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Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. is a classic video game made by Nintendo, released in 1983 as an arcade game and in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series. It was the first game to feature Mario's name in the title. It also featured the debut of Mario's brother, Luigi. Unlike in Donkey Kong, where he was a carpenter, in this game Mario became a plumber, exterminating pests who exit from pipes (including the soon-to-be trademark turtles). It was very popular until Super Mario Bros. came out, and then its popularity declined.

Versions of the game are bundled with Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario Advance series.

Gameplay

Mario Bros. is a 2-D side-view platform game. There is only one screen; the platforms have the same position for the entire game.

The goal for each phase is to "kick off all the pests". Mario can run right and left, and jump. Mario's main method of attack is bumping the platforms from below. Any pests standing on that section of floor are flipped over, temporarily stunned. After Mario flips over a pest, he can walk into it to kick it off; if Mario does not kick off a flipped pest, it will eventually wake up and move faster than before.

Mario can also use the POW, which is a block in the central gap of the second-level platform. By hitting the POW from below, all the platforms are hit in one jolt, so many pests can be overturned at once. There are only a limited number of hits in a POW, but it gets replenished after every coin phase. In addition, Mario can land on top of the POW.

Two-player gameplay is somewhat similar to Bubble Bobble, in that Mario and Luigi must both co-operate and compete to rid the screen of pests (turtles, crabs, and fireflies).

This article describes the arcade version. The console versions tend to not implement all the features present in the arcade version.

Enemies

There are 3 types of pests: shellcreepers, sidesteppers, and fighterflies.

• Shellcreepers look like turtles. They move slowly, and it only takes one hit to flip them over.
• Sidesteppers look like crabs. They move the fastest of all the pests, and it takes two hits to flip them over. After taking one hit, sidesteppers move faster.
• Fighterflies. They move by taking short hops, and can only be hit when touching the ground.

There are other enemies that do not need to be killed to clear the phase.

• Slipice. They move slowly. A hit instantly kills them. A new one is respawned in a few seconds if the previous one is killed. They can freeze a platform, turning it into ice, making it harder to maneuver Mario. If a platform is iced, it is returned to normal at the start of the next phase. If all three ice-eligible platforms are iced, no more slipices spawn for that phase.
• Icicles. They start appearing on Phase 16, after the third coin phase.
• Red Fireballs. They bounce diagonally. Mario can kill a fireball by hitting the ground as the fireball bounces; killing a fireball is unwise, as one soon respawns and moves faster. If the red fireball makes a complete circuit of the screen, it disappears and then respawns moving faster, effectively limiting the amount of time Mario can safely take to complete a phase. Normally, only one fireball is present; after the fifth coin phase, Phase 29, two fireballs are present simultaneously.
• White Fireballs. (sometimes called hurricanes) They move horizontally, spawning on one end of the screen and travelling to the other. They bounce at regular intervals, making it risky to jump over one.

Phases

• Phase 1-2. Shellcreepers
• Phase 3. First coin phase; POW not replenished
• Phase 4. Sidesteppers
• Phase 5. Sidesteppers and shellcreepers; this is the only phase in the game that has both sidesteppers and shellcreepers.
• Phase 6. Fighterflies
• Phase 7. Fighterflies and sidesteppers
• Phase 8. Second coin phase; POW replenished
• Phase 9. Slipice are now present on every phase; fighterflies and shellcreepers.
• Phase 10, 11. Fighterflies and sidesteppers
• Phase 12-14. Same as 9-11, but the fireballs are more frequent
• Phase 15. Third coin phase; floors turn invisible; POW replenished
• Phase 16-21. Icicles are now present on every phase; otherwise same as 9-14. Fireball frequency is decreased on phases 16-18.
• Phase 22. Fourth coin phase; POW replenished
• Phase 23-28. Same as 16-21, but fireball frequency is maximum and icicles are more common.
• Phase 25. Phase counter replaced with a red "KO".
• Phase 29. Fifth coin phase; POW replenished
• Phase 30-35. Same as 23-28, but now two red fireballs appear on each phase.
• The same pattern of 7 phases repeats for the remainder of the game.

Scoring

• Kicking off a pest: 800 points. If you can kick off multiple pests at one time, the value increases to 1600, 2400.
• Each coin is worth 800 points.
• Killing a slipice is worth 500 points.
• Killing a white fireball (hurricane) is worth 200 points. It is possible to kill it by hitting the floor just after it bounces.
• Killing a red fireball is worth 1000 points. This is usually a bad idea, as it immediately respawns and then moves faster.
• You can kill an icicle as it is forming, but this is not worth any points. If you touch an icicle after it has formed, but not dropped, Mario dies.
• Getting all 10 coins on the coin phase is worth 5000 the first time and 8000 later times.
• Flipping over a pest is worth 10 points.

Strategy

Usually, you should try to clear the phase as quickly as possible. Risking a life for 800 extra points isn't usually worth it. The danger level increases as the phase progresses, because the red fireball gets faster.

You should try to kick off as many pests as possible at the start of each phase. If you don't kill some of the pests quickly, you can get stuck in a situation where many lives are lost on one phase.

Use the POW only if you expect to lose a life, especially if you may lose control and lose multiple lives, due to too many pests onscreen. Try to save at least one charge left in the POW, because standing on the POW is a useful escape strategy. Remember when a coin phase is approaching, so you can freely use up the POW when you know it is about to recharge.

The enemies behave deterministically. You can anticipate where they will be. The white fireballs spawn at regular intervals based on where Mario is standing. Anticipate where you will need to hit a pest, and stand elsewhere to draw the white fireballs. Only icicles spawn randomly, and the time interval between icicles spawning and dropping is constant.

You can jump over a pest, or walk under a fighterfly. Jumping over a white fireball is possible, but only at certain parts of the screen. Jumping over a fireball should be a last resort.

If a sidestepper is about to wake up, hit it again to wake it up. This way, it won't change color and increase speed. It usually pays to let fighterflies speed up, because their slow speed makes it more likely that a fireball or icicle will kill you before the fighterfly is in position. Notice that the last enemy onscreen speeds up to maximum if it is a sidestepper or shellcreeper. It sometimes pays to flip over a fighterfly, knowing you won't be able to kick it off in time, just to speed it up.

Comparison of versions

• The Japanese arcade version of Mario Bros. features an extra life every 30000 points, compared with only one free life per game in the English version.
• The NES has all game features except icicles. It is more stingy with time on the coin phase. The NES does not have the invisible coin phase.
• The Atari 2600 version is the least faithful of all versions. Due to 2600 limitations, there is only one pest per floor at a time. You can kick off the slipice as it is icing a floor. Iced floors only heal at the coin phase.
• The Apple II version included the invisible coin phase and icicles. However, the game is slow due to system limitations.

Trivia

The musical introduction at the beginning of the game is the first movement of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.