It started with a carpenter named Jumpman. He wasn't even a plumber yet, and he certainly wasn't the international icon we know today. But when Shigeru Miyamoto designed that first arcade cabinet, he accidentally sparked a fire that hasn't gone out for over forty years. Honestly, Super Mario Brothers games shouldn't be this successful. Think about it. We’re talking about a middle-aged guy in overalls jumping on turtles to save a princess who is perpetually "in another castle." On paper, it sounds like a fever dream. In practice, it’s the bedrock of modern interactive entertainment.
Most people think they know Mario. You’ve played a level or two, you know the music, maybe you saw the Chris Pratt movie. But the actual evolution of these games—from the pixelated 1985 original to the psychedelic wonder of Super Mario Bros. Wonder—is a masterclass in game design that most studios still can't replicate. It’s about "juice." It’s about how it feels when you press a button. If the jump isn't perfect, the game is trash. Nintendo knows this.
The Secret Sauce of Super Mario Brothers Games
Ever wonder why you can pick up a controller after ten years and immediately know how to play? It’s not luck. It’s a design philosophy called "Kishōtenketsu." This is a four-step narrative structure used in Japanese storytelling, but Nintendo applies it to level design. First, they introduce a mechanic in a safe environment. Then, they develop it by adding a small challenge. Next, there’s a "twist" that forces you to use the mechanic in a new way. Finally, you reach the flagpole and the mechanic is retired before it gets boring.
This is why Super Mario Brothers games feel so fresh even when you're doing the same thing—running right.
Take Super Mario World on the SNES. It introduced Yoshi, sure, but it also introduced the idea of verticality and secret exits that actually mattered. You weren't just finishing a stage; you were dismantling a map. You were looking for that red flashing dot on the overworld because you knew a secret key was hidden somewhere in the Ghost House. It turned a platformer into a scavenger hunt.
The 1985 Big Bang
The original Super Mario Bros. basically saved the industry. After the 1983 crash, video games were seen as a fad that had died out. Then came the NES. If you look at Level 1-1, it is a tutorial without a single word of text. You start on the left. You see a Goomba. If you stand still, you die. So you jump. You hit a block. A mushroom comes out. It hits a pipe, bounces back, and you eat it because you can't really escape it. Suddenly, you're big. You've learned the entire game's core loop in twelve seconds.
No tutorials. No pop-ups. Just play.
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3D or 2D: The Great Mario Schism
For a long time, there was this weird tension in the fan base. You had the 2D purists who loved the precision of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the 3D pioneers who swore by Super Mario 64.
Super Mario 64 was a technical miracle. Before 1996, 3D movement was clunky and tank-like. Miyamoto and his team spent months just perfecting the way Mario moved in an empty field with a wooden sign. They knew if the movement felt bad, the 120 stars wouldn't matter. They gave him a triple jump, a long jump, and a backflip. They gave us "analog" control.
But then something happened. The games got complicated. Super Mario Sunshine added the FLUDD pack, which was cool but polarizing. Super Mario Galaxy took us to space and played with gravity in ways that literally made some players motion sick. It was brilliant, but it was a lot.
This is why Nintendo eventually split the tracks. They realized they needed Super Mario Brothers games that satisfied both the "I want to explore a massive world" crowd and the "I just want to reach the flagpole" crowd. That’s how we got the New Super Mario Bros. series and Super Mario Odyssey existing at the same time. One is comfort food; the other is a five-course experimental meal.
The Misconception About "Childish" Games
There's this annoying narrative that Mario is just for kids. It’s nonsense. If you've ever tried to finish the "Grandmaster Galaxy" in Super Mario Galaxy 2 or the "Final-Final Test" in Wonder, you know these games are harder than Dark Souls in their final hours. The difference is the "onboarding." Mario invites you in with bright colors and happy music, then proceeds to test your reflexes with frame-perfect jumps over lava pits.
It’s "easy to learn, impossible to master." That is the hallmark of every great entry in the franchise.
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Why "Wonder" Changed Everything (Again)
Released in late 2023, Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a pivot point. The "New" series had become a bit stale. The art style was sterile. The music was repetitive. Wonder threw that out the window. It added expressive animations—Mario losing his hat when he ducks into a pipe, or the way his trunk jiggles as Elephant Mario.
But the "Wonder Flower" was the real genius. By touching a flower, the entire level logic breaks. The pipes crawl like worms. The screen tilts. You turn into a spike ball. It brought back the unpredictability of the 8-bit era. You never knew what was coming next, and in a world of predictable AAA sequels, that felt like magic.
Real Talk: The "Lost Levels" Trauma
We have to talk about the 1986 Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. It was so hard Nintendo of America looked at it and said, "Absolutely not." They thought it would kill the brand in the West. Instead, they took a completely different game called Doki Doki Panic, swapped the characters for Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach, and released that as the sequel.
This is why the Western Super Mario Bros. 2 feels so weird. Why are you pulling vegetables out of the ground? Why is there a bird named Birdo shooting eggs at you? It’s because it wasn't a Mario game. But it became one. It gave us the distinct movement styles of the characters—Luigi’s flutter jump and Peach’s hover—which are still staples today. It was a happy accident that expanded the lore.
The Technical Wizardry Under the Hood
Nintendo doesn't use the most powerful hardware. The Switch is basically a high-end toaster compared to a PS5 or a PC. Yet, Super Mario Brothers games usually look better than most "hyper-realistic" titles. Why? Art direction.
By using vibrant color palettes and iconic silhouettes, they bypass the "Uncanny Valley." A Goomba looks like a Goomba whether it's 16 pixels or 16 million polygons. They also prioritize 60 frames per second (FPS) above almost everything else. In a platformer, input lag is the enemy. When you press 'A,' Mario must leave the ground instantly. If there’s even a 50-millisecond delay, the player feels disconnected.
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Check out the "coyote time" mechanic. It’s a secret trick where the game lets you jump for a few frames after you’ve walked off a ledge. It’s technically "cheating" the physics, but it makes the game feel fair. It accounts for human reaction time. That’s the level of obsession we’re talking about.
Mario in the Mobile Era
Remember Super Mario Run? It was Nintendo's big attempt at mobile. It was "fine," but it proved that Mario needs a d-pad. You can’t simplify the movement to a single tap without losing the soul of the game. It’s about the momentum. It’s about the "skid" when you change direction. This is why the core Super Mario Brothers games remain on dedicated consoles. They are instruments that require specific tools to play correctly.
Practical Steps for the Modern Player
If you're looking to dive back into the series or introduce it to someone else, don't just grab the first thing you see. There’s a strategy to it.
- Start with Super Mario World (via Nintendo Switch Online): It is arguably the most perfect 2D platformer ever made. The physics are weighted just right, and the world map is full of genuine surprises.
- Play Odyssey for the Spectacle: If you want to see what modern Nintendo can do, Odyssey is the move. The "New Donk City" festival sequence is a love letter to the entire history of the franchise.
- Skip the "New" series initially: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a good game, but it lacks the soul and visual flair of Wonder or the classics.
- Try Mario Maker 2 if you're a masochist: If you think the base games are too easy, download some "Kaizo" levels. These are fan-made stages that require pixel-perfect movement. It’s a whole different subculture.
The reality is that Super Mario Brothers games aren't going anywhere. They are the "Mickey Mouse" of gaming, but with a lot more agency. They represent a pure form of play that doesn't rely on loot boxes, battle passes, or gritty cinematic reboots. They just rely on a red hat, a big jump, and the hope that this time, the princess is actually in the castle.
Keep your eyes on the "Wonder" style moving forward. Nintendo has realized that animation and personality are just as important as the mechanics themselves. The next 3D Mario—likely a launch title for the Switch's successor—is probably going to take these lessons to a level we haven't even imagined yet. For now, just find a controller, find a green pipe, and press down. You know exactly what happens next.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check your Nintendo Switch Online subscription for the "Expansion Pack." This gives you access to the GBA and N64 libraries, which are essential for playing Super Mario Advance 4 (which includes the e-Reader levels) and the original Mario 64. If you're looking for a physical challenge, hunt down a copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars—it's out of print but remains the best way to play Sunshine and Galaxy on modern hardware. Finally, if you haven't played Super Mario Bros. Wonder yet, prioritize it over any other 2D platformer on the market; the "Elephant" power-up is more than a gimmick, it fundamentally changes how you interact with the stage environment.