Super Mario Bros. is an all time classic, which pretty much any gamer should have memories of. Everyone knows the game - 8 stages with 4 levels in each, and many different enemies such as Goomba's and Koopa's. Playing as Mario (or Luigi as the second player), you have to rescue the kidnapped Princess Peach from Bowser. The game is basic but still challenging in places. There are quite a few secret areas and warps, which add a degree of choice to a very linear game. It is the best selling game ever and was packaged with the fantastic Nintendo Entertainment System, which was the console where classic characters and series like Zelda, Kirby, Final Fantasy started and most of those classic games still play well today. Super Mario Bros. is one of those games. The Wii's Virtual Console gives people who never played the game, or who haven't got their cartridge anymore a chance to play and replay those iconic levels. You play as Mario, a plumber with a mustache and red clothes. That's pretty much as deep as the characters go, so if you are into RPG-style storyline and character development, you are looking in the wrong place. The graphics are very basic, but still look pretty good compared to some other NES games. Everything is easy to recognize and the graphics to their job well. The soundtrack is one of the best in a game EVER, and to this day people know the melodies. Anyone who has played the game knows the tune for the overworld at least, and the other tunes are just as good. The other in game sounds are good and do their job. Unfortunately, the NES's sound quality is not very good at all, especially compared to modern games with orchestral soundtracks, and listening to it for a long time could be annoying. The gameplay is the focus though, and it is still spot on. You can play this game with the wii-mote turned sideways, Gamecube or the classic controller. I only have a remote. The d-pad is on the left and will move you left and right, and down will duck. 1 will make you run faster, and when you pick up the fire-flower, it will shoot fireballs at your enemies. 2 will jump. When you encounter an enemy, you either evade its attacks and run away, or jump on its head, crushing its brains. This basic gameplay works very well, and set the standard for platformers. It still plays well to this day. You pretty much only move right for the whole game though, as you can't really turn back. You get points for most actions, such as killing innocent turtles and breaking down brick walls that float in the air. There are coins everywhere, and gathering 100 of them will give you a much-needed extra life. There are some basic boss fights at every x-4 level, and the levels progressively get harder. It gets pretty difficult (but not Gradius difficult), and finishing the game feels like a real achievement. There is also a basic 2 player mode, where you take it in turns to do the game. This isn't really a multiplayer game, and the focus is definitely single player. To sum up, the game was perfect at its release. Nowadays it is not so polished, but still controls well and is addictive as hell. If you haven't played the game before - get it. If you have, you know that you must buy this game yet again. It costs 500 Wii Points (£3.50).
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