“Swing your arms from side to side. Come on, it's time to go. Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again. Let's do the Mario, all together now!
You got it! It's the Mario! Do the Mario!
Swing your arms from side to side. Come on, it's time to go. Do the Mario!
Take one step, and then again. Let's do the Mario, all together now! Come on now. Just like that!”

For those of you who remember these ending lyrics, I bet memories are rushing back from your childhood. For those of you who are wondering what this is from let me explain. Back when I got my NES, which came with Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt, I remember this TV show that came on called the Super Mario Brothers show. It was about Mario and Luigi and their adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was one of my favorite shows, especially Fridays which they had a special Zelda cartoon.

The reason why I am bringing this up, because it astounds me how big the Mario franchise is. There are video games that span multiple consoles, a TV series, a movie, McDonald toys, and much more. The game that brought me into the “Mario Brothers Universe” is Super Mario Brothers. This was a classic game, that brought multiple hours of fun, to many different people throughout the years, and many people have tried to copy the formula, but it has not been as successful. Nintendo has decided to bring this game back as part of its Classic NES series for the Game Boy Advance, but does this game hold up throughout the years? Read on to find out!

The first thing that you will notice once you boot up Super Mario Brothers is that the gameplay has remained 100% the same as the original NES game. You can still grab mushrooms, flower power ups, star invisibly, and everything else that made the original so fun to play. Everything from the original game can and will be found in this game. From all of the hidden 1up mushrooms to all of the warp points, anything you could do in the NES version you can do it in here. Even though this game is nearly twenty years old, it will still offer players plenty of challenge, as it did way back when it was released.

The graphics for this game were really great at the time, but players can definitely tell that it is a first generation NES game. Once you look at this game, then check out Super Mario Brothers two or three, you can tell how far the NES came. I compared it on the GBA to the NES, and it is nearly one hundred percent accurate. The thing I noticed before I did my comparison was something was different about Mario, once I compared the NES with this version, I confirmed that he is squished. While it isn’t the worse thing in the world, if you played the original game it might be a distraction, but it was never anything that really hampered the game play.

The sound is as memorable as always. I just love hearing the classic sound effects, such as breaking bricks, stomping on people, star power ups and everything else. The classic music is in the game as well, from the “sea” levels, to underground levels, and even the castles! The music in this game is so popular that there is even techno remixes of some of the levels, and it is good to hear the original once more.

Super Mario Brothers is rated E for Everyone!

Gameplay: 9.0
Super Mario Brothers is classic platforming fun!

Graphics: 6.0
Players will be able to tell that this is a first generation NES game especially when it is compared to later Mario games.

Sound: 8.0
Classic Mario sounds and music make for a fun time.

Difficulty: Medium
This game is really challenging, especially if you can go through the entire game from start to finish without warping.

Concept: 8.5
Super Mario Brothers inspired many other games, knock offs, and help innovate gaming.

Multiplayer: N/A
The game offers linked play, but I do not have two GBA’s to test this feature out.

Overall: 8.8
Even though I still have my NES with Super Mario Brothers it is still really fun to play this game on the go. I highly suggest you pick up this game, even if you have it on the NES, and if you don’t, pick it up now, because it is a part of gaming history!