Mario Bros.

[Pete]

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade platformer video game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released by Nintendo of America in the USA on July 20, 1983. Mario Bros. features two plumbers, Italian brothers Mario and Luigi, having to investigate the sewers after strange creatures have been appearing down there. The objective of the game is to defeat all of the enemies in each phase. The mechanics of Mario Bros. involve only running and jumping. Unlike future Mario games, players cannot jump on enemies and squash them, unless they were already turned on their back. Each phase is a series of platforms with pipes at each corner of the screen, along with an object called a "POW" block in the center. Phases use wraparound, meaning that enemies and players that go off to one side will reappear on the opposite side. The game has a point system, and continues until the player loses all lives. Enemies are defeated by kicking them over once they have been flipped on their back. This is accomplished by hitting the platform the enemy is on directly beneath them. If the player allows too much time to pass after doing this the enemy will flip itself back over and recover. There are four enemies which emerge from the pipes: the Shellcreeper; the Sidestepper; the Fighter Fly, which moves by jumping and can only be flipped when it is touching a platform; and the Slipice which turns platforms into slippery ice. A fifth enemy, fireballs, floats around the screen instead of sticking to platforms. "POW" blocks, which flips all enemies touching a platform or the floor when a player hits it from below, are also included. The game additionally contains bonus rounds.