Nintendo Entertainment System · 1985
Super Mario Bros.
An early NES landmark with precise platforming, an alternating two-player mode, and eight worlds that helped define the side-scrolling genre.
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Format
- Cartridge
- Genre
- Platformer
- Released
- 1985
01
Overview
Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling platformer in which Mario or Luigi crosses eight worlds to rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser. Running momentum, variable jump height, power-ups, hidden blocks, warp zones, and limited lives create a compact but highly replayable challenge. Its opening stages teach the rules through layout and enemy placement before later worlds combine moving platforms, underwater sections, and castle mazes.
02
Why it matters
Super Mario Bros. set the template for the modern platformer: responsive controls, readable levels, and rewards for risk. Its level structure influenced nearly every 2D platformer that followed, and its sound, art direction, and difficulty curve became a commercial blueprint for console launch titles. For collectors, it remains the most recognizable cartridge of the 8-bit era, and its mechanics continue to inform modern design.
03
The physical edition
A typical standalone copy includes the cartridge, retail box, and instruction manual. North American black-box packaging, regional releases, and later combination cartridges such as Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt use different artwork and contents, so the exact edition matters when evaluating completeness.
04
Playing it today
The cartridge runs on compatible NES hardware and does not save progress. Two-player mode alternates turns between Mario and Luigi and uses a second controller; official Nintendo re-releases offer additional options on modern systems.