Today is Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary

On 09/14/2015 at 01:51 AM by Captain N

Happy Birthday Mario and Luigi!

Hey Pixlbit, how's it going? Just something I put up quick as I didn't have enough time. More on that towards the end. As the title suggests, today is the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. That's alot and while games make it that far in terms of anniversaries, not that many have withstood the test of time like Super Mario Bros. It is a timeless classic that revived the industry as well as set the standard for video games as we know it. I know what I'm saying when I say it's a legendary game as well as the quintessential video game. Not only me, but just about everyone. I mean everyone grew up playing this game or has at least played it once in their life.

Mario Games

As I've mentioned before, Super Mario Bros. is the very first game I ever played at the age of 2. I've told this story before but might as well tell it again. I remember it well, I was 2 at the time and it was christmas morning. We lived in a small 1 room apartment and we had a small christmas tree but with no presents. I remember getting up really early and my dad just got up. My dad opened the door and in our doorstep were 3 presents,1 for my mom, 1 for my dad, and 1 for me. My dad seemed baffled but he brought them in. The biggest one was for me. It was an NES. I remember my dad setting it up and we played SMB. I was probably terrible at it since I was 2. The thing is that we don't know where the presents came from. My parents never knew, neither did I. As I previously mentioned, I like to think it was Santa Claus, as cheesy as it might sound. I don't have that NES with me, maybe it was fated that I got to try it, be it destiny, fate, or whatever, but whoever did give me that NES, thank you very much.

Eventually I got a GameBoy Color years later because of Pokemon, but that's for another time. I remember buying Super Mario Bros. Deluxe and when I started playing, that familiar tune was the exact one I heard when I was 2. I was thrilled to be playing this again, especially now that I was older. To me, Deluxe is the definitive version of Super Mario Bros. The game was already great on its own, but Nintendo improved on the game. Nintendo added more content to the game, they added new modes, the Lost Levels, and even a multiplayer mode. This is probably the version I've played the most.

Later on we went on a trip to Mexico. My dad had a relative that owned a food store. I remember there was a party on the same street as the store. My dad's relatives son invited me over to the store since their house was built next to it and he invited me to play Super Mario Bros. I jumped on the chance. It was really fun playing it into the late hours of the night. He even gave me a soda and some snacks from their store. It was really awesome. It involved alot of swear words and racial slurs in spanish, but plenty of fun and laughts.

Eventually as a teen I got to play Super Mario All-Stars+ World on a trip to Mexico and loved it very much. It's basically the first 3 Super Mario Bros. games, Super Mario World and Lost Levels remade for the SNES. Previously I had tried SMB, Lost Levels, and SMW, so SMB 2 and 3 felt new to me. But great games.

I'm gonna end it here because I could go on. There's no denying that every Super Mario game got better since SMB. 3 and World are fine examples of this, though World is perfect as perfect platforming can get. But all these games owe alot to SMB for laying down the groundwork or blueprints for future games to come. The game itself has also influenced probably every game in the industry in some form or the other.

It definitely had a huge impact in my life and I'm sure it has too for millions around the world. It's a game anyone can pick up and play no matter how young or old you are. It's still fun after all these years.

So that's all for now. This was in such short notice and had to put this up quick because today was also my parents wedding anniversary. Yep, on the day of SMB's anniversary, which was really cool.

I'm sure you've all played Super Mario Bros. in some form, so what are your SMB memories? I would love to read them. Thanks for reading and Happy 30th Super Mario Bros.!

Mario Drawing

Cary Woodham

09/14/2015 at 07:57 AM

Super Mario Bros. was great, but it wasn't the game that caused me to buy a NES. That honor goes to Zelda.

Captain N

09/20/2015 at 05:03 AM

Yeah it's great. I've played the original Zelda and it's really good.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

09/14/2015 at 10:41 AM

I was a Zelda man too. But I loved SMB2.

Good blog though! Go Santa!

09/20/2015 at 05:04 AM

Both of those games are awesome.

Thanks! Yeah go Santa!

jgusw

09/14/2015 at 05:25 PM

I was 8 when I first played SMB. My friends & I played that game all the time. It brought videogames alive. The challenge of trying to get further than my friends and discovering warp zones was awesome.

09/20/2015 at 05:06 AM

I think I was around that age too when I tried Deluxe. And you're right. That's the challenge when playing with friends.

Alex-C25

09/14/2015 at 09:39 PM

One of my early gaming memories predate a bit the first time I got a game console: I remember my cousins playing the original SMB and Duck Hunt (not sure if it was a legit NES or a copycat of sorts) and I was always looking in amazement (I even got to play once from what I remember).

Happy birthday SMB!

09/20/2015 at 05:09 AM

It really is a magical experience playing a video game for the first time. I remember that guy from Mexico talking about pirated games with his friend one day. I had no idea what he meant at the time, I assumed he was going to buy his games from a real pirate haha.

mothman

09/15/2015 at 07:51 AM

The NES was our first dedicated game console and with it the Super Mario/Duck Hunt game. It got played constantly by my wife and I (ok she wasn't my wife at the time but still).

The gaming world owes a lot to Mario. Itsa him who kickstarted the resurgence of videogames in the 80's.

09/20/2015 at 05:13 AM

Yeah that's the NES bundle we had too. That's pretty cool that you and your future wife played the game together.

Yeah, the industry owes alot to Mario. It's the game that revived and set the standard in the industry.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

09/15/2015 at 12:53 PM

Yup, the NES was our family's first home console as well. 1988....my brother won $100 from his school for being the top honor student. He bought an NES Action Set with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt at Toys R Us. I think we played Duck Hunt first because it was so cool to use the Zapper.

Then it was on SMB. Man, that game forever changed my life. The world of video games suddenly became this awesome place I had never discoverd until then.

09/20/2015 at 05:24 AM

That's really cool that your brother won the money to buy an NES. It feels really good when you buy your gaming hardware yourself. Yeah playing Duck Hunt with the Zapper is really cool. Well was.

Yeah, SMB changed my life forever too, it made me become a fan of gaming and Nintendo for better or worse.

Yes, that's the feeling I got too when I first played games later on. They open a whole new world that you could only dream about.

KnightDriver

09/18/2015 at 02:31 AM

There's something special about the 2D Mario games. Somehow, Super Mario 64 and Galaxy were great and all, but the 2D games are a little more focused in their challenges i think. I was going to college when SMB came out, so I kinda missed out on it all. Funny, I don't remember any students with a NES, but I guess that wasn't the right audience. I got it later when I was starting to collect games in the mid 90s. Darn, it would be cool to boot up an old NES sometime. Gotta do some retro gaming soon.

09/21/2015 at 05:20 AM

Yeah, I like both the 2D and the 3D Mario games, but you may be right on 2D Mario. Afterall, it took almost 2 decades for Mario (and Luigi) to return to the 2D gameplay.

I'd love to boot up an NES too. I'm just glad most of the classics from Nintendo are available digitally.

09/22/2015 at 02:14 AM

Yea, that's why I got a Wii, for Virtual Console.

09/22/2015 at 04:43 AM

There are some games still missing from it, but VC is awesome.

PixlBit