Game EvaluationSuper Mario Brothers

Bob PascoCIS 487

9/23/2007

Basic Information

• Developed/Published by Nintendo for the NES

• October 18th, 1985• Designed by Shigeru

Miyamoto• Genre: Platform game

Summary• Princess Toadstool has been kidnapped by Bowser, King

of the Koopas. Mario and Luigi must save her from his castle. But first they have to battle through the Koopa Army to get there.

• The first player plays the role of Mario, the second player plays as Luigi

• The player goes through 8 worlds each containing 4 levels.

• Most enemies can be killed by jumping on them. Some enemies are protected so this may not kill them, or may injure the player.

• There are power-ups that can be collected which increase the player’s size, and allow them to shoot fire, which provides an alternative for killing most enemies.

Game Mechanics• Mario/Luigi will die if they’re hit while they’re small.• A mushroom increases your size, and allows you to take

an extra hit.• The flower allows a “big” Mario/Luigi to throw fireballs.• For every 100 coins the player gets a 1-up (extra life).• If the player stomps enough enemies, or kicks a turtle

shell into enough, they get a 1-up.• The player must finish a level before the time runs out.• The game ends when the player runs out of lives.

Scoring• Various points for killing enemies. If the player

kills multiple enemies in a row via a turtle shell or jumping on them their points will increase each time another enemy dies.

• 1000 points for any power-up he collected (mushroom, flower, or star).

• Finishing a level: player will get points depending on how high up the flag pole they get, and how much time is remaining. If the last digit of time is 1, 3, or 6 they will get an equal number of fireworks which also increase the score per firework.

Music

• Koji Kondo did the score for Super Mario Brothers. There are 5 different themes in the game:– Overworld– Underworld– Underwater– Fortress– Star power-up/Cloud theme

Mario and Luigi

• Small, Large, and Fire Mario

• Small, Large, and Fire Luigi

Princess and Bowser

• Mario and Princess Toadstool

• Bowser, King of the Koopas

The Pros

• Fast-paced challenging platformer• Solid controls• 64 total levels• 2 players can participate• Second “quest” available after beating the

game

The Cons

• In 2 player mode, the only time it switches between turns is when a player dies- this can end up taking a while if either player is good

• Some levels are reused• Collision detection on hammers isn’t

always accurate• “Maze” castles can be confusing

Review

• Was a revolutionary game at its debut

• Excellent level design to balance difficulty and playability

• Secrets in each level – vines to climb, pipes to enter, warp zones

The Levels – World 1

• World 1– 1-1 – Overworld– 1-2 – Underworld – 1-3 – Hills– 1-4 – Fortress

The Levels – World 2

• World 2– Overworld– Water– Bridges– Fortress

The Levels – World 3

• World 3– Night Overworld– Night Overworld– Night Hills– Fortress

The Levels – World 4

• World 4– Overworld– Underworld– Mushroom Hills– Fortress

The Levels – World 5

• World 5– Overworld– Overworld– Hills– Fortress

The Levels – World 6

• World 6– Night Overworld– Night Overworld– Night Snow Hills– Fortress

The Levels – World 7

• World 7– Overworld– Water– Bridges– Fortress

The Levels – World 8

• World 8– Overworld– Overworld– Overworld– Fortress

Bugs/Glitches

• Many collision errors allow players to enter walls

Bugs/Glitches• Sometimes when

Mario/Luigi hit a solid object they pause momentarily. This allows for completing a wall jump.

• If a mushroom or flower is grabbed as Mario/Luigi are descending from a jump, the player can jump again right after the power-up is touched, without touching the ground.

Bugs/Glitches

• Too many lives and the lives counter would display incorrect images

• If your lives went over 127, and you died, you’d get a Game Over

Bugs/Glitches• The “minus world” was

very popular glitch back when Mario was released. It involved getting through the wall in Level 1-2, and going down the Level 4-1 warp pipe before the game assigned properly levels to the warp zones. This sent the player out into a level similar to 7-2’s water level.

Secrets

• If a Koopa Troopa or a Beetle is near a “stairway” they can be repeatedly kicked for 1-ups

Secrets

• In the Famicom Disk System version of Super Mario Brothers, the “minus world” is no longer a glitch

• Nintendo made it into 3 levels that, when finished, act as if you completed the game. This allows access to the level select and second “quest”.

Secrets• Level -1

– Underwater version of 1-3 / 5-3

– Has a weird color palette

– Random Princess Toadstool sprites along with floating Bowsers

– Must grab the middle of the flag pole to exit

Secrets

• Level -2– Nothing new here

– Clone of Level 7-3

Secrets

• Level -3– Underground

fortress– Clone of Level

4-4– Only has squid

enemies (which can be jumped on)

– No Bowser or character at the end

Questions/Sources

• Any questions?

Sources:http://tasvideos.org/SuperMarioBrosTricks.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Brothers