Mario Bros different versions

[rodge2001]

Can anyone please give a breakdown of the different Mario Bros releases according to box art options & associated Revision if applicable?

I assume the red box/red cart was first. Then I assume Rev A was next which is only available on AtariMax SD carts if I’m not mistaken. But so then was there a Rev B and Rev C released?

And I think Rev D is the most recent edition(s) that had the various colored boxes but with the same box art.

But then I’ve also seen online some with the US arcade cabinet box art. Some with either green or black cart.

 

And some even came with a pair of controller overlays but which edition(s)?

Edited August 24, 2018 by rodge2001

[Crapahute]

I remember making the more recent boxes :

 

http://colecoboxart.com/games-references.htm

 

But I don't know the rom revisions on the cartridges.

[retroillucid]

The revisions are simply a couple of fixed bugs
The latest revision (REVD) is simply the latest and more up to date

[Ikrananka]

I'll do my best to answer your questions but this may contain errors so hopefully others will provide corrections as necessary:

Development

Initially, Mario Bros was planned to use a standard 32KB PCB and a prototype of the game was developed as proof of concept. However, it was found that If they wanted to include everything from the arcade game then they would have to use a Bank-Switching scheme, which led them to use the MegaCart with a 64KB game for the released version.

Releases

2009 - First Release

• Red Edition (Red Box / Red Cart / Manual / NO overlays) - 100 produced
• Green edition, black edition and classic editions were discussed as upcoming but as far as I know these were never released at that time (2009/2010).

2010 - Rev A ROM Release

CollectorVision released the Rev A ROM as a freebie with the AtariMax Ultimate SD cart as well as on their website.

Mario Bros Revision A main changes:

• Made enemies speed up on higher levels (level 64 is now hardest level)
• Added music for all intermissions
• Added code for red fireball bounce sound
• Added code for green fireball sound
• Added attract mode tables and functionality
• Modified player and enemy wraparound to occur at x>248 (no more fully off-screen)

 

There is also a Rev.A ROM that has a different title screen:

 

2012 - 32KB Prototype Auctions & Raffle

To raise money for CollectorVision to buy a cartridge mold, @RelliK111 organised a number of eBay auctions and a raffle for 5 CIB copies of the 32KB prototype game under the CollectorVision Development Lab name.



2013 - Final Release

Initial announcement and pre-order threads. Total produced was greater than 100.

 

This release included a further update to the game code which was referred to as Rev.D. I do not know what changes were made between the Rev.A and Rev.D releases.

• Classic Edition (Arcade Box / Green Cart / Manual / Two overlays*) - ?? produced
• Grey Edition (Grey Artwork Box / Green Cart / Manual / Two overlays*) - ?? produced
• Green Edition (Green Artwork Box / Green Cart / Manual / Two overlays*) - ?? produced
• Orange Edition (Orange Artwork Box / Green Cart / Manual / Two overlays*) - ?? produced

* Note that only the first 100 games produced included the overlays.

 

ROM Revisions

 

The ROM revisions are quite confusing with CollectorVision stating that they were as below. However, this does not tally with other statements where Rev.A was stated as being an updated version of the game which was released in ROM format AFTER the red cart release.

REV.A ) The 32K Final Version
REV.B ) The official RED Cart Release
REV.C) Never been sold to public (Missing Intermission music and Fireball sounds added)
REV.D) FINAL Green Cartridge Release

[retroillucid]

Thanks Andrew!

Very well documented!

Looks like you have a better memory than myself

[Ikrananka]

Thanks Andrew!

Very well documented!

 

Looks like you have a better memory than myself

 

Thanks, but unfortunately my memory is crap and so I had to spend a few hours pouring over the forums. Something I wanted to do for a while anyway as I have long been confused as to what was and wasn't released

 

Was there ever a 32KB CollectorVision Development Lab release (2012?) ?

 

Also, could you clarify the ROM revisions. As stated in my post, the list you gave doesn't seem to make sense (at least to me anyway ). I suspect they are actually as follows but would love to get confirmation:

 

No Revision) The 32K Final Version

No Revision) The official RED Cart Release

REV.A ) The official ROM release (website & AtariMax)

REV.B ) Never been sold to public

REV.C) Never been sold to public

REV.D) FINAL Green Cartridge Release

 

Would also love to know the main changes between the Red Cart Release, Rev.A and Rev.D.

[retroillucid]

 

Thanks, but unfortunately my memory is crap and so I had to spend a few hours pouring over the forums. Something I wanted to do for a while anyway as I have long been confused as to what was and wasn't released

 

Was there ever a 32KB CollectorVision Development Lab release (2012?) ?

 

Also, could you clarify the ROM revisions. As stated in my post, the list you gave doesn't seem to make sense (at least to me anyway ). I suspect they are actually as follows but would love to get confirmation:

 

No Revision) The 32K Final Version

No Revision) The official RED Cart Release

REV.A ) The official ROM release (website & AtariMax)

REV.B ) Never been sold to public

REV.C) Never been sold to public

REV.D) FINAL Green Cartridge Release

 

Would also love to know the main changes between the Red Cart Release, Rev.A and Rev.D.

Man, I wish I could remember, but I honestly don't remember much sadly

One of the thing I remember is adding the missing sounds, and a few minor bugs, but that's it

 

I think RevB (never sold) is actually the rom who say: NOT FOR RESALE, but I'm not completely sure

 

 

I do have all those roms files somewhere in my archive, wich I didn't touch for AWHILE!

 

I'll try to dig in the archive and send you the rom files, maybe you'll be able to figure it out ?

[Ikrananka]

I'll try to dig in the archive and send you the rom files, maybe you'll be able to figure it out ?

 

That would be brilliant - thank you. I'll see what I can figure out and post my findings.

 

That is unless Tursi kept detailed records of his changes ???

Edited August 24, 2018 by Ikrananka

[Tursi]

I can tell you for certain that the first version released was the 64k version with nothing extra on the title page, then we did the NOT FOR RESALE and REV A versions (which I think are otherwise identical). The 32k release was one of the early demos I sent to Retroillucid (probably the most complete of them before I asked for bank switching). I don't recall working on a Rev B, C or D... this doesn't mean I didn't or that someone else didn't pick it up.

 

Sadly, my source control from those days got wiped in a server crash, but I can at least check my dev folder when I get home

[retroillucid]

Some infos I was able to recovered about the REV-A version

Mario REV-A:

- increase the default speed of the enemies.

- It plays the same until level 15

- from level 16 onward (including the bonus Donkey Kong state), enemies and

the red fireball will move faster every 7 stages.

- Stage 64 is the hardest (but is a bonus round, so stage 65)

to see it, use the level select

cheat. I made the '9' key select level 64 instead. So wait for the Mario

Bros title page, hold fire, and press '9'. After that, then press '5' for a

credit and '1' to start - you will start on phase 64.

[retroillucid]

I've also found a bunch of MB roms files in my archive

Here's the title screen for REV-A and REV-D

[Ikrananka]

I can tell you for certain that the first version released was the 64k version with nothing extra on the title page, then we did the NOT FOR RESALE and REV A versions (which I think are otherwise identical). The 32k release was one of the early demos I sent to Retroillucid (probably the most complete of them before I asked for bank switching). I don't recall working on a Rev B, C or D... this doesn't mean I didn't or that someone else didn't pick it up.

 

Sadly, my source control from those days got wiped in a server crash, but I can at least check my dev folder when I get home

 

Comparing the binaries for the NOT FOR RESALE and REV.A versions, there are a LOT of differences - much more than I would expect to see if just the title screen text was changed. So my suspicion is that there are gameplay differences between these two versions. If you find anything that can shed any more light on this then that would be great.

[Tursi]

I went through my folders, too... the NOT FOR RESALE version predates having the music on the secondary intermissions (and maybe fireball sounds... I have already forgotten). So it is closer to the original release. REV A would definitely be later, then. I do in fact have the REV D but it's not clear to me what has changed... maybe just more enemy tuning.

 

I don't seem to have my email logs either, so I guess that's all I can contribute to that history.

[retroillucid]

I've found a BUNCH or rom files, alpha, beta, Rev, etc..
I'm going to send all of them to Ikrananka, so he can investigate a bit on them

Was kind of fun digging in my archive, wich I didn't take a look for years now
I should start thinking to upload all my archive to a website or Dropbox

[Ikrananka]

Thanks Tursi, I did a bit more of a comparison between the ROMs with the following results and this ties up nicely with what you have said.

 

Red Cart ===> NOT FOR RESALE

 

Between the original Red Cart release in 2009 and the "NOT FOR RESALE" release there were some relatively small changes made to the game (could have been changes to the graphics, audio and/or gameplay). 741 bytes have been changed between these two versions which is much greater than would be needed to simply change the text on the title screen (likely less than 20 bytes). I haven't seen a description of what these changes might have been anywhere.

 

Note that the "NOT FOR RESALE" version is the one bundled with the AtariMax Ultimate SD cart and is also the one that was made available for download via the CollectorVision website.

 

NOT FOR RESALE ===> REV.A

 

There were significant changes made to the game between the "NOT FOR RESALE" and the REV.A ROMs (7,232 bytes). This seems to concur well with the REV.A changelog CollectorVision provided on the AA forums and supplemented his post above, i.e.:

• Made enemies speed up on higher levels (level 64 is now the start of the hardest levels)
  • Plays the same until level 15
  • From level 16 onward (including the bonus Donkey Kong level), enemies and the red fireball will move faster every 7 levels.
  • Level 64 and after are the hardest (note that level 64 is a bonus round so level 65 is the start of the hardest normal levels)
• Added music for all intermissions
• Added code for red fireball bounce sound
• Added code for green fireball sound
• Added attract mode tables and functionality
• Modified player and enemy wraparound to occur at x>248 (no more fully off-screen)

 

REV.A ===> REV.D

 

There is only ONE byte differences between the REV.A and REV.D ROM files. This byte difference changes the revision text shown on the title screen from "A" to "D" (at location 7549). Other than this one piece of text being changed there are no other differences whatsoever. So, REV.A and REV.D are in fact exactly the same game revision.

 

Revision List

 

Currently I believe that the revision list is as follows (subject to change after I analyse the ROMs that J-F is going to send to me):

• No Revision) The 32K Final/Demo Version
• No Revision) The official RED Cart Release
• NOT FOR RESALE) Official free ROM release (website & AtariMax)
• REV.A) Official commercial ROM release (sold for a limited time exclusively by email here)
• REV.B) Never released / never existed / no changes / changes abandoned ?????
• REV.C) Never released / never existed / no changes / changes abandoned ?????
• REV.D) Final GREEN Cartridge Release

The definitive version of the game is the REV.A ROM & REV.D Green cart releases.

Level/Phase Select Cheat

Thanks to CollectorVision for sharing the Mario Bros. level/phase select cheat in his post above. I tested this cheat on the various game revisions as follows.

At the Mario Bros. title screen, hold down the fire button and press '9' on the keypad. After that, press '5' for a credit and '1' to start. The game will start at a later level/phase as described below:

• Red Cart => Phase 10
• NOT FOR RESALE => Phase 10
• REV.A => Phase 64
• REV.D => Phase 64

[Ikrananka]

I've found a BUNCH or rom files, alpha, beta, Rev, etc..

I'm going to send all of them to Ikrananka, so he can investigate a bit on them

 

Was kind of fun digging in my archive, wich I didn't take a look for years now

I should start thinking to upload all my archive to a website or Dropbox

 

Great J-F, would love to dig through those ROM files and see if it changes my conclusions.

 

An online archive is a great idea. Data gets lost all too easily

[Tursi]

REV.A ===> REV.D

 

There is only ONE byte differences between the REV.A and REV.D ROM files. This byte difference changes the revision text shown on the title screen from "A" to "D" (at location 7549). Other than this one piece of text being changed there are no other differences whatsoever. So, REV.A and REV.D are in fact exactly the same game revision.

 

 

Hah! I laughed at this... although I see a lot of differences between the two in my work folder. However, I am pretty sure that my Rev D is not the released Rev D, and that the changes on my side are entirely attributed to re-compiling a couple years ago with a much newer version of SDCC - not game changes. That means it's just a local binary of the same game.

[retroillucid]

The first Red cart is the first version (box is kind of flimsy)
The lab cartridge is the 32K rom file
Not for resale is the one bundled with the AtariMax cartridge

The REV-A, B, C and D
We'll need to investigate more on those but I know these were released way after the first batch

Edited August 25, 2018 by retroillucid

[Tursi]

I looked at the cheat code, there are a couple more keys available - some may only be in the final. For all of them, hold fire on the title page while using the keypad.

 

Press '4' to increment the start stage (it doesn't seem every stage is selectable, but that's probably due to auto-repeat on the key )

Press '9' to start on stage 64 (as already known).

Press '#' or '*' to start on stage 9.

 

I had forgotten how crazy fast it gets on stage 64. I wonder if that settled any of the 'too easy' questions?

[retroillucid]

The 32K version is super impressive for what it does!
Can't believe there's so much crammed into so little space!

[retroillucid]

 

Great J-F, would love to dig through those ROM files and see if it changes my conclusions.

 

An online archive is a great idea. Data gets lost all too easily

 

email sent

[retroillucid]

 

Thanks, but unfortunately my memory is crap and so I had to spend a few hours pouring over the forums. Something I wanted to do for a while anyway as I have long been confused as to what was and wasn't released

 

Was there ever a 32KB CollectorVision Development Lab release (2012?) ?

 

Also, could you clarify the ROM revisions. As stated in my post, the list you gave doesn't seem to make sense (at least to me anyway ). I suspect they are actually as follows but would love to get confirmation:

 

No Revision) The 32K Final Version

No Revision) The official RED Cart Release

REV.A ) The official ROM release (website & AtariMax)

REV.B ) Never been sold to public

REV.C) Never been sold to public

REV.D) FINAL Green Cartridge Release

 

Would also love to know the main changes between the Red Cart Release, Rev.A and Rev.D.

 

After checking my archive, my multicart and even asked Toby to check his own archive

It appear that we both don't have REV-B and REV-C

Wich lead me to think they were never been made at all

 

I'm really wondering why though....

[Ikrananka]

 

After checking my archive, my multicart and even asked Toby to check his own archive

It appear that we both don't have REV-B and REV-C

Wich lead me to think they were never been made at all

 

I'm really wondering why though....

 

LOL - I must admit that I suspected as much when I found that in my files, REV.A was the same as REV.D. I also found in my PMs a message from you from Jan 2014 where you said "REV.C/D: same as REV.A (latest version)".

 

I'll look through the roms you sent over the coming week and will let you know what I can determine.

[NIAD]

All that I ever heard from Retroillucid was how much he hates Telegames due to all the variations that they introduced into the marketplace and then he goes and does this to everyone with Mario Bros. and a couple other CollectorVision releases!!!!

 

Oy vey!

 

[ColecoDan]

 

After checking my archive, my multicart and even asked Toby to check his own archive

It appear that we both don't have REV-B and REV-C

Wich lead me to think they were never been made at all

 

I'm really wondering why though....

 

I think we just confirmed that J-F doesn't know his alphabet too well and thought it went A, D.