Review #1: Super Mario Bros. 1

Yay, it's my first review!

















Anyway, I figured it would probably make the most sense to review such a game to kick off a long series of reviews. Here goes...












Okay, as you know, Nintendo's NES pretty much revived the concept of home video game consoles, after it crashed back in 1983 ("E.T., the video game", anyone?). Bundled with it, the start of a legendary game series. Yep, hard to believe, but every Mario platformer known to man was connected back to this one.

So, it was pretty huge back in 1985, and started a new genre of gaming. But even for such a hugely-popular game, it seems kinda average to me. Why? Well, I'll sort everything into categories:

Graphics: For the time, awesome. Sure, they don't hold a candle to today's graphics, but let's remember that this followed the Atari 2600 console, and you may remember the graphics on that thing. The platforms and most enemies are actually pretty well detailed. I'll rate the graphics according to the graphics standards of a particular year. For 1985: 9/10... For 2008: 4/10.

Sound: Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 20-something years, you at least know one track from this game. Especially that main overworld theme. You'll have the music stuck in your head after playing it. In fact, it's so catchy I'll completely drop the whole "good-for-it's-time" attitude here. This is STILL good. Sound gets: 8/10.

Story: Note: This was added after I posted this review. Sorry I forgot it! The tried-and-true storyline of all Mario platformers: save Princess Toadstool from the big lizard-turtle thing. Nothing more to say here. Story gets: 7/10

Gameplay: This was pretty much as innovative as it could get back in- well, you know. It featured goombas, koopas, lakitus, hammer brothers, spinies, buzzy beetles, and whatever else. You could stomp on most of the enemies, a few you couldn't. Yep, the good old days. Oh, and let's not forget the boss battle with King Koopa (who would become Bowser later on) on the bridge over lava. You simply had to get past the big lummox, touch the axe, and he was toast.

Gameplay gets a 7/10.

Controls: Just for the record, this is the only thing I actually dislike about this game. The controls in this game are kinda loose sometimes. Controls get: 6/10.

Okay, I think that pretty much sums it up. Okay, time to give my final grade (note that I'm using the 1985 rating for the graphics)...

9+8+7+7+6=33. 33/5= 7.4/10.

Darn controls lowering the rating. Well, that's it for this review. Come back soon for the next one!