Mario Bros.
1983 · Platform · Arcade
Overview
Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer.
Deep Dive
Mario Bros. is a 1983 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for arcades. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Players control Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi as they exterminate turtle-like creatures, giant flies, and crabs emerging from the sewers of New York City by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away. The Famicom/NES version was the first game to be developed by Intelligent Systems. It is part of the Mario franchise and the first spin-off of the Donkey Kong series.
Developer Story
Mario Bros. was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and released by Nintendo in 1983. It was the first game to name both Mario and his brother Luigi, establishing them as a pair. The plumber setting was introduced here — the action took place in a sewer. The co-operative/competitive mechanic where both players shared a screen and could interfere with each other was novel and made it a favourite for two-player sessions.
Did You Know?
- Mario Bros. was the first game to feature Luigi as a named character alongside Mario — establishing the sibling partnership that defines Nintendo's most beloved franchise.
- Mario's profession changed from carpenter (Donkey Kong) to plumber here — the sewer setting made the occupation change logical.
- The turtle enemies in Mario Bros. were the direct ancestors of the Koopa Troopas in Super Mario Bros.
- The two-player mode allowed players to accidentally or deliberately knock each other off platforms — a source of both co-operation and rivalry.
