Before Mario and Luigi got their claim to fame by hopping on Koopa Troopas and traversing through pipes, they came from their humble beginnings...uh...hopping on Koopa Troopas and traversing through pipes. Well, it was something to build upon. The Mario arcade roots run deep, and many of what's exhibited here feels very raw, yet very familiar.

Developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Mario Bros. was released in arcades in 1983. Serving as part of the Mario franchise, it's also a spin-off of Donkey Kong, when Mario was going by Jumpman (if that's not an appropo name) trying to rescue Pauline. I guess she dumped Jumpman for being unemployed, dyed her hair decades later tp become a brunette, and became mayor. At least someone in the Mario universe had some character progression.

While some can be rather rudimentary as gaming has evolved over the decades, something about arcade style gameplay always draws me back to it. It's been ages since I've revisited OG Mario Bros. (the NES version, anyway. My experience with the coin-op forefather is very limited), and while I don't get as much play out of this as I do Galaga or other puzzle platformers like BurgerTime, it's got a charm for it that gives it some decent replay value out of something so simplistic. 

Very straightforward, you clear each phase by eliminating all of the enemies by hitting them from platforms beneath them, and then kicking them before they have a chance to recover. Should they get back up, they become "angry", and will move faster. There's four enemies to defeat; the Shellcreepers (who would become known as Koopa Troopas, the Sidesteppers (who require two hits to flip over), Fighter Flies (my personal favorites, it's hard to explain why they amuse me so much), and Slipices, which turn platforms into a sheet of ice and can gravely hinder movement. 

Phases will start mixing all these different foes at you, and it has a grave effect on how you approach clearing stages. One of my complaints has been I wished there were more things in the line of terrain hazards or different layouts. It gets a little tedious running around the same terrain, and that's one of the reasons why I prefer the other games like Joust. Sure, Joust has the same layout, but it's a little more stimulating. So I give a pass to the visuals for that, the display, while minimalist when it comes to detail, is very iconic. 

Mario Bros. does shine as a two-player game, it can either be played co-op to see how far you can get as a duo, or adamantly fight against one-another for either a high point total or to see who can last the longest. Since I've been playing the following Super Mario platform games and am accustomed to their more fine-tuned mechanics, the controls on regular Mario Bros. feel pretty slippery. Jumping is a touch imprecise, and Mario gets CARRIED by his momentum and feels like he slides forever, even without the ice platforms. Like I do with Castlevania, I'll attempt to spin this as intentional design. 

Mario Bros. has its place in history, and as a port of the arcade game, this serves very well on the NES. It feels a little old, regarding the controls. I'm certain the stages and difficulty peak and begin looping way earlier than I would expect a game like this to. It shines its best as a Vs. game with another human player, and doesn't have the difficulty curve that Donkey Kong boasts. Not to take credit away, Mario Bros. is some good, classic fun that's perfect to kill a good half hour.