Super Mario Bros.

Because I'm mad, I've decided to run through many franchises and faux-review them, like what I've been doing with Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts thus far, though I realize I'm in terrible need of an editor, so I'm starting over from scratch! For the record, it's because I'm mad and have no social life.

To kick off this project properly, I'm starting with the Mario series, namely the Nintendo Entertainment System classic, Super Mario Bros. along with the sub series that spawned from it, including Kart, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and other side games. In addition, I'm currently running through the Zelda franchise in preparation for it's quarter-century celebration of Ocarina 3D and Skyward Sword, a clearer view on Kingdom Hearts, the Final Fantasy titles I own (ranking the main series being the main priority), the Pokémon series in general, Metroid, Star Fox and maybe more of my favorite franchises.

Now to begin:

There's not much I can say on a twenty-five year old title that everybody knows something about and most love, so I'll spend most of this loosely based around the title.

Playing through the original game to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, I bought the 25th Anniversary version of Super Mario All-Stars for my non-dust-gathering Wii. I never owned the Super NES version, only hearing tales of it's awesomeness in my pre-Elementary days on the schoolyard, so I thought to rectify it under the guise of celebrating it's Silver Anniversary.

I also bought it fully realizing that I own all four games in some form. I own an original copy of Super Mario Bros. on the NES bundled with Duck Hunt, and also on the awesome Game Boy Color Deluxe port. I first played and owned Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Game Boy Advance, being my first game for the then-new hand held. I bought The Lost Levels on the Wii when they first offered it as an import title a few years back, and Super Mario Bros. 3 (possibly my favorite side scrolling main series game) on it's GBA edition, though I played it countless times on a copy whose origin I can't recall on my Super NES.

The extras include a booklet containing words from the creators, some art and a retrospective, and a CD, offering the first official release of the Super Mario Bros. theme for us Stateside. Most think this bundle is underwhelming, though I'm perfectly fine with it, proving I have no sense of value, apparently. It offers the themes of the main titles the clearest I've ever heard them, and I love collectibles, so the booklet's awesome. It all comes in a nice red box that stands out in my Wii collection saying "yeah, I'm special" and is best friends with my Metroid Prime Trilogy at making the other titles jealous they aren't in a bright box or metal casing.

As for the game itself, it's as timeless as ever. It's sharp controls were the best then and they hold up well even today, as I can easily slip into it's physics like I can my shoes. The music is ageless, the sound effects classic... What more is there to say? It's the first video game I can remember playing around the age of 3, remembering I was blown away by that gray box of magic.

I realize that the arcade version of Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong predate the classic we all know and love, but there's not much to say about the early titles, save that Donkey Kong basically created the platformer genre while SMB perfected it. They're of historical significance mainly because they gave rise to Mario and it's subsequent franchises.

I'll also be taking this opportunity to rank the titles in a series, though not much to say here:

Main Series
1. Super Mario Bros.

I'll also be replaying a few of the non-main titles I own, such as Super Mario Land when the 3DS eShop opens next month, since I loved the heck outta that game and can't wait to play it again, since I've lost the original Game Boy cartridge within the past decade.

Since I've just entered my late Spring Break compared to some of my friends, it's nice to just sit around playing games with not much else getting in the way. With rumors of Nintendo's next console running in high gear and with a new 3DS in my pocket, it's a fun time being a Nintendork. I'm getting by with Pokemon White and Nintendogs + Cats until the 3DS gets it's first big firmware update featuring DSiWare two weeks before E3 hits, with Ocarina 3D being a week afterwards.

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Side note: I play along with the family during Lent, not eating meatstuffs on Fridays and giving up something until Easter, and this year I gave up drawing.

It sucks.

I won't do that again, haha...