Super Mario Bros?

[P!xel]

I can't beat this game. I can't beat it and without warp zones I can barley make it to world 4.

I hate that stupid fish jumping level where it's basically run through the stage crossing your fingers you survive, and tough luck if you die, it's basically luck.

Also Mario can only get touched twice even at his biggest state before he dies and with all the obstacles flying everywhere it's almost impossible to dodge everything, let alone 32 levels of it.

Any advice? Any at all?

Am I doing something wrong because everyone thinks this game is easy as hell but it's way harder than pokemon and the newer Mario games?

[The Usotsuki]

Twitchy fingers.

[Eltigro]

Memorization and practice practice practice. I beat it (with warps) but also with the extra lives trick on 3-1.

[gamecat80]

It's just a game, man. Don't sweat it. I personally have more trouble with the stupid rotating fireballs in the castles than the flying fish when I'm small Mario. Sometimes I'm like "Fuck it" and just use the warps to get past the levels that are giving me shit. And if it is really getting me upset, I just pop in another game

[mbd30]

You need to do the old Koopa shell trick and rack up a bunch of lives.

[gorfcadet]

Are you playing on a crt television? I've found even the slight lag on a lcd tv can be enough to really throw me off. On original hardware, I can breeze through the game no warps, no problem, but that millisecond on a modern tv can really cause problems.

 

I guess being a poor kid made a difference. When you only have a few games, you play the heck out of them.

[Andromeda Stardust]

It's just a game, man.

P!xel's a girl, dude.

 

Super Mario Bros is a great title. I wouldn't sweat it if you can't beat it.

 

Learn to master the Koopa spam 1up trick on the steps of World 3-1 if you can't make it through because you die too much. Don't over do it or you will game over if you acquire more than 127 lives.

 

World 3-1. Defeat the first Koopa on the steps. Jump onto the second or third step and move as far right as possible. When the second Koopa lands on the step in front of you, make a short hop. Do not touch the Dpad. If done correctly, you will land on the Koopa's back repeatedly, scoring points and potential 1ups. Each hop will drop Mario one pixel lower than before. Eventually the gravy train of points and 1ups will stop. Make another short hop. If your timing is right, MArio will hop on the Koopa shell some more, earning more points and 1ups. Once you have racked up a surplus of lives, finish the level. You should have enough lives so you can die a lot on every stage and still complete the game. In later ports of Mario 1, such as Super Mario All Stars (SNES) and Mario Brothers Deluxe (GBC), the Koopa exploit was made into a feature. Later ports adjusted the timings slightly so that you never fall off the Koopa shell. This exploit is impossible to perform on the PAL optimized SMB or the second quest, where the timings are different.

 

Tip for surviving 8-1: Early in the level, there are a bunch of pits with one block width. You can safely hold B and run across these. Be ware of paratrooper at the end of the pits.

 

Tip for surviving 8-2: There is a 1up hidden about the springboard. It respawns every time you restart the stage. You need to follow underneath dodging turtles as it moves across the cieling. Be quick so that it does not fall down the pit or go offscreen. Do everything in your power to collect it as you may need to retread the course. There is a long chasm towards the end of the level following a pipe. Many people die here. It is a requirement to long jump this pit while running in order to clear it. Stand on the left edge of the pipe and hold B. Press right. If done properly, MArio will cross the small gap between the two pieces of land. While holding B, press A right as Mario lands on the last land. Hold A for the entire duration of the jump. If performed correctly, you will land on the other side of the chasm near a pipe. There is a coin room hidden here. Best not to take it because it wastes precious time needed to finish the level.

 

Tip for surviving World 8-3: There are a two powerups located in this level, in the upper row of bricks where the HAmmer Bros are. One of them is second to left and the other is second to right on another pair. Stay at the bottom and hit the Hammer Bros from underneath and try not to get hurt. You will want a fire flower to knock out the barrage of ground hammer bros towards the end of the level. I can never seem to get the timing right to run underneath them or jump over without getting hit. Take your time and make small jumps to clear the stairs at the end so as not to fall. You will need to long jump by running off the top ledge (using B) to reach the flagpole.

 

Tip for surviving World 8-4: The solution to the castle is simple: Always take the pipe immediately after crossing a pit. Eventually you will come to an underwater area. Now you know you're on the home stretch. If you still have your fire flower from world 8-3 at this point, defeating Bowser will be easy. Kill the final Hammer Bro with a fireball. You can try to attack Bowser with fireballs if you want. If you take damage, immediately run through him to the axe. IF you lose the fire flower, defeating Bwoser is much riskier. Take out the hammer bro by running under him or jumping over. When approaching Bowser, be ware of fireball that leaps out of the lava. Wait for Bowser to spit fire and dodge it. Immediately stand in front of Bowser as this area is safe from hammers which will pass over his head. Do not dally for long as Bowser will hit you with a fire breath. As soon as Bowser jumps, run under him and hit the axe. Congrats, you have saved the princess!

 

And yes, World 2-3 was the bane of my existence for many years. I still rescue the princess from time to time. Stick with it kid. It's the easiest of the classic Marios and one of my faves.

 

Once I knew I'd mastered Super Mario Brothers was the day I rescued the Princess and started the advanced quest. Press B to select a world. It turns Goombas into Buzzy Beetles with a slight faster speed and makes platforms skinnier but otherwise is the same game repeated. I selected 8-1 and miraculously beat the second quest without losing a single life.

 

Confession: I have never beaten Mario 2, 3, or World without cheats. I've beaten every 3D Mario game, not 100% but kicked Bowser's ass in 64, Sunshine, both Galaxies, and 3D World. Also beat all the NSMB games, but the White Tanooki Suit, Green Block, or other aids (cosmic Rosalina et all) can get a bit lame at times.

 

Basically stick with it. The classic games are tough but not unbeatable. Also are you using a retro CRT TV? If using an HDTV to play analog games, lag may be a factor.

 

Good luck...

Edited July 17, 2015 by stardust4ever

[mbd30]

I tried playing this on an emulator tonight after not having played it for a long time.

 

The controls take some getting used to after being acclimated to the more refined controls of other platformers. It's easy to slip off platforms after doing running jumps, and you only have so much control over jumps while in mid-air. I made it as far as level 2-3 without warping and that's where I gave up.

 

I'm gonna try again though. It's still fun.

Edited July 17, 2015 by mbd30

[CatPix]

I find SMB2 easier to beat, personnaly. Like most people think, to me Princess is the choice to make floaty jumps helps alot to control your jumps or sae the day. Also, having a life bar and knowing where to get the mushrooms helps a lot to go through the levels.

Overall SMB2 offers improved and different gameplays thanks to the various characters, the difficulty is more linear where SMB1 is more in sawteeth.SMB3... good golly. Let's not talk about it

[MrMaddog]

Best way to get through 2-3 is to move through it patiently. It's best to slow down to stay under a huge arch of fish than to rush ahead and get nailed by them. And yes it takes practice as it did back in the day, so don't give up...

[gorfcadet]

Some people also forget the old continue cheat. Hold A when you press start to begin on level one of the last world you were on.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

It takes patience to beat Super Mario Bros. You need to go slow and just go through a cluster of cheep cheeps underneath as they fly. In 7-3 you have koopas to deal with. Best way Is take 1-1, 1-2, warp to 4-1, 4-2, warp to 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, then 8-4. You have the koopa hopping trick at the end of 3-1. I first beat it In 1989. And if you think this is hard try the Lost Levels or the arcade version. They are hard. When all else fails you have game Genie.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Retrogamer81081

[Austin]

Advice? Stop sucking.

[+wongojack]

I can't beat this game. I can't beat it and without warp zones I can barley make it to world 4.

I hate that stupid fish jumping level where it's basically run through the stage crossing your fingers you survive, and tough luck if you die, it's basically luck.

Also Mario can only get touched twice even at his biggest state before he dies and with all the obstacles flying everywhere it's almost impossible to dodge everything, let alone 32 levels of it.

Any advice? Any at all?

Am I doing something wrong because everyone thinks this game is easy as hell but it's way harder than pokemon and the newer Mario games?

 

I think it requires too much memorization combined with secrets or cheats to really get a worthwhile experience out of it. Just walk away and play a Kirby game instead.

[mbd30]

I managed to get to level 4-4 today without any warps or cheats after getting back into it. Fortunately I still remembered the path to Bowser, but I kept messing up when I got to him. Dang.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

[Andromeda Stardust]

Those TAS style ROM hacks are poo-poo!

 

I honestly don't know what's worse: the fact that Mario hacks like this exist in the first place, or that people are actually selling reproductions of these games for play on real hardware. If that's your thing. Welcome to the 9th level of hell.

Edited July 18, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Gentlegamer]

I beat Super Mario Bros when I was ten, twenty-seven years ago.

 

Try stockpiling 1UPs.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Those TAS style ROM hacks are poo-poo!

 

I honestly don't know what's worse: the fact that Mario hacks like this exist in the first place, or that people are actually selling reproductions of these games for play on real hardware. If that's your thing. Welcome to the 9th level of hell.

I've actually beaten this rom hack. There is only 4 stages. It is called Super Mario Forever.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I've actually beaten this rom hack. There is only 4 stages. It is called Super Mario Forever.

More Kudos to you. That doesn't change the fact the game is evil...

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Like most NES games, Super Mario Bros. is tough as nails to beat. I've completed the game on both normal and second game modes without having to resort to extra life farming trickery or using warp pipes, but it took a lot of practice. I've always gotten the impression that, for games on the NES, Nintendo decided to give them replay value by making the games ridiculously hard to beat. That way you would keep coming back over and over again to try and beat them, and it could take you a very long time to succeed.

 

I can offer you one helpful tip though! If you lose all your lives and get sent back to the title screen, holding down A and pressing Start will allow you to continue from the first stage of whatever world you died on.

Edited July 18, 2015 by Jin

[The Usotsuki]

I still want to do a proper conversion of Vs. SMB (the Vs. levels and the SMB2J ending etc. added into the original SMB).

[omegadot]

Like most NES games, Super Mario Bros. is tough as nails to beat. I've completed the game on both normal and second game modes without having to resort to extra life farming trickery or using warp pipes, but it took a lot of practice. I've always gotten the impression that, for games on the NES, Nintendo decided to give them replay value by making the games ridiculously hard to beat. That way you would keep coming back over and over again to try and beat them, and it could take you a very long time to succeed.

 

I can offer you one helpful tip though! If you lose all your lives and get sent back to the title screen, holding down A and pressing Start will allow you to continue from the first stage of whatever world you died on.

 

 

Well @#$% me running.

[P!xel]

It's just a game, man. Don't sweat it. I personally have more trouble with the stupid rotating fireballs in the castles than the flying fish when I'm small Mario. Sometimes I'm like "Fuck it" and just use the warps to get past the levels that are giving me shit. And if it is really getting me upset, I just pop in another game

I actually made it to 5-2 without warp zones or even the koopa shell trick. So thank god. Also I despise those rotating fireballs too, especially the really long one guarding all the pits at the very beginning of the later bowser stages.

[P!xel]

Are you playing on a crt television? I've found even the slight lag on a lcd tv can be enough to really throw me off. On original hardware, I can breeze through the game no warps, no problem, but that millisecond on a modern tv can really cause problems.

I guess being a poor kid made a difference. When you only have a few games, you play the heck out of them.

Crt? If you're talking about those really thick ones that go way back and the screen is a bit curved then yeah, I have that one. There's no lag but it's still really hard, I'd say I just suck at the game, I have to practice more.