buttons. The graphics were nice in there own way and the music and design of the levels were cool. There were many cheats and shortcuts that you could take through out the game, mainly through warp pipes which were a little hard to find.

Overall i'd say for any retro games player or any Mario game player that this is one of the greatest games he his featured in and you should thank this game because without it Mario wouldn't be where he is today.

THE GOOD:
Gameplay, Music (all 4 different songs!), Replay value. Promotes eating random mushrooms you find in the middle of nowhere.

THE BAD:
............Nothing

SUMMARY:
This game is a classic. Even though the storyline of 'rescue the princess' is a little cliched, a game made that early didn't even need much of a story. Basically, all you needed to know was that you were a plumber who eats mushrooms then jumps on little brown guys and turtles. I liked how after you beat the game, you can play it again in a harder difficulty. Even though there are only 4 songs in this game, they're all really good and have been used in plenty of recent mario games. The gameplay is simple, yet extremely fun at the same time. Since this game is a classic and is better than a lot of games released recently, I'm gonna give it a 5/5.

THE GOOD:
Simple yet challenging gameplay.

THE BAD:
Nothing.

SUMMARY:
Mario's first side-scrolling adventure (released in arcades as Vs. Super Mario Bros.) helped launch the franchise, and the NES for that matter, and now it's also getting another go-around as part of Classic NES Series on GBA. The gameplay's about as simple as it gets-guide Mario through 32 different levels to defeat Bowser and save the Princess.
The nicest thing about the game is just about anyone can pick it up and play-it's exceptionally simple to learn. There's some challenge, though, between enemies and also some tricky puzzles in later levels-don't forget the timer! Graphics, sound, and controls are arcade-perfect with the only differences being no 4-player alternating options and you have to know which buttons to hold to continue (it's tricky).
This game may be 20 years old but what keeps it around is that IT'S STILL FUN! It proves you don't need realistic...

THE GOOD:
Lasting value, nice soundtrack, and a family adventure.

THE BAD:
Some questionable structures.

SUMMARY:
In Super Mario Bros., Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom has been kidnapped by Bowser, the evil king of the Koopas. Former plumbers Mario and Luigi have been sent to rescue to her and restore peace to the kingdom. They must make their way over land, under ground, and through the sea, in eight worlds divided into four levels each. On their journey, they face a variety of enemies, including Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Bullet Bills, which can be defeated by jumping directly on them. At the end of each world, the brothers come face to face with Bowser, who must be stopped before the quest can continue.

Power-ups play an integral part in Super Mario Bros. When Mario jumps and hits a question mark block from underneath, an item is revealed. This could be a coin, mushroom, fire flower, or star. The mushroom is the game's...