This is it, where it all began!
Game Detail:
Game: Super Mario Bros.
Console: NES
Code: NES-SM-UKV
Format: Original Cart
Playing on: Retron5
Cheats used: Infinite lives. Because I suck.
Where else should I start other than the first Nintendo game I played? Super Mario Bros. is one of the three games that I have actually completed, (when I was about fourteen or fifteen) and it’s time to see if I can still do that.
Apparently, that’s a no, because I am stuck on 6-4 with no signs of advancing forward yet. Did I mention I’m also little and unable to get the goddamn mushroom? It took me about 30 minutes to get to 6-4, and so far two weeks still stuck here. Clearly, I’ve not been playing video games nearly enough over the last few years.
Super Mario Bros is the game that sucked me in to video games in a big way. I remember seeing it for the first time and being completely enthralled. The friend that had the NES at the time was the friend that taught me how to play, from running and jumping, all the secrets and warp zones, and how to always hit the top of the flag at the end of every level.
For me, this game still stands the test of time. Here I am at forty something, and I am so damn close to smacking Bowser off his bridge at the end of 6-4, but still just missing it and being caught by his hammers. I’m getting just as annoyed as I did at eleven years old. Even as I write, 6-4 is playing in the background, and the music has sped up for the last 99 count to get the heart-rate and anxiety up, because running out of time is serious business.
No one can deny the impact this slightly portly plumber has had on the gaming world. In the 90’s Mario was more widely recognised by American children than Mickey Mouse. More than 200 Mario games have been produced, and the franchise has grossed an estimated $25.907 billion in sales as of 2018.
Not bad for a jumping plumber at all.
But back to this game. We all know that the enhanced remake for 1993’s Super Mario All-Stars is visually superior. Come on, just look at them in comparison. However, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get into the SNES version or even make it past some of the earlier levels. That itself is for a future post (hopefully) to air my gripes, but for me, the original NES version is the definitive and will always be the way I play this game. If I guess to have played it one thousand times, I’d be low-balling that figure. Level 1-1 is so ingrained into my brain and muscle memory, I could probably play that level blindfolded.
With that said, I think it’s time to get back to playing and see if I can prove myself still young at heart and able to complete this game.
EDIT: I have got through 6-4! Shame I’m now stuck on 7-1.
The Eclectic Electric Place 