Mario Bros, it all began like this, down the pipe!
The history of video games teaches us a beautiful and reassuring truth: whether it’s the iconic PlayStation, the futuristic Xbox, or the classic Commodore 64, characters like Nathan Drake, Lara Croft, Pac Man, and the noble Prince of Persia will always be there waiting for us. Part of a great family of fan favorites, they mark the milestones of a glorious journey with their artificial breaths, and the same can be said for the Mario brothers, mustachioed standard-bearers of Nintendo’s banner for several decades, heroes branded with the Big N from the very beginning. And yet there was a time when even they “looked around,” more precisely in 1983, when they also landed on Atari with the first title to star them together, and for Luigi it was literally his debut! Two whole years before the immortal success that crowned them on NES. Mario Bros was released for various systems, including the NES of course, yet the writer particularly loves the Atari 7800 conversion, a mighty machine that, despite technically being on paper similar to Nintendo’s more celebrated cousin, was ultimately surpassed over the long run. Even so, after becoming a hit in arcades, this strictly single-screen platformer outlined many of the protagonists’ distinctive traits and their world, even if it “originated” as a spin-off of Donkey Kong, the true first game in which we meet the Italian plumber. The gameplay structure consists of three rows of platforms, separated by empty spaces to allow us to leap onto the ledges and move within the level. The four pipes placed in the respective corners of the screen will spew out enemies and here comes the first surprise: none other than the Koopa, the turtles who, together with the evil Goomba, will form the first line of Bowser’s army in future games in the series. To defeat them, we must first flip them over by hitting the platform they are walking on from below (and not by jumping on their shell as in the side-scrolling platformers that would follow in later years), then approach them and kick them, which will give us time to collect the inevitable coins that pour out of the mouths of the pipes as a reward for our efforts. Because as we know, in the Mushroom Kingdom sewers you can find anything, even hard cash! After all, we are talking about two freelancers, and in a way Mario and Luigi had to pay their dues too: their careers started right here.
by Simon Larocca
Once Upon a Time
by The Games Market RedazioneRead article
