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Super Mario Bros.
In October 1985, the Famicom, by then redubbed the Nintendo Entertainment System, went to America in several forms -- one of which included a R.O.B. the Robot-less Super Mario Bros. bundled in the box. Arakawa found exactly one unenthusiastic distributor willing to gamble a limited stock in their New York stores as a test run. Expectations weren't high. That fad was over. Everyone expected the NES to sit on the shelves and stay there right through the upcoming holiday season. Only it didn't. Wo -
Super Mario Bros. 2
The FDS was essentially an external disk drive that plugged into the Famicom. The games were cheaper, the disks held five times the memory cartridges did, and the results impressed. Zelda was the first Famicom Disk game. Super Mario Bros. 2 would be next. Visually, it looked exactly like its predecessor, but it was harder... much harder. Smooth level designs were replaced by insanely tough obstacle courses, occasionally requiring a split-second bounce off a Koopa to clear extra-wide gaps. Latt -
Super Mario Bros. 3
Miyamoto became intensely involved on Mario 3 from conception onward. He wanted new ways to power-up Mario, initially by changing him into a centaur and other mythical creatures, but the first sketch that really stuck showed Mario with a raccoon tail. New gameplay possibilities opened up, and Miyamoto went with them. Mario's wardrobe further expanded with Frog and Tanooki suits, giving him flight, swimming, and stealth abilities. Miyamoto complemented those powers by creating ingenious levels ar -
Super Mario World
Super Mario World arrived in 1991 alongside the SNES, and sold twice as many copies as the first two Sonic games combined. Miyamoto's mea culpa aside, Mario in 16-bit looked better, sounded better, played better than any Mario game before and sold better than all but the first. Nothing compared to knocking gigantor Bullet Bills out of the sky with a simple tap, or discovering the secret path to Star Road. Spin attacks combined nicely with Fire Mario firepower. Some blocks spun when hit to crea -
Super Mario 64
First-person shooters in 3D arenas were standard fare, but five years toiling on Mario FX taught Miyamoto that third-person gaming in a three dimensional environment came with a unique problem: where to put the camera. Moving around in a 3D space complicated everything. Linear stages could use a fixed camera, and early builds all supported the approach, but Miyamoto was adamant. Players wanted the freedom to explore, so they needed a camera they could manipulate where necessary. That required a -
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Sunshine ended a six year wait for a successor to Mario 64. A few on the design team worried it drifted too far from type. Most believed it maintained a Mario style while expanding on the Mario gameplay. Either way, Mario's vacation on Isle Delfino ended before he ever got off the plane. His mysterious doppleganger had vandalized the island with a vile goop that naturally dispersed their 120 guardian Shine Sprites (Power Stars by another name). Swiftly convicted of the misdeeds, Mar -
Super Mario Galaxy
After two systems and ten years of struggling sales, Nintendo's Wii recaptured the world's attention. While Wii Sports may have gotten grandma bowling in front of her television, most hardcore Nintendo fans were eager to get their mitts on Super Mario Galaxy. The song blissfully remains the same. Bowser hijacks Peach (and her entire castle) once again, this time stranding Mario in high orbit above the Mushroom Kingdom. From there, he must bounce between planetoids with various laws of gravity -
Super Mario Galaxy 2
I think the one thing you should take away from this review: Super Mario Galaxy 2 wholly exceeded my expectations. Leading up to the game’s release I hadn’t expected much more than simply “more of the same.” I loved the original Super Mario Galaxy, but the company would have to do something pretty special to really “wow” me. Consider me “wowed.” Again. Yes, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is more of what made the original so amazingly good: brilliant gravity platfoming. Incredibly tight and responsive con
