Super Mario Bros. was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in November 1985. This was probably one of the first games on the new home console. At the time, there wasn't any other games like it. Super Mario Bros. was the first ever side-scrolling platform game. Not only that, but there was also a lot of exploration with the level design for a game of its time. This first Mario game is like none of the early arcade games because you don't just bash enemies and score points. You progress from level to level in a way that is challenging and fun. In some ways, it is pretty dated with the graphics and other issues, but for 1985 this was a revolutionary game that changed the whole gaming genre and paved the way for other NES classics.  

Graphics 5/10: One of the weakest parts to Super Mario Bros. would have to be the graphics. In late 1985, there wasn't a whole lot that could be done to make a very good-looking game. Everything looks pretty dull and boring from the sprites to the backgrounds. This game falls into the same category with the arcade games like: Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. with its sprite work. Although, SMB does have more variety with the new levels and the way you move from stage to stage, but every level just looks the same. You have the same backgrounds with clouds, fences, and trees except for world 8 - 3 where you have the castle background.

This is a game I have mixed feelings about as far as the graphics are concerned (and with a lot of other things about SMB1 as well). I've seen worse looking games, but there still isn't much variety to the backgrounds. The sprites are just plain ugly! Mario looks like a block! I understand that this was the best Nintendo could do for 1985, but the graphics are very dated and look bad. They aren't as bad as some games, but they are the worst of the Mario series.

Music 7/10: The first SMB game has some pretty catchy music to it. I think it has some classic NES tracks, but there is very little variety in this game. The castle theme has to be my favorite. All of these themes would be used in the Super Mario Bros. cartoon 4 years later in 1989. That kind of gives you an idea of how few tracks this game has to it. Like with the graphics, it was the best Nintendo could do at the time. I feel like the NES's hardware/memory wasn't much until later on in the late 80s and early 90s. I'm also really mixed on this game's soundtrack too. The music sounds great, but there isn't enough of it.  

Gameplay 7/10: The goal of this game is to get to the flagpole at the end of each stage before you run out of time. You control Mario and must navigate him through the stage avoiding bottomless pits and enemies at the same time. Players can pick up items such as: Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and Stars along the way that give Mario an extra hit. The Fire Flower turns him white, and he can now shoot fireballs at his enemies. The Star makes Mario invincible, and he can kill enemies by touching them. The main concept of Super Mario Bros. is pretty cool, but the later games were an improvement. However, without this first game you wouldn't have these kind of concepts or level design.

The Starman is probably my favorite item because the music changes, and Mario can run through the stage mowing down enemies in the process while making his way to the flagpole. Really, there isn't that many power-ups in this Mario game. There aren't that many extra lives either, and you'll have to make sure to collect as many coins and 1-Up Mushrooms that you can find. These special Mushrooms are only found in hidden blocks. Coins are found on the levels themselves, in underground coin rooms accessed by standing on a pipe and pressing the Down button, and in the coin heavens that are reached by finding a beanstalk in one of the bricks.

So, there is a little bit of exploration to the level design of Super Mario Bros. Players will want to explore these levels to the best of their ability in order to collect items and extra lives so they can keep making progress with the game and not have to start again. That's what I like most about the gameplay of the first Mario game. What I like least is the layout of these stages after world 4. Everything just repeats itself. The castles, athletic levels, and water levels starting in world 5 are just harder versions of the ones from worlds 1 and 2. This game is mainly about exploration, and it doesn't have much of that either. Nor, are the levels that different from one another with their design.

In Super Mario Bros., the levels aren't that exciting. There is some exploration to their design, but another problem I had with this game was its appearance. It's like some of the kids in my neighborhood that had this game on their NES felt, and I feel that way too. I only got to play it at their house because I didn't have that version of SMB1. I had the SNES version on Super Mario All-Stars, and I enjoyed that version better. This one just doesn't have much variety to the stages, and their appearance is so plain you just lose interest after a while. The challenge and exploration is nice, but even that part of the gameplay is pretty weak. 

Story 7/10: The story of Super Mario Bros. is that Mario and Luigi are two Italian plumbers from Brooklyn, NY, and they are working on fixing a drain. Somehow, they are pulled down the drain because it was a warp pipe that lead to the Mushroom Kingdom from the Real World. The Mario Bros. discover Bowser has taken over this kingdom and kidnapped its ruler Princess Toadstool. They set out across the land battling Goombas, Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros., Bullet Bills, and all kinds of other Koopas. That's really all there is to the story too. Originally, in Donkey Kong, Mario was a carpenter, and now he's a plumber. This is yet another example of how the background of these characters were never very consistent over the years. In this game the plot is pretty basic and nothing that important.     

Content 6/10: Super Mario Bros. only contains a total of 32 short levels. They are split up into 8 worlds with 4 levels in each. Again, what is so disappointing is how none of the levels have their own theme like in later Mario games. That really got to me when I played this version on my friend's NES as a kid. Back then, I never got very far with this game. Now, I can finish it without too much trouble, and I have even played Hard Mode too. It is accessed after completing the normal 8 worlds, but it kind of sucks! It's just a modified version of the regular levels meant to be harder, but it is really just the same game. I felt Nintendo was just experimenting with Mario at this point, and that was why this game wasn't that impressive with its gameplay or content.  

Difficulty 9/10: I feel like these first two Mario games are the hardest of the whole series. This one is hard because you don't have any continues and very few extra lives. Me and some of the kids in my neighborhood never could beat this version of SMB. It isn't that difficult compared to some of the other old NES games like Mega Man, but I guess we just didn't stick with it enough. The difficulty is fair, but without a way to continue and keep going this game ends up being a lot of trial and error for beginners. Unlike Super Mario Bros. 2, it is a short game, so getting a Game Over isn't that bad, but I didn't enjoy re-playing these levels so much. World 8 was just a nightmare! The placement of some of these Hammer Bros. is ridiculous, and there is no way to kill them without fire power.

This is where I found myself getting Game Overs the most, and by that time I just gave up. Nintendo hadn't come up with a way to continue yet, and that's the biggest flaw with these early Mario games. The only way you'll get good at this is by spending hours playing and re-playing these levels, and if you screw up it's time to restart the game from the beginning. I hate how SMB and SMB2 were so unforgiving to first time players. Even in the Sonic games you could still get continues. It isn't an impossible game and I felt like the deaths I had were due to inexperience, but there just wasn't much of a way to try again without re-playing the whole game!  

Overall 6.4/10: Unlike a lot of other people on here, I don't have a very high opinion of this game. I guess many just get caught up in the nostalgia of the first Super Mario Bros., but they forget how poorly it was designed compared to later games. The levels aren't that interesting, and they don't do much that is different. The difficulty also makes it feel dated and so do the graphics, music, and other elements. I can't say much about this Mario game. Most of the other people I grew up with didn't like it much either. They played other NES classics like Zelda, Contra, Battletoads, and other games that probably were better. However, Nintendo was just getting back into the market after the gaming crisis of 1983, so I can forgive the layout of the game somewhat.