Super Mario Bros 1 is an all time classic. It is one of the games that defines gaming for many people and brings to mind many happy memories. I played the game on the NES a lot as a kid, but I also played a lot of another version of the game. When I was young, my parents were take my siblings and myself to a local bowling alley every so often. and there were many arcade games at this bowling alley. One of the games I have especially fond memories of playing while my parents and siblings bowled, was VS Super Mario Bros., an arcade reworking of the NES title. While the bowling alley is now gone, I can still enjoy the arcade game today thanks to Nintendo re releasing it on the Switch, but I have to ask, is it still good or has nostalgia blinded me to its faults.
First I should get into what is different about this game. Several repeating levels were removed from the NES version and replaced with all new ones that would later be used in The Lost Levels. This makes VS Super Mario Bros a hybrid game of sorts, but there are still other differences. Some levels have had paths changes, item and enemy placement shifted and methods of travel changed. Even the levels that would be used in The Lost Levels are slightly different from the later game, mostly due to these minor changes. Obstacles have been made more difficult such as fire bars being longer, gaps wider and bricks added to stop jumps. It is a difficult game for sure, but a unique one.
Playing through the game again, I got hit by a rush of nostalgia as I began. I felt like I was a little kid at the bowling alley once more, especially with the frustrating levels. I had to force myself to look past my childhood love of the game and see how it played today. My reactions to it were mixed, but not for the reasons you might expect. The game definitely feels familiar, but that is more because I have played Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels so many times. I felt thrown off here and there by the minor changes and it took a while to adjust. Once that happened though, I actually came to appreciate VS Super Mario Bros. a lot more. A lot of the changes may have been done to make the experience more difficult for the arcade, but it also made me consider new methods of how I can speedrun the game. I began to take each difference into account and became more excited than ever to play it.
Coming back to VS Super Mario Bros on Nintendo Switch was a great experience for a few reasons. I got to experience a game I loved as a kid again, but I also got to really enjoy it in ways I hadn’t before. I wholeheartedly suggest checking this out on the Switch eShop and urge you to stick with it. You will get to play a great game and see a perfect example of how to turn a console game into an arcade game.
You can check out the game on Switch here.
In addition, for access to an extensive variety of active retro gaming groups on Facebook, visit Retro Gamers Hub.