Arcade Archives Mario Bros.

Genre: Arcade / Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Mario Bros. (not to be confused with Super Mario Bros.) is an Arcade-style Platformer released in arcades in 1983, released on Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986, and subsequently released on multiple Nintendo platforms in the time since, including a remake of the game included with the Super Mario Advance series of games on Game Boy Advance. While neither as groundbreaking as Mario’s first game, Donkey Kong, nor as immensely important as Super Mario Bros., Mario Bros. still remains a fun throwback to classic Arcade-style Platformers of old.

This game’s premise is that Mario (now joined by his brother Luigi in his first appearance) is a plumber trying to rid a section of sewer of a pest infestation of hostile turtles, crabs, bugs, anthropomorphic icicles, and fireballs. To do so, they must bop the platforms these enemies are standing on from underneath, flipping them onto their backs so they can subsequently be kicked off the stage. Those who played later Mario games expecting to hop on the turtles (called ‘Shellcreepers” here, not Koopa Troopas) will find themselves losing a life due to this muscle memory.

The 2D pixel art visuals and chiptune sound design in this game still use the same classic style as the prior Donkey Kong games, and this game is nearly as iconic as those games are. Despite this game’s age, it still looks pretty decent thanks to its nice cartoony art style.

The gameplay here is mostly pretty good too, and far more fluid and forgiving than the Donkey Kong games were, though modern players will likely be put off by how slippery the physics are, as well as how sketchy the game’s hit detection for jumping on platforms is. Also, this is sadly one area where the game’s Game Boy Advance remake vastly outclasses the original thanks to not only improved visuals, but much better physics that makes the game easier to control. As a result, the dated elements of this game feel even more dated once you’ve played that remake.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to make as many points as they can on one life. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes rather than one life. In addition, this release of the game gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

So there are only two remaining elephants in the room to discuss. First: Is this game worth its $8 price tag? And second, is it worth buying if you already subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, which includes a version of this game on its Nintendo Entertainment System app, as well as the remake of the game being included in the Super Mario Advance games on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack’s Game Boy Advance app. I’m going to give an emphatic “no” on both counts. As I’ve repeatedly pointed to, the Game Boy Advance remake of this game is far superior, and if you have access to that version you’ll likely never want to go back to this. However, even if you’re a purist looking to play the original, the differences between the arcade version of the game and the Nintendo Entertainment System port included on Nintendo Switch Online are negligible, and in fact the Nintendo Switch Online version even has the edge because it supports both local and online multiplayer while this game only has support for local play. In a game where co-op is one of the major selling points, this is a pretty significant factor. To top this all off, the $8 price tag definitely feels inflated when prior Virtual Console releases of the Nintendo Entertainment System release of the game sold for $5.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one frustrating issue I encountered while playing this game. When playing away from a network, this game froze and refused to get past the title screen despite repeated attempts. It was only after bringing it home and connecting it back to my network that it worked for some reason. I’m not seeing others complaining about this issue, so perhaps it’s just a fluke, but it felt important to bring up in any case.

Look, don’t get me wrong, Mario Bros. is still a fun game, a classic Arcade-style Platformer, albeit a somewhat dated one. However, being released with such a high price tag, when there are not only multiple other versions of the game on Nintendo Switch Online, but versions of the game that are better, it’s hard to recommend this game to anyone but the most avid of collectors and completionists. You’re better off sticking with the Nintendo Switch Online versions.

tl;dr – Mario Bros. is a classic Arcade-style Platformer where players must clear a sewer of an infestation of vermin. It’s a classic throwback game, albeit somewhat dated by today’s standards. However, the real issue here is that there are multiple versions of this game available on Nintendo Switch Online’s apps, and those other versions are all better. On top of this, the price seems too steep, making it difficult to give this game a recommendation.

Grade: C-

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