Fun Facts About Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. is a classic arcade game created by Nintendo and released on July 14, 1983, in North America and Japan. It was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, following the success of Donkey Kong. The game features iconic plumbers Mario and Luigi, whose goal is to fend off a series of pests that enter through the pipes. It marked Luigi’s debut in the series as a second player. This game also takes a unique departure from the Mushroom Kingdom setting, taking place in the sewers of New York City. Several gameplay mechanics, such as hitting enemies from below, collecting coins, and hitting the POW Block, set the stage for future games in the franchise. In this post, we’ll uncover some possibly unknown facts and tidbits about the game, so read and enjoy!

Fact #1: Upon starting the first phase in the game, you may hear a familiar tune from Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik. You may also recognize this theme if you play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

Fact #2: The game wasn’t affected during the video game crash of 1983. It was very popular in arcades and sold thousands of cabinets.

Fact #3: It was a precursor to Super Mario Bros. (released in 1985), introducing key characters and elements.

Fact #4: This game portrays Mario as a working-class plumber, establishing him as an everyday hero.

Slippery Floor: The slippery floor effect was an accident that resulted from hardware limitations. It does, however, add a unique challenge.

POW Block: The almighty POW Block that stuns all onscreen enemies made its first appearance in this game, becoming a recurring item in the franchise.

Manga-Inspired Pipes: Miyamoto’s inspiration for the iconic green pipes came from his childhood memories of seeing waste grounds in manga, where pipes were often left lying around. They were added specifically to keep enemies from piling up at the bottom of the screen.  

Joust: It was stated by Miyamoto that the 2-player mode and some aspects of the gameplay were inspired by the 1982 arcade game Joust.

The "Superhuman" Jump: In the earlier Donkey Kong, falling from a height would kill Mario. For Mario Bros., legendary designer Gunpei Yokoi suggested that Mario should be able to fall from any height and survive. Shigeru Miyamoto was initially skeptical, fearing it would make the game too easy, but eventually agreed to give the brothers "superhuman abilities."

A "Turtle" Origin Story: The idea for flipping enemies came from Yokoi watching a cartoon turtle struggle after its shell was removed. He originally wanted to make an entire game just about removing shells from turtles, which evolved into the "hit from below" mechanic we see in the game.

Screen Wraparound: This is one of the few Mario games that features "wraparound" physics—walking off the left edge of the screen makes you reappear on the right side.

The Rare Port: While the game was ported to many systems like the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, the Atari 8-bit computer version is famous for being the only home port to include the falling icicle hazard from the arcade original.

Mario's Palette: In the original arcade version, Mario wore red overalls and a blue shirt, which is the reverse of his modern look. His current color scheme (blue overalls, red shirt) was actually standardized in the NES port of this game.

Conclusion

That is all for now! More content for the game will come soon.