Games You Have To Play: Super Mario Brothers

It’s back to school time and Mushroom Kingdom University’s freshman class is coming in. You decide that you need something new and decide to join a fraternity during rush week but the best frats on campus will only allow you to pledge if you’ve played all kinds of classic video games.

For those who didn’t care for that intro, let me lay it down for you another way, you can’t call yourself a gamer if you haven’t played classics like these!

Super Mario Bros.

I might be dating myself here but I grew up with Nintendo and one of the first games I ever played was Super Mario Brothers. The minute you turn on the game you’re hit with all kinds of action. Since my game was the Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo, I saw Mario and the Ducks flying right at me. I would play Duck Hunt with the Zapper but Mario Brothers was calling to me.

Long story short, Bowser, King of the Koopas, took over the Mushroom Kingdom and turned all the Mushroom Kingdom Fungi-People into bricks.  Not only does that happen, the King of the Koopa’s kidnaps the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Toadstool. Now, I know what you’re thinking “who will be able to rescue the princess?” It has to be some Mushroom knight, right? You would be wrong. It is none other than a Brooklyn based, Italian Plumber and his taller, younger brother. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but before the early NES days, I doubt it. How will the Mario Brothers rescue the Princess? Slow down, I’m getting to that!

The Koopa Troop isn’t just going to hand over the Princess and what fun would that be if they did. The Brothers will have to traverse over 8 levels of platforming goodness to rescue Princess Toadstool. Some worlds might make the Brothers think they’ve been to this world before but trust me, you haven’t. To combat the evil forces of Hammer Brothers, Koopa Troopas, and Goombas, Mario and Luigi will need some gear. “Some Gear” pertains to the Fire Flower, Starman, and Super Mushroom. Each allows for different power-ups that will give Mario and Luigi the edge needed in the battle against Koopa!

Not only will Mario and Luigi have power-ups at their disposal, there will also be special warp zones and bean stalk special areas to help out too! Be careful on the way to the warps though, you could get caught in one that goes back a level and you’ll have to beat that level all over again. Use those warps to get to world 8 and beat King Koopa at his own game and rescue the Princess. Your reward for saving her is being able to do the whole thing over again, this time with tougher enemies, like Buzzy Beetles all over the place. Sorry for those who haven’t beaten Mario 1, it’s public knowledge at this point.

My parents used to play Mario Brothers with me and my brother and I was Mario/Player 1. 

Why I consider Mario 1 to be a “Must Play” game is because the game set the stage for gaming today. Who knows where video games would be if it wasn’t for that Brooklynite and his brother? The game also has sentimentality for me, but most games do that for me. My parents used to play Mario Brothers with me and my brother and I was Mario/Player 1. I know this is odd for most people because I was the younger brother and most younger brothers had to be Luigi. In a way, I guess I owe my parents for starting me on the right path of Nintendo and the fun gaming that Nintendo is known for.

Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion for the next “Game You have to Play.” Your suggestion could be the basis for the next installment!

Oh, I forgot to mention the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, the cartoon series set in the world of Mario 1 and 2. I think “Do The Mario” is all I need to mention here!