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Super Mario Bros. is a cartridge-based video game for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America and Europe that made Mario famous. It featured the first appearance of Princess Peach Toadstool, King Bowser Koopa and other characters. The classic game is widely considered to have been the first side-scrolling platform game of its kind, introducing players to huge, bright, expansive worlds that changed the way video games were created, played, and perceived.
The game was directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the Mario character. He has created many other famous Nintendo titles including Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, and Star Fox, among others.
The very famous and catchy music was composed by Koji Kondo.
The player took the role of Mario, or in the case of a second player, Mario's brother Luigi. The ultimate object was to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, eliminate Bowser's forces, and save Princess Toadstool.
Mario's primary attack was simply jumping on top of his enemies, which would kill the mushroom traitors, Goombas, and send the turtle soldiers known as Koopa Troopas into their shells. Mario could then kick the shells into other enemies, which would dispatch them quite nicely; but conversely, could also bounce back and hit him. Jumping on enough enemies in succession, or kicking a shell into enough enemies in succession, would double points earned with each enemy killed, eventually earning Mario a 1-Up, an extra life and another chance to pass the level.
Aiding him in his quest were several power-ups, including the Super Mushroom, which would turn Mario into Super Mario, doubling his size; the Fire Flower, which turned Mario into Fiery Mario, allowing him to throw fireballs (though only attainable as Super Mario); Starman, which gave him temporary invincibility; and the 1-Up Mushroom.
If Mario took a hit from an enemy as Super Mario or Fiery Mario, he would simply revert back to regular Mario and the game would continue. However, if he took a hit as regular Mario, fell down a pit (regardless of his status), or ran out of time, he would lose a life, and would start again, either from the beginning of the level or a set location that he had passed before dying, approximately halfway through the level.
The game consisted of eight worlds with four sub-worlds, or levels, in each. The first sub-world was an above ground (overworld) level, the second was below ground (sometimes in water), the third is usually a sky level (if not, it is an above ground level like the first sub-world), and the fourth is a castle. At the end of each castle level, Mario fought Bowser across a bridge over a pool of lava.
The third and sixth worlds take place at night, and all other worlds take place during the day.
After beating the game, the player was given the option to start again in "Hard Mode." All Goombas are replaced by Buzzy Beetles (Koopa Troopa-like enemies who cannot be killed by fireballs), and all enemies walk faster.
The game sold approximately 40 million copies in North America alone. However, although the game was popular enough on its own, this is more attributable to the popularity of the NES itself, as Super Mario Bros. was most often packaged along with the console. Therefore, it has been estimated that this game, next to Tetris, is the bestselling game of all time.
The game's popularity eventually led to dozens of sequels and spinoffs; there are three direct sequels to this game on the NES platform: Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese, also called "The Lost Levels", and Super Mario Bros. 3.
There was even a TV Series and a movie based on it. Mario has since been known as Nintendo's mascot and one of the most popular video game characters of all time.
In 1993, Super Mario Bros. was released with enhanced graphics for the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo Entertainment System for Super Mario Collection and Super Mario All-Stars, respectively. It was later released with additional features (but not enhanced graphics) for the Game Boy Color as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. In early 2004, Nintendo rereleased the game on the Game Boy Advance in Japan as part of their Famicom Minis collection and in the U.S. as part of the Classic NES Series. Unlike previous rereleases, these versions contain no graphical updates or new features, and is simply an NES emulator and a copy of the Super Mario Bros. ROM. The only differences between this and the original are that the screen images appear a bit squished, due to the smaller GBA screen, and the high score is saved to the cartridge.
There exists a method to reach World -1 (A.K.A. the "Minus World"). This level is sometimes claimed to be a myth, but it does exist although it can be difficult to reach. The "Minus World" is an infinite water level, only accessible through World 1-2, and not an intentionally designed level but the result of a coding glitch. Once World -1 is reached, it cannot be escaped and Mario is destined to die from Time Over. World -1 can be reached if Super Mario uses another glitch to pass through the bricks to the left of the warp zone area, and then enters one of the warp pipes quickly before the "Welcome to warp zone" message appears. More "glitch" levels are available, but only through special memory-modifying tools such as the Game Genie.
The technical explanation for the existence of the glitch levels is the following. Mario's game engine is robust enough that it is able to interpret almost anything in memory as a level, even garbage or graphical data. Internally the level numbers represent fixed memory offsets, which are obtained simply by multiplying the level number by a constant. Hence entering a level number outside the normal bounds of the game will actually result in a playable (if strange) level. The reason World -1 can be accessed from World 1-2 is that the warp pipes are initialized to a default value of -1, and are only changed to 2, 3, and 4 when the "Welcome to warp zone" message appears. Therefore, rapidly entering them can send Mario to World -1.
In some levels, such as 3-3, by exploiting pulleys it is possible to jump over the flag at the end of the level. However, this is not very useful as the level goes on forever and is completely empty after this. There is nothing to do but to keep running forward until Mario dies from Time Over.
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