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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Itch: Super Mario Games

Every now and then I get what I like to call "The Itch." The Itch is simply an urge to play through a series of games, usually something old-school. In the past, The Itch has come in the form of Sonic games and Mega Man games. Over the last week and a half, I've been scratching my Mario itch.

I decided to begin with the first Mario game I ever played: Super Mario Bros. I was pretty rusty. Lost a lot of lives. Wanting to finish the game in a hurry so I could move on to Super Mario Bros. 2, I warped to World 4 the first chance I got. After hat, I warped to World 5. And after that I lost all my lives and saw the Game Over screen. Maybe I've become too attached to the save system in the Super Mario All-Stars remake version because I do remember finishing that one when I played it last. Perhaps I've become too soft with the all the luxuries modern day gaming has provided. Whatever the case, not being able to finish the NES version of Super Mario Bros. was quiet the blow to my gaming manhood.

Super Mario Bros. 2. I don't care if this is the black sheep of the series. I'd much rather play this altered character sprite version of Doki Doki Panic than the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2, AKA, Satan's Super Mario Bros. 1.5. Similar to my play of Super Mario Bros. I warped to World 4, then to World 5 (or was it World 6? I can't recall), lost all my lives, saw the Game Over screen. But since Super Mario Bros. 2 actually gives you continues, I thought I'd give it another shot. When it became obvious I was not gonna see that ending where Mario dreamed the whole thing up, I knew it was time to call it quits.

I LOVE Super Mario Bros. 3. This one is my all-time favorite Mario game, without question. The level design, the power-ups; everything about it just screams brilliance. Though I did die a lot, I did much better with Super Mario Bros. 3 than I did the previous two titles. Nearly 20 years later, Pipe Land still annoyes me. One thing I did find very interesting is that in World 8, I was able to zip past every single Hand Trap on the map. This was the first time I'd ever done that. I didn't even know it could be done. Go figure.

Right now I'm working my way through Super Mario World. Great game, but in my opinion, not the best Mario platformer. One of the best, for sure, but if you're still reading, you already know what Mario platformer I think is the best. *Ahem* I just made it to World 6. I'm a bit surprised that I cleared three worlds in one night, this includes finding all the secret exits. I'll probably finish the game up tomorrow.

At the rate I'm going, I'll probably fire up the Nintendo 64 and see how many stars I can collect on Super Mario 64.

7 comments:

Tommy said...

Heheh, part of the reason why Mario 1 is tough are the controls and getting used to that again, if I'm remembering it right.

When younger, I could beat SMB 2 and SMB 3, but it wasn't until later that I beat 1, which everyone at my Elementary claimed was the easiest (yeah, right).

Those stupid thin platforms in World 8 and the Hammer Bros---Evil!

Reggie White Jr. said...

Yeah, SMB is still a tough game. The controls didn't let you pull all the tricks you could in Super Mario Bros. 3 and onward.

And you're right, World 8 in SMB is BRUTAL.

Sol (Frederick) Badguy said...

I didn't know in foreign countries they call this urge 'itch', always thought it to be exclusive to us

The most amazing thing about this classic series is that after over two decades is still considered by millions a favorite game

Reggie White Jr. said...

And with every good reason, Aziz! =)

Unknown said...

I definitely stay with Super Mario World, it has very interesting stages and worlds full of surprises and cool things. I remember a stage where I got 99 lives thanks to the blue P that turns the turtles into gray coins.

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Unknown said...

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Chris Clash said...

Couldn't finish SMB2 ? Come one ! I'm sure I can still do it... can't I ? My last itch was Metroid, played Zero Mission, Fusion, Other M, started Super but then I stopped.