I was born in 1980, so I have a very clear memory of playing SMB for the first time and being like "oh.. this is what I wanna do now, play video games forever" lol It was just so much more fun than anything I'd played before.
Oh man, this is a tricky one. Even though platformers existed before Super Mario Bros., it was this game that essentially became "patient zero" in terms of what the platformer video game genre evolved into and out from. This isn't so much the standard that all other platformers much be judged but rather the template of what all platformers are built from, including 2D Super Mario games that came after this. It's because of of how much platformers have grown since the release of this game that we often forget just how impactful this game was, not just for platformers but video games as a whole. While people often say that the Robotic Operating Buddy or "R.O.B." is what saved video games after the North American Video Game Crash of 1983, R.O.B. merely put its foot in the door in order to allow Super Mario Bros. to truly save video games in the West. Even after all these years and all the advancements made to video games, Super Mario Bros. still remains one of the best selling games of all time at number 8. This game clearly did a lot right in order for it to not only have this lofty position, but also be popular and long-standing enough for Mario to essentially remain the "face" of video games to this day. To me at least, I think the most impressive thing about this game is how much it set in terms of game design, especially since there wasn't exactly a lot of precedent for what to do with games like this beforehand. It really is fascinating watching and reading about the making of this game, how Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka literally drew out the game's levels on graph paper in order to give the programmers an idea of what to do, since Nintendo hadn't really attempted to do something on this scale before now and they were constantly bumping up against the limitations of the NES/Famicom's hardware while making it. I really like the story behind the inclusion of the Goomba, since Koopa Troopas were meant to be the main enemy you faced in that game, but given that they took at least two hits to kill (one to force them into their shells and another to knock them away), they needed a simpler enemy to deal with for all new players, but they needed an enemy that wouldn't take up much space because again, they were constantly hitting the console's limits; thus Goomba only had two sprites, a squished sprite, and a normal sprite they could flip back and forth to give it the appearance of walking. Even stuff like the placement of the first Goomba and the first handful of blocks was carefully considered in such a way as to force players to learn that touching a Goomba is bad, but touching a Super Mushroom was good. I can't help but feel like we take so much of this game for granted, yet all of it was thought up by people who essentially had to "invent" game design specifically for this game! It's incredible, even if it's not my favorite 2D Mario game.
@@EternalChamp Thank you for letting me know you didn't bother reading anything I said. That was very necessary that you let me know that, thank you so much for that information. (also, bitch please, I've written comments at least twice as long as this one)
8:27 "While not nearly as daunting or infuriating as later water levels" Yeah, that gave me flashbacks to the dam level in NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The PTSD is real.
I guess I saw this video on anywhere. Thanks God I found it again. What a class about game development. Thank you to produce this master piece. This is video is the GOAT about this subject.
It's like Derek Buck said on Undertow all those years back..."all video games can be divided into two categories: those that came before Super Mario Bros. and those that came after." P.S. Do one for Super Mario Bros. 2, both of them. The one we got deserves praise.
"This game may be the reason video games are still around, at least in the West" - thanks to most gaming being on computers like the Commodore 64, Spectrum and later the Amiga instead of consoles, outside America (Europe and Australia) we didn't notice the crash, much like Japan.
The industry survived in North America on such computers (one of Apple's main marketing points of the Apple II was buying more than a game console) but Nintendo revived the console market.
Good video that completely skips several important layers of Mario's design. MECHANICS design. The same Mario in the same position cannot necessarily make the same jump because of momentum, which makes the basic platforming deeper / more engaging. COINS are a core layer of Mario gameplay, and they're placed more intelligently than collectibles in lesser platformers. POWERUPS add a lot of variety to the gameplay and difficulty. I can't think of a single non-Nintendo platformer with powerups as interesting as Mario's. SECRETS of great variety and significance can be found in every ground and underground level (which make up half the game). SPEEDRUN friendly levels. Mario uses more soft timers (e.g. Goomba between two pipes) than hard timers, and a speedrunner never has to stop moving. SMB1 isn't just a classic action game. It's a classic that can still beat games being released today.
I was born in 1980, so I have a very clear memory of playing SMB for the first time and being like "oh.. this is what I wanna do now, play video games forever" lol It was just so much more fun than anything I'd played before.
Oh man, this is a tricky one. Even though platformers existed before Super Mario Bros., it was this game that essentially became "patient zero" in terms of what the platformer video game genre evolved into and out from. This isn't so much the standard that all other platformers much be judged but rather the template of what all platformers are built from, including 2D Super Mario games that came after this. It's because of of how much platformers have grown since the release of this game that we often forget just how impactful this game was, not just for platformers but video games as a whole. While people often say that the Robotic Operating Buddy or "R.O.B." is what saved video games after the North American Video Game Crash of 1983, R.O.B. merely put its foot in the door in order to allow Super Mario Bros. to truly save video games in the West. Even after all these years and all the advancements made to video games, Super Mario Bros. still remains one of the best selling games of all time at number 8. This game clearly did a lot right in order for it to not only have this lofty position, but also be popular and long-standing enough for Mario to essentially remain the "face" of video games to this day.
To me at least, I think the most impressive thing about this game is how much it set in terms of game design, especially since there wasn't exactly a lot of precedent for what to do with games like this beforehand. It really is fascinating watching and reading about the making of this game, how Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka literally drew out the game's levels on graph paper in order to give the programmers an idea of what to do, since Nintendo hadn't really attempted to do something on this scale before now and they were constantly bumping up against the limitations of the NES/Famicom's hardware while making it. I really like the story behind the inclusion of the Goomba, since Koopa Troopas were meant to be the main enemy you faced in that game, but given that they took at least two hits to kill (one to force them into their shells and another to knock them away), they needed a simpler enemy to deal with for all new players, but they needed an enemy that wouldn't take up much space because again, they were constantly hitting the console's limits; thus Goomba only had two sprites, a squished sprite, and a normal sprite they could flip back and forth to give it the appearance of walking. Even stuff like the placement of the first Goomba and the first handful of blocks was carefully considered in such a way as to force players to learn that touching a Goomba is bad, but touching a Super Mushroom was good. I can't help but feel like we take so much of this game for granted, yet all of it was thought up by people who essentially had to "invent" game design specifically for this game! It's incredible, even if it's not my favorite 2D Mario game.
Really bruh? 😂 tldr
@@EternalChamp Thank you for letting me know you didn't bother reading anything I said. That was very necessary that you let me know that, thank you so much for that information. (also, bitch please, I've written comments at least twice as long as this one)
@@EternalChamp Thanks for announcing that you have the attention span of a 1-year old
8:27 "While not nearly as daunting or infuriating as later water levels"
Yeah, that gave me flashbacks to the dam level in NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The PTSD is real.
Your channel is criminally underrated! The writing, voice over, and presentation are excellent overall! Keep up the good work!
It's a great game. Very easy to pick up and play.
They really need to bring classic Mario back with the blue shirt and red overalls, that looked so much better on Mario than what he has now.
I guess I saw this video on anywhere. Thanks God I found it again. What a class about game development. Thank you to produce this master piece. This is video is the GOAT about this subject.
It's like Derek Buck said on Undertow all those years back..."all video games can be divided into two categories: those that came before Super Mario Bros. and those that came after."
P.S. Do one for Super Mario Bros. 2, both of them. The one we got deserves praise.
This channel needs more subscribers. Very well done.👍🏼
Thoroughly enjoying the channel. Good luck
Another fantastic video!!
Bro ur videos are 🔥🔥 Keep going 🥰🥰
Just finding this channel so hoping youd be able to go back and do an epsiode on Super Mario Bros 2 (USA)
Me too. That game did A LOT for Super Mario even if it was a reskin of Doki Doki Panic. Doki Doki even had some Mario elements to begin with.
Great videos. Also, a comment for the algorithm!
Good stuff! I recently beat it again
One of the best platformers of all time! Still play Mario AllStars and beat Super Mario World at least once a year
"This game may be the reason video games are still around, at least in the West" - thanks to most gaming being on computers like the Commodore 64, Spectrum and later the Amiga instead of consoles, outside America (Europe and Australia) we didn't notice the crash, much like Japan.
The industry survived in North America on such computers (one of Apple's main marketing points of the Apple II was buying more than a game console) but Nintendo revived the console market.
UA-cam doesn't deserve the quality of your content, Syr.
4:48 - Wait a minute....that's MY test tone!
Aside from Bloopers, Hammer bros will eventually chase Mario down. They Lakitu and Bowser are the only enemies trying to hurt Mario
Oh, thank you so much for saying Brothers instead of Broze.
The original super Mario bros game is simply the most important game in the history of home gaming, this game started it all as they say !!
I disagree. That honor belongs to the Magnavox Odyssey. It proved the viability of a consumer grade game console.
Good video that completely skips several important layers of Mario's design.
MECHANICS design. The same Mario in the same position cannot necessarily make the same jump because of momentum, which makes the basic platforming deeper / more engaging.
COINS are a core layer of Mario gameplay, and they're placed more intelligently than collectibles in lesser platformers.
POWERUPS add a lot of variety to the gameplay and difficulty. I can't think of a single non-Nintendo platformer with powerups as interesting as Mario's.
SECRETS of great variety and significance can be found in every ground and underground level (which make up half the game).
SPEEDRUN friendly levels. Mario uses more soft timers (e.g. Goomba between two pipes) than hard timers, and a speedrunner never has to stop moving.
SMB1 isn't just a classic action game. It's a classic that can still beat games being released today.
You start a video about what's so great about Super Mario Brothers with the music that still traumatizes me to this day. 🤦♂️
cool video
Thanks!
I was 10 at the time. It changed everything. If someone got me a non-video game gift after that I resented them. 1:10