Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary

I know, I haven't been here in a while, and I know this post is probably a few weeks late, but as a celebration of Nintendo announcing the American release of "Super Mario All-Stars" for the Wii (FINALLY!), I've decided to do this particular post.

On September 13, 1985, Nintendo released "Super Mario Bros." for the Family Computer system in Japan.  It soon became one of the best-selling video games of all time, and it was one of the earliest games for the Nintendo Entertainment System upon its release in North America.  Not only is "Super Mario Bros." one of the best-selling video games of all-time, it is one of the most innovate games of all time.  I mean, think about it.  How would video games be today had it not been for "Super Mario Bros."?  Thought so.

Pretty much everyone knows how the game is played--Mario has to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil King Bowser Koopa.  He can jump on platforms, jump on numerous enemies, swim, and can even use fireballs to defeat certain baddies.  There are eight worlds, each with four levels, with each world having a different theme.  World 1 is pretty easy.  Chances are, if you've played the game numerous times, like myself, you'll be able to get through this world in your sleep.  Of course, we all know about the Warp Zones, which were another innovation at the time.  I mean, think about it--back in 1985, there were no save files or password systems for video games, so if you wanted to pick up from where you left off after turning off the game, you'd have to go to World 1-2, jump on the up-moving elevator platforms, jump over the ceiling, and run over until you see three pipes, which will take you to Worlds (from right-to-left) 2, 3, or 4, depending on which pipe you take.  There was, however, a secret continue code should you lose all your lives.  By simply holding the "A" button and pressing start on the title screen, you can go back to the beginning on the world in which you last died at (ex., if you died at World 6-2, if you used the code, you'd restart the game at World 6-1).

If you managed to complete the game and save the princess, you were given a second quest, which made the game harder (Goombas were replaced by Buzzy Beetles, moving platforms were shorter, etc.), and if you beat that quest...well, that was it, you played the second quest again.

Quite frankly, anyone who has ever touched a video game controller should play "Super Mario Bros."  It's still just as fun as it was when it came out back in the day.