Being a classic is all this game really has left.
Graphics:
The graphics are very good for what the NES can do, but when stacked up to games like the following 2 mario games, it just doesn't seem as colorful. The graphics, for the NES are in no way bad, just pretty average for the what we later saw what the NES could do.
Graphics Score: 7.5/10
Controls:
The controls are solid. A to jump, B for almost everything else. There really isn't much more to say here.
Controls Score: 10/10
Difficulty:
Beating the game through all 8 worlds can be especially brutal, but this games secrets have been figured out over the course of 20 years, and now we can breeze through the game in about 10 minutes. Age has revealed every secret and every warp zone in the game, making it laughably easy at certain points.
Difficulty Score: 6/10
Story:
The story begins with Princess Peach- I mean, Toadstool in her castle, when suddenly a giant turtle somehow kidnaps her and gets defeated by a plumber 8 times, before Toadstool is rescued. Back when this was actually released, this was all good and dandy, and I holds up fairly well today.
Story Score: 8/10
Entertainment:
The game can be very entertaining, but at the same time, very fast. Don't expect the game to last too long. It may be entertaining to show off to your friends on how fast you can get to world 8-4 and beat the game, but I don't find myself going back to the game a whole lot.
Entertainment Score: 7/10
Overall, the game is very fun, but incredibly easy and very short. It's fun to play more than once, but it's bound to get stale after a while.
Final Score: 7.9/10