While Atari started the home gaming tradition, its graphics and gameplay was a little primitive. And with the E.T. fiasco, there was now a huge void in that niche. Nintendo filled it in 1985 with the launch of its NES. It was hugely mostly thanks to what can be considered THE first modern video game: Super Mario Bros. 1. Although the game hasn’t aged well, it’s still worth a detour to see the genesis of modern gaming 30 years after its original launch.

Graphics: 7/10

For the time the graphics were average. It was certainly an improvement from Atari and arcades, but for 21^st-century eyes they might look primitive as they haven’t aged well.

Mario himself has improved since the Atari/Arcade era – he was the one trying to rescue the Princess from Donkey Kong, although he was usually referred to as Jumpman. His movements are more fluid and less “jerky”, i.e. he doesn’t look like he carries a bullet. However I found his color on Atari (and Arcade on DK) to be more realistic as his face’s color was much more distinct from his clothes. In Mario 1, it almost blends in with his shirt. Also, his mustache doesn’t show neatly. There is a good distinction, however, between he had his brother Luigi (his shirt and face are green) if you’re the unlucky one who had to hold the second controller.

Both brothers are four distinctive states, adding some diversity to their looks. They have the default small one, when the smallest hit from an enemy will kill you. When you find a mushroom you can grow up and be a little more resistant to hits; you can also reach a little higher when jumping. When you pick up flower (only after growing up) you can then throw fireballs and kill most enemies instantly as a result – speedrunners were even able to kill Bowser by blitzing him but I doubt it can happen in regular gaming. Finally, they can find (rare) invincibility stars that will make them impervious to anything but being squashed or to bottomless pits for a few seconds. When it happens they flash colors and run even faster.

The world where the Marios journey has various background that make create good variety. There is the classical brick path where you will walk left and right by jumping over (and sometimes inside) pipes, bottomless pits and enemies. The background sometimes has an occasional cloud and bush to make your path less monotonous, and in World 8 you start seeing fortress walls signaling you are nearing the end. Most worlds have one level that is completely underground. The path is still made of bricks but they are realistically darker, reflecting the lack of light – even the Goombas are darker. Making your way in these zones will be harder if you’re small since you won’t be able to break the bricks and might therefore hit enemies if you miscalculate your jump.

Speaking of jumping, most levels also have zones where you need to jump in order to make your way through. These levels consist of platforms that are large enough to move but on which you will need to run if you want to jump over the numerous bottomless pits, on the very small platforms moving left and right or up and down or on flying turtles in order to land on the next platform. The large platforms depart from the regular brick paths by actually looking like trees with large brown trunks and flat tops.

In addition, a few worlds have underwater levels where you must swim your way to the end. Your movements are realistically slower and your swimming is credible enough; you can even see a few aquatic plants and the path your swim around looks more like slime than bricks. You will even have to fight strong currents that pull you to the bottom at times. Finally each world ends with a castle where you must defeat Bowser, your archenemy. As the castle is “inside’ the bricks are once again realistically darker than outside (they are gray). The castles all look pretty much the same; the only difference stems from added obstacles like rotating fireball “bars”. Some of them, however, have a very specific path you must follow; if you miss it you will run in an endless loop or warp back to the beginning.

Finally, your enemies look decent for 1985. There are Goombas, the corrupted shrooms of the Mushroom Kingdom; Koopas, the turtles that talk aimlessly (green) or turn away when nearing an edge (red); Lakitu, who throws spike enemies at you from his could high above your reach; you will also see “flying fish” outside of water (they just swim when underwater). In addition there are jelly fish with their offspring that will try killing you while you swim, hard-shelled enemies not affect by your fireballs (like the cannon balls), Hammer Brothers that will throw their weapons at you – they may even come in pairs – and Bowser, whom you must confront at the end of each world. He is much bigger than Donkey Kong (and has more attacks too: fireballs, axes, jumping) and moving around him won’t be easy.

Music: 8/10

Although there are only four tracks in the entire game (excluding the fanfares), I give it such a high score because of the nostalgia factor.

The regular overworld theme, even after 30 years, still seem to represent what people not familiar with video game music think it sounds like… Of course it has evolved WAY beyond that track; just compare it to the latest video game launch of 2015.

OK, enough ranting. The overworld theme is probably the most well-known track in the history of video game. And unlike the Final Fantasy Origins version of Final Fantasy I, the NES version of the track is better than any other video game remix for 16-bits or beyond – although there are good orchestrated versions. The underground theme, while very simple and with long silences, is still enjoyable as it sounds intriguing enough. The underwater theme sounds magical and soothing – although I have a slight preference for the Super Mario All-Star version, where the waltz beat is better-defined – and the castle music sounds dramatic enough.

With respect to sound effects, they were as good as they could come for 1985. The jumping sound, while annoying in the end, is good and even distinct depending on your size. Jumping on enemies gives a realistic squishing sound – more realistic when you jump on a goomba – and the kicking sound (of shells) is good too. The growing up/shrinking sounds are good to but, like the squishing sound, get used too often: your swimming sounds like the squishing and going down pipes sounds like you’re shrinking. However, using the same sound for the cannon balls and the fireworks (at the end of regular levels) was appropriate. Finally, going down the pole to capture the flag has an interesting crescendo sound.

Addictiveness: 8/10

Since Mario 1 was one of the only games available for cheap – computers were still quite expensive at the time – it’s no wonder it got so popular so quickly.

First it offered increasingly large and difficult worlds, making the challenge reasonable. Even the early worlds proved to be challenging if you didn’t time your jumps properly.

Second, even though he doesn’t really serve any purpose, having Luigi could help siblings getting along by letting them both play the game. Plus there was this challenge to get the highest score that works well on pride.

In addition, there is more after world 8-4! Indeed when you finish the game you restart it but with different challenges: there are only hard-shell enemies immune to fireballs instead of turtles. Try making your way through that world!

Finally, the original cartridge also featured Duck Hunt, when you could either shoot ducks (that looked and sounded realistic) or clay pigeons with your mighty NES gun. It definitely added to the replay value of the game.

Story: 5/10

The scenario in itself is incredibly simplistic: you must make your way through each one of 8 worlds in order to rescue Princess Toadstool and restore peace to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Nevertheless, unlike most games of the genre even on the 16-bits console, there is some continuity to each level. Indeed, you start each level by coming out of the castle you just conquered/where you just beat Bowser. It’s not like Sonic, where each zones and levels are completely independent from each other.

Depth: 7/10

The game is impressively large for 1985.

In most levels except underwater and Bowser’s Castle (with few exceptions) there are secrets yearning to be uncovered. It can be life mushrooms (which are usually well-hidden) or coins, which in turn can be down a pipe or up a vine. Getting 100 of those gives you a life, so don’t be afraid to cash in! Levels get increasingly larger/have more obstacles as you make your way to world 8.

Also the fact that you can play the whole game more than once increases the interest for the game for more experienced players. I remember my friend’s sister beating the game twice over; we were all so ecstatic when it happened!

Difficulty: 6/10

You guys know me by now: I’m an RPG geek. So games like Mario 1 tend to be more difficult.

When playing Mario 1 from world 1-1 to world 8-4 you will see what I mean. Oh, it’s nothing like the “real” Super Mario Bros 2 (for Famicom Disk System) where too many jumps require impossible timing. However, as worlds become increasingly difficult so does the jumping; gaps become increasingly larger, necessitating a very precise run and jump. Also, starting around world 5, many enemies becomes immune to your fireballs so don’t run on them. Finally the time factor can be a big problem especially in world 8 where going around obstacles drains the chronometer.

Fortunately there are a few tricks to decrease the challenge. First you can jump quickly to world 8 by finding the right warp zones. They are well-hidden but worth the detour. There are also a few instances (in world 3 I believe) where, when you time you shell kicking appropriately, you can get easy lives. Be careful not to go over 128 lives or the game will freeze. Finally, once you figure out his pattern, Bowser is easy to defeat; you just need to avoid him and hit the axe that makes his bridge retract.

In short, despite not having aged well – the graphics look quite primitive and pixelated – Super Mario Bros. 1 is still worth a look. The music is still strangely addictive and it’s amazing how much there is to explore in such an old game. Can you do better than most modern gamers and actually finish world 1?