Super Mario Bros.: Nintendo's 1985 Classic That Defined Platformers
How Shigeru Miyamoto's Super Mario Bros. came to be, how it plays, why it's a classic, its sequels and influence, and how to play it today.
Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling action game released by Nintendo in 1985 for the Family Computer (Famicom). It tells the story of Mario the plumber crossing the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach, who has been kidnapped by Bowser, and within its simple controls of running right and jumping lies a design that countless later games would imitate.
In this article, we cover the circumstances in which Super Mario Bros. was made, how it plays, why it is still considered a classic, and the sequels and ports it led to. At the end, we also introduce ways you can enjoy the game today.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Release | September 13, 1985 (Japan, Famicom) / May 15, 1987 (Europe, NES) |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D4 (director and producer Shigeru Miyamoto) |
| Platforms | Family Computer, NES, later ported to many Nintendo systems |
| Genre | Side-scrolling platformer |
The North American NES version is generally listed as coming out in fall 1985, but the exact date is still disputed.
Origins
Super Mario Bros. is the successor to 1983's Mario Bros. Whereas Mario Bros. had you defeating enemies within a single screen, Super Mario Bros. changed dramatically to a structure where the screen scrolls sideways as you run through long stages.
Shigeru Miyamoto served as director and producer, and the design was a collaboration between Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Toshihiko Nakago and Kazuaki Morita handled programming, and Koji Kondo composed the music. Development began in fall 1984, at the same time The Legend of Zelda was also being made.
At the time, Nintendo was preparing the Family Computer Disk System, a disk drive add-on for the Famicom. Miyamoto wanted this game to be the work that capped off the ROM cartridge era. The cartridge held 256 kilobits (32 KiB) for program and data and 64 kilobits (8 KiB) for sprite and background graphics. The game went into production in August 1985 and was released in Japan on September 13.
How It Plays
The game is divided into eight worlds, each containing four stages. The player must reach the flagpole at the end of each stage within the time limit, and every world ends in a castle.
The basic controls are little more than moving, running, and jumping. You can defeat enemies by jumping on top of them, and hitting blocks with your head releases coins or items. The main items are:
- Super Mushroom: Small Mario grows bigger and can survive one hit.
- Fire Flower: Lets you throw fireballs to attack enemies.
- Starman: Makes you invincible for a short time, knocking out any enemy you touch.
- 1-Up Mushroom: Gives you one extra life.
The Bowsers you meet in the castles through World 7 are fakes; the real Bowser waits in World 8. Being told after clearing each castle that the princess is in another castle is often cited as the game's iconic moment.
Using pipes and hidden Warp Zones, you can also skip multiple worlds. Also famous is the "Minus World," a glitch stage you can enter by passing through a wall in a particular way. Hidden elements like these made swapping tips with friends part of the fun.
Why It's a Classic
First, the controls. Critics frequently praise the game's precise controls. The feel of combining running and jumping to adjust distance and height is finely tuned, so when you make a mistake, you reflect on your own judgment rather than blaming the controls.
Second, level design that makes you learn on your own. At the start of the first stage, the player encounters enemies, blocks, items, and pipes in turn without any real explanation, picking up the rules along the way. Teaching through placement and flow instead of written instructions became an example often referenced in later game design.
Third, its sales and critical record. The original NES version sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and including ports and re-releases, the total is listed at over 58 million. It was the best-selling game for more than 20 years until it was overtaken by Wii Sports in 2006. IGN in 2005 and G4 in 2012 named it the greatest video game of all time.
Fourth, the challenge continues today. Super Mario Bros. is one of the signature speedrunning games: in 2021, Niftski became the first to break the 4:55 barrier, and the current record stands at 4:54.332. That competition over margins of less than a second continues in a decades-old game shows just how precise its design is.
Koji Kondo's music also deserves mention. The upbeat overworld theme has become a familiar melody even to people who have never played the game.
Sequels and Influence
After Super Mario Bros., Mario became Nintendo's signature character, and the series continues to this day.
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese version): Released only in Japan in 1986 for the Disk System, it was later introduced overseas as "The Lost Levels." It's famous for being far harder than the original.
- Super Mario Bros. 3: Released for the NES in Japan on October 23, 1988, and in North America on February 12, 1990.
- Super Mario All-Stars: A 1993 Super Famicom collection that remade the early games with new graphics.
- Super Mario Bros. Deluxe: A 1999 port for the Game Boy Color.
- Super Mario Bros. 35: A 35-player battle game released in 2020 for Nintendo Switch Online members, which ended service on March 31, 2021.
The game was also released for arcades on the Nintendo VS. System, and has been re-released steadily on the Game Boy Advance and the Virtual Console on Wii, 3DS, and Wii U, among others. It was adapted into animated and live-action films, extending its influence beyond games. Just as Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it No. 1 on its list of the 200 greatest games of their time, it became the first benchmark mentioned whenever side-scrolling platformers come up.
How to Play Today
The easiest way to play Super Mario Bros. today is on Nintendo Switch. It's included in the Famicom/NES game collection for Nintendo Switch Online members, and since December 22, 2017, the arcade version has also been sold as part of the Arcade Archives series. If you're playing for the first time, we recommend progressing step by step from World 1 without using Warp Zones and noticing how the stages teach you the rules. Once you're comfortable, watching speedrun videos and comparing how differently the same stages can be tackled is another kind of fun.