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The original Super Mario Bros. didn't age well

I just played a few rounds of SMB recently and I had a great time. It's just as fun as when I first played it in 1988. The newer mario games are great too but the original stands on its own as a great game regardless of improvements in the series. That's what being a classic means.
 
SeventhSon said:
Planning your jump ahead of time, understanding the momentum involved is inherently more skillful than having nearly full air control after a jump.
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For a single jump, yes, for an entire game, It depends of the situation and level layout, and even in other Mario games you don't have nearly full air control, you just have more, but level layout is more complex.
 
Super Mario Bros. has aged well and not any worse than SMB3 in my book. SMB3 may have expanded on everything the original did and is arguably the pinnacle of NES gaming, but it's not like the gap between the two has grown IMO. Perhaps, as previously suggested, it can largely be attributed to the fact that SMB attempts to do very few things and does them extremely well. It certainly has aged a whole lot better than, say, Kid Icarus or Metroid.
 
I was never a fan of the original SMB. It's too primitive, imo. Just look at the jump from SMB1 to SMB3, or hell, even SMB2. It was definitely influential, no doubt about that, but I don't really find it fun to play. Same with the original LoZ.
 
The physics feel a little counter intuitive, but it's still fun as hell.
 
Opinions and all that...BUT...it's a scientific fact that the OP is objectively wrong. The game can still be played and enjoyed by both aged nostalgic fathers and their 6 year old children without coaching or promotion. Just running and jumping to the music in that game is simply instinctual.

kittens said:
The physics feel a little counter intuitive, but it's still fun as hell.
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I would argue the series' physics peaked with this game.
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
To those who think it aged well: do you consider it superior to SMB3?

I understand the keep it simple argument (even if it really lacks in the variety department), I understand that it is the essence of a platformer, but controls and physics are really not that good... SMB3 has much tighter controls, especially mid jump.
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I think that SMB 1 is good in it's own way. There's no doubt that SMB 3 is superior.

Plus SMB 1 is the only SMB game (aside from Mario Bros.) to have an actual Arcade game that's not by "Nintendo's Playchoice" as "Vs. Super Mario Bros" (which is basically SMB 1 & SMB 2 Japan put together).

cw_sasuke said:
Nah, Super Mario Bros. and Tetris are timeless classics.
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This.
 
SMB did age well but as any first iteration should, it was surpassed in quality and made obsolete by it's successors. Hence making it possibly the least favorite to revisit. As a game itself, it's still a great game. And it set the standard for so many innovations in platforming.


I'd still rather play NSMBU.

It has shit like wall jumping....
and interesting items....

I like that shit.
 
As someone whose first home console a PS1, I can't agree with this. I generally have difficulty playing games that old, but SMB is one of the few NES games I can play, albeit not very well, and enjoy.

It's simple yes, and has probably been surpassed in every way by its sequels, but that doesn't make it any less playable.
 
Super Mario Bros is not a good game. It's a game for the history books, not to enjoy and play. The controls are really rough, there is little replayability. Levels are boring and all samy and short. Four music in total, graphics are really not good.

If I were to make a Top 20 of NES games, it would be no where close. Super Mario Bros 3 is 10 to 100 better.

It was the best at one time, now it's not a good game.
 
SMB1 has aged great. The art direction has become pop culture iconography, the music is forever hummable, the controls are incredibly tight, the level design and pacing is immaculate, and the progression remains challenging but with various ways to approach it. It's light on variety where backdrops and enemies are concerned, but all things considered it's still a blast to pick up and play. And I say this as someone who really came to appreciate it as an adult, since the Mario I played growing up was World.
 
SMB is pretty tight. There's countless articles online about how and why the design and aesthetic is so perfectly honed, especially considering the climate that spawned it. For me, I always will love the immediacy and urgency of the game.. Its linear-but-with-exceptions layout (play how you like essentially) - and while many will claim that it is too stripped-down for their liking, I'll argue that it is simply not weighted down with fluff. Croon about SMB3 all you like, it is a masterpiece level game in so many ways, but for me games like that just have too many things going on. Have faith in strong mechanics and design and let the game go from there. SMB achieved this in spades where all of it's predecessors were different animals entirely. And now all these years later, after having plaques umpteen thousand different platformer over the decades, I wanna kick back with (quite literally) the old standards where that spark of design originated from, purely, before they started heaping "everything but the kitchen sink" on top. Maybe modern gamers can't understand this quite as well since they have only ever experienced so much of the latter before the former. I guess this is what old cinephiles argue about as well, however.
 
I think the reason it hasn't "aged" very well is because there really wasn't a video game industry to the standards that it is today. So maybe Nintendo thought back in the day they'd get some people to purchase their system and develop a few games for it and move onto something else. However, this obviously did not occur. Once people found out that they could develop games for the system, more and more ideas came in, and with every iteration of games that came, more and more people crafted their skills in game making. A few years later, with what was learned with the first batch of NES games, Nintendo (as well as other developers) came up with other ideas and ways to design games, hence SMB3, Super Contra, etc.

Today, it seems that there is some thought put into games (of course not by everyone) when it comes to making sure the game can hold up to the test of time, especially since there is a demand for older platform games on the markets (i.e., PSN, eShop)

So to give my two cents on SMB, I agree it hasn't aged well when you compare it to how games age today or even to the likes of SMB3, but at the same time, you can't really categorize it with those games because it is THE game that brought to life and essentially contributed to what the industry is today. So for that, I will always be thankful and hold a special place in my heart for the original SMB on NES. If it wasn't for that game (and platform) garnering in the HUGE amount of consumers that it did back in the 80s, the gaming industry would have died (lest we not forget the video game crash of '83).
 
Gabe3208 said:
I think the reason it hasn't "aged" very well is because there really wasn't a video game industry to the standards that it is today. So maybe Nintendo thought back in the day they'd get some people to purchase their system and develop a few games for it and move onto something else. However, this obviously did not occur. Once people found out that they could develop games for the system, more and more ideas came in, and with every iteration of games that came, more and more people crafted their skills in game making. A few years later, with what was learned with the first batch of NES games, Nintendo (as well as other developers) came up with other ideas and ways to design games, hence SMB3, Super Contra, etc.

Today, it seems that there is some thought put into games (of course not by everyone) when it comes to making sure the game can hold up to the test of time, especially since there is a demand for older platform games on the markets (i.e., PSN, eShop)

So to give my two cents on SMB, I agree it hasn't aged well when you compare it to how games age today or even to the likes of SMB3, but at the same time, you can't really categorize it with those games because it is THE game that brought to life and essentially contributed to what the industry is today. So for that, I will always be thankful and hold a special place in my heart for the original SMB on NES. If it wasn't for that game (and platform) garnering in the HUGE amount of consumers that it did back in the 80s, the gaming industry would have died (lest we not forget the video game crash of '83).
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While true, the video game crash of 1983 only happened in North America. Video games & the Arcades were very alive everywhere else.
 
Biker19 said:
While true, the video game crash of 1983 only happened in North America. Video games & the Arcades were very alive everywhere else.
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You're right, it was a crash that occurred only here in the US. However, the US has the largest video game market in the world in terms of revenue and that is thanks to the NES because Nintendo introduced it as an "appliance-looking" console with a "must-have" (at the time) video game. Now you take all of those sales into consideration, the SMB game, as well as it's "appliance-looking" design which attracted 20 and 30 year olds back then, the industry began to grow. Now you had a bunch of children AND adults wanting to play games. More and more money was willing to be spent by people and so the industry grew exponentially over the years.

So to rephrase my previous comment, I would like to thank the original SMB along with the NES, as well as the North American Video Game Crash of 1983.

Had any of these 3 never occurred, who's to say the industry wouldn't have been as enormous as it is today (think Segway, lol).
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
- you can't go back in the levels: this automatically halves the potential of the game design, and makes everything a little simplistic; you can also say that the simplicity itself makes the first SMB a timeless classic, like Tetris as someone said, and I agree but I don't think "timeless classic" and "aged well" are the same things;
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Sir you convinced me, especially with this part. Great answer, some quality GAF post here.
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
To those who think it aged well: do you consider it superior to SMB3?

I understand the keep it simple argument (even if it really lacks in the variety department), I understand that it is the essence of a platformer, but controls and physics are really not that good... SMB3 has much tighter controls, especially mid jump.
Click to expand...

The levels are extremely simple, but I totally disagree with you about the controls. That's the one aspect of the game that they undeniably nailed - they feel pretty much perfect. I also disagree with your point about SMB3 having better controls, I think SMB1's controls and physics felt better.

I think it's aged as well as you could possibly hope for from a game made in 1985. That was 30 years ago.
 
I hate the way the blue sky looks on a flat-panel TV. Other than that, the gameplay is fine. Eighth world is too hard and the lives and game over system is stupid.
 
ExFalsoQuodlibet said:
To those who think it aged well: do you consider it superior to SMB3?

I understand the keep it simple argument (even if it really lacks in the variety department), I understand that it is the essence of a platformer, but controls and physics are really not that good... SMB3 has much tighter controls, especially mid jump.
Click to expand...

Maybe not better, but in some way it has aged better and feel more relevant today than SMB3 does. SMB3 for me was eclipsed by SMW in every way and there's very little reason to go back to it, but SMB1 is still the one to play if you want straight forward platforming without much gimmicks.

some of the graphics are honestly a bit rough even by NES standards though, but it's made irrelevant by the fact that every sprite and tile in the game is iconic.
 
jesus christ some of the posts in this thread
iU1KpOfJ2oPET.gif
 
I agree its a horrendous game and I can't believe we were forced to play that game.

Wait, are we talking about Lethal Weapon?
 
Man.

I don't even know what to say here. Super Mario Bros. feels immensely sharp, snappy and responsive even now. The visual design still holds up and conveys all information necessary for a newcomer or a seasoned video game vet to get used to. Music and sound effects are still unique contributing to its identity immensely.

The game is better than most of the attempts at homages and "nu-retro" stuff that comes out now. It's design has been studied and emulated to hell and back with it still remaining the champ and only dethroned by entries in its lineage mostly because of how much more they do or pack in.

I guess I just have to disagree with the suggestion you're making OP. I can't really dissuade you from your opinion but I can't ever say that I understand where you're coming from.

Fake Edit: What about SMB3 being the better game makes SMB1 a game that "didn't hold up well"? How does that even work? They're both incredible and can be played today without issue.
 
I don't like the idea that games "age". They don't get wrinkles or arthritis.

There are games that feel old, but they are the same as when they were new. I credit SMB's longevity to how fast the game can feel vs. Zelda 1 or Metroid.

----

But SMB is a terrible game. the 2nd half is just a harder copypasta of the 1st hal just like the clouds and bushes. and 8-4 Bowser Koopa is OP[/sarcasm]
 
I taught video game design to middle school.aged kids a couple weeks ago and used 1-1 (more specifically the extra credits analysis episode of 1-1) as a launch pad for platform game design. And the majority of the class Thot it still looked fun. Same thing with og loz for adventure games. If that's not evidence of it aging well I'm not sure what else is.

Edit: beaten love that episode!
 
Its minimalist architecture and excellent design is why it remains an ageless classic. The game's physics are entirely intentional, and while I've heard, many times, that the ability to not go backwards is a flaw, it is an exceptionally smart design decision and encourages momentum-based play. It may not be the best platformer, but it is still better than most.
 
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