ColecoFan1981 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) Is it true that the Mario Bros. (1983) port for the Atari XL computers was never actually released? If so, then that means there were virtually no official computer-based ports of MB at all, at least not here in the USA (prior to the 1988 Atari XEGS port, which itself was an improvement on the original 5200 cartridge port and with audio inspired by the Nintendo FamiCom/NES version of the same game). It would also mean that the so-called "XL" ports of the game I'm seeing was just the 5200 console version's ROM burned onto other media. The unreleased pre-1984 ports (USA): Atari XL (just a transfer from the 5200) Apple II (partially finished) Commodore 64 (finished) Pre-1984 ports of Mario Bros. that were released in the USA: Atari 2600 Atari 5200 Post-1984 ports (USA availability): Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (also was a bonus mini-game within Super Mario Bros. 3) Atari 7800 Atari XEGS Super Nintendo Entertainment System (as a bonus mini-game within Super Mario Bros. 3) Game Boy Advance (as a bonus game on all four Super Mario Advance titles, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) ~Ben Edited May 30, 2013 by ColecoFan1981 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter83 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 From what I've learned they ported the 5200 over to the 8 bit but due to the crash of 83 it was shelved. When the xegs came out a few other titles were taken off the selves and released. Crystal castles is one title that comes to mind. For some reason I guess Atari thought it aged badly from 83 to 88 and redid the whole game. Yet the title screen still shows the the * and # that was found on the controllers for the 5200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) You're right, ColecoFan1981, the 5200 version of Mario Bros. was never released on the 8-bits by Atari. To this day no prototype cartridge has been found, so it is unclear if Atari even started to port the game to the 8-bits. The version Scooter83 refers to is an unofficial hack made by Glenn the 5200 Man. Edited May 30, 2013 by Kr0tki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 There's a prototype version of Mario Bros. for the 8-bit floating around. I did a review on it: http://www.atariprot...s/mariobros.htm A pre-production box exists as well (a large silver one), you can see if in the background of one of the CES pictures. Also, I think the Apple II version was complete (although not released). I played the hell out of that one back in the day and never found any bugs or missing features. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Are you sure mb was a bonus with smb3??? I think that is true for the gameboy advance port, but I don't recall seeing it on nes or snes (snes version is in the collection package) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Are you sure mb was a bonus with smb3??? I think that is true for the gameboy advance port, but I don't recall seeing it on nes or snes (snes version is in the collection package) I recall playing it in the NES version and I've never played the GameBoy Advance version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter83 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 You're right, ColecoFan1981, the 5200 version of Mario Bros. was never released on the 8-bits by Atari. To this day no prototype cartridge has been found, so it is unclear if Atari even started to port the game to the 8-bits. The version Scooter83 refers to is an unofficial hack made by Glenn the 5200 Man. I thought the original 8 bit program was model RX8051 which was a 5200 cross over. and then shelved and reprogrammed again and finally released RX8103 part number. I thought. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I thought the original 8 bit program was model RX8051 which was a 5200 cross over. and then shelved and reprogrammed again and finally released RX8103 part number. I thought. :/ That's my understanding. It was programmed on the 5200 and then ported to the 8-bit when it was done, but not released. The XE release by Sculptured Software is a completely different (and much better) version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 SMB3 - In 2P mode, if a player selects the other player's location, it turns into a round of Mario Bros. - this is true even on NES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Brad at Best electronics just sold the last new 're-done' blue box XE version for $49.99. I missed it by a friggon day. I see single carts on ebay here and there though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Rx8103 is correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 There's a prototype version of Mario Bros. for the 8-bit floating around. I did a review on it: http://www.atariprot...s/mariobros.htm Tempest, the only version I've ever seen "in the wild" is the one by Glenn. The highlighed text on the title screen that you've mentioned in your review is actually a feature typical of Glenn's conversions (it also exists in Glenn's conversion of Moon Patrol). Are you sure that you didn't mistakenly review the Glenn's version? The collection you published last year does not contain the Mario Bros. ROM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 The highlighed text on the title screen that you've mentioned in your review is actually a feature typical of Glenn's conversions (it also exists in Glenn's conversion of Moon Patrol). Are you sure that you didn't mistakenly review the Glenn's version? It's possible I suppose, I'm not sure where I got the rom from. Why did he do a conversion of Moon Patrol when the game was officially released on the 5200? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0tki Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I don't know for sure - maybe he did it before the official port for the 8-bits was released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfused Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Most/all glenn the 5200 man conversions usually also display the credit when you press control-g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slampam Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Take a look at the last ad: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/172776-nostalgic-colecovision-catalog-ads/ Wards 1984 xmas; direct link to ad: http://atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=attach§ion=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=181211 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) Just for the record.... I had the chance to buy this for £40 (from Retro games uk) and dwelled for too long and it got snapped up. Edited August 30, 2013 by Magic Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oky2000 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 You're not missing much, the perfectly acceptable port to the C64 by Ocean software proves that, compared to other C64 games at least, Mario Bros is a game that is a £1.99 budget game at best and even then it is vastly inferior to 100s of superlative £1.99 C64 games like Thrust/Slicks/Park Patrol/Panther/Action Biker....etc etc It's worth a fortune but I will never load it up again in my life lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 (edited) I love the Arcade version on my Mame machine, but i could try the A8 version on Altirra for comparison, Its a nice looking package non-the-less! Ps - Action Biker - my first 'bought' game back in '84/85 - (no i didnt nick them before that either!) Edited August 30, 2013 by Magic Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oky2000 Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 To me it just seems like a Game & Watch game engine running on a full blown micro computer I have it for the 7800 too without even ever looking for it lol guess that's just how it is when collecting back in the past when job lots were cheap lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) (in order) Arcade Original, Atari 8 bit and mario graphics on a game and watch. If the A8 is a bad port- ive seen a lot worse... Edited September 4, 2013 by Magic Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benighted Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 That's my understanding. It was programmed on the 5200 and then ported to the 8-bit when it was done, but not released. The XE release by Sculptured Software is a completely different (and much better) version. Do you know who in Sculptured that programmed the game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Do you know who in Sculptured that programmed the game? I do not, but I think most of the Sculptured Software programmers are known (for their games on other systems). I suppose it would just be a matter of tracking down a few and asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 LOL, I mainly know Sculptured for their work on SNES Mortal Kombat 1 and 2. xD 2 especially was much better than Probe's version on the Genesis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johannesmutlu Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 Well does anybody have a screenshot of the demo version of mariobros for the atari 400??? Is there any screen shot of a physical prototype of that game in cartride form along with it’s silver box art?? also i really hope that atari’s version has been dumped online somewhere, i know that there is an unofficial howbrewed 5200 to 400 port of that game but it will not work on a stock atari 400,wich matters me alot because i want to keep my 400 original,the way how it was designed and intended,no soldering stuff should be allowed other then plug & use modules in my opinion, So i suppose that that 5200 to 400 homebrew port of mariobros just uses a simple patch to line up those different adress registers/memory locations with each other (some memory adress risters/locations from both the atari 5200 and 400 do differ from each other) to make that game work on the atari 400 BUT that patch will also add up to the size of the rom,thus increasing it from 16KB to 20KB thus it no longer will not work on a 16KB atari 400,so it requires a 48KB upgrade, HOWEVER i suppose that once atari ported tmariobros from the 5200 to the atari 400,they probably changed those adress registerers inside the rom itself rather then patching it in order to keep the game size within that 16KB range to save on memory space if am not mistaken sothat it will run on 16KB atari 400,BUT that version of that game was never released,if so then atari’s port should run on a stock atari 400,now if only that atari rom version of mariobros being 16KB for the 400 still does exist and somebody somewhere on this planet could put it online,i will be all over it sothat i could run it trough a flashcard on my atari 400,or let there be repros of that 16KB version of mariobros for the atari 400,then i will be jumping all over the place out of happyness😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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