Mario Bros.

About Mario Bros.
After tackling an ape named Donkey Kong, Shigeru Miyamoto had Mario hang up his hammer and pick up a plumber's wrench and take to the sewers. This is the first game that features Mario as the title character, and the first time we officially meet Mario's brother Luigi who, for the purposes of this game, is an identical palette swap of Mario. Rumor has it that Miyamoto was inspired by Joust and decided to make the game a simultaneous two player experience. This enabled players to make the choice to help or hinder their fellow player, and results in a lot of hilarity at times.

Story
The sewer pipes are infested with pests, and it's up to Mario and Luigi to get rid of them. The pests are deadly if confronted head on, but the brothers can stop them in their tracks if they jump up and hit the pests from underneath in an effort to flip them on their backs. They must then jump up and kick the pests off the pipes before they manage to right themselves and continue marching around at an even faster pace. Mario and Luigi are paid by the pest, so be sure to collect the coins that appear when a pest is removed, but watch out for the blazing fireballs and the chilly icicle.

Mario and Luigi
You take control of Mario as player 1, or Luigi as player 2, as they attempt to rid the sewers of the pipe pests. Controlling the brothers is simply a matter of pushing left and right to make them run, or pressing the A button to make them jump. Momentum is a factor in Mario Bros. and the brothers don't exactly stop on a dime, especially if their is ice beneath their feet so plan accordingly. Jumping allows the brothers to reach higher pipes, but if a pipe is overhead, they punch a bump in to the pipe that can knock a pest back, or even on it's head. The only thing that the brothers can safely touch are coins.

Shellcreeper
These are the first pests that the brothers will encounter. They are simple enough to defeat. One punch from underneath flips them on to their shells, and one kick after that sends them flying. If they manage to get back on their feet, they go from green to red and speed up a bit. If flipped and righted once more, they turn blue and become exceptionally fast.

Sidestepper
These crabby pests begin to show up in the fourth round. They are similar to Shellcreepers except they take an extra punch to knock them on their head. They start out calm, but after being punch once, they become angry and speed up. They will only flip over after being punched a second time. If they flip back to their feet, they turn green. If it happens yet again, they turn pink and are at their fastest.

Fighterfly
The final pest form arrives in the sixth round and adds a new wrinkle to Mario and Luigi's job. Like the Shellcreepers, they only require one punch from below to flip them on to their head. But unlike the other pests, they keep bouncing off of the ground, so they are only vulnerable to the brother's attacks when their feet are firmly planted on the ground. Punching them while they're in the air is ineffective. Therefore, time you attacks carefully in order to rid the sewers of this overgrown menace.

Fireballs
If Mario or Luigi sticks around in one stage for too long, things start to heat up, literally. Two forms of fireballs appear, each with a distinct color and behavior. The red fireballs are slow and bounce around diagonally all around the board. If they hit one side of the screen, they ricochet off the side and keep going. On the other hand green fireballs appear on one level and quickly bounce all the way from one side of the screen to the other and disappear. Both pose a threat to the help of the brothers, but both can be eliminated with a well timed punch from below. However, in order for the punch to be effective, either fireball must be touching the pipe when the brothers jump, or the attack is ineffective. After a fireball is destroyed, it stays out of play for a few moments, only to return much faster the next time it appears.

Slipice
Slipice begins to show up around the ninth stage. Like fireballs, it only takes one hit from below to get rid of him and unlike fireballs, he sticks to the ground, so it's pretty easy to hit him. However, if he is left alone for too long, he will eventually find a pipe that isn't yet frozen and freeze it solid, covering the pipe with a film of ice. This makes the pipe very slippery and gives the brothers a much harder time coming to a stop when they are running. They are a minimal threat, so don't go out of your way to get rid of them, but any chance to do away with one is worth taking.

POW
In case of emergencies that brothers have one extra weapon at their disposal, the POW block. It is always located in the lower center of the screen when it is available, and it can be used three times before it is periodically refreshed after certain bonus rounds. Jumping up and punching POW will create and earthquake effect on the entire screen. Any enemy touching the ground at that time will behave as if they received a punch from below. This means that pests knocked on their back or head will be put back on their feet. Best saved for emergencies or when a high scoring potential becomes available.

The Sewers
Throughout the game, Mario and Luigi's scenery stays constant. Early in the game, the pattern on the pipes changes every few rounds, but the layout never changes. At the top of the screen are two S shaped pipes from which the pests pour out. At the bottom are two pipes which the pests use to exit out of the screen before pouring out of the same side pipe at the top and continuing on. Pests walk in one direction, and drop down to the next level when they reach the end of the pipe they are crawling on. The pests will continue in their direction unless they hit another pest or coin, at which point they will about face and head off in the other direction. In order for Mario and Luigi to clear each round, they must eliminate every pest that the round contains. To do so, they must jump up and punch the pipe directly underneath the pest until they flip over on their head, and then jump up and kick the pests off the screen by running in to them. If Mario kicks off multiple pests consecutively within a second or two, he scores bonus points in multiples of 800 (800, 1600, 2400, up to 3200.) Every time the brother remove a pest, a coin enters the level from one of the top pipes and moves in the same fashion as the pests. However, once they reach the bottom pipe, they exit the screen and disappear for good, so collect them if it is safe to do so for 800 points.

After Mario and Luigi have occupied a round for a long period of time, fireballs begin to appear. Red fireballs continue to ricochet around sewer while green fireballs bounce from one side of the screen to the other. After the second Bonus stage, Slipice begins to appear in search of a location to plant himself and freeze a pipe. Until he manages to completely freeze the pipe, the brothers may interrupt him and punch him from underneath. The pipe will only remain frozen if Slipice has been given enough time to do his work. At higher levels multiple fireballs begin to appear making it more urgent for the brothers to complete their work quickly. The POW block in the center should only be used in the case of emergencies since it's presence creates a relatively safe island for Mario to stand on and punch pests from underneath. It can be hit three times before it disappears. It is occasionally replenished after a Bonus stage. Another semi safe place for the brothers to rest is the middle ledge that occupies the sides of the screen. Other than fireballs, only flies will infrequently make it to this ledge on their own accord.

Bonus Stage
In round 3, 8 and every few rounds thereafter, the brothers are presented with a bonus stage. In here, they will have 20 or 15 seconds to collect 10 coins that are placed throughout the stage. They will always be in the same place every time. A bonus of 800 points is provided for every coin captured, while an additional bonus is awarded if all ten coins are obtained. The first bonus stage gives 3000 points for a perfect run, and every bonus stage after that gives 5000 points. However, after the first bonus stage, every subsequent bonus stage is frozen, so you must plan carefully because it will be much harder to stop and turn around if you've made a mistake. Often it is better to continue going in the direction you are and loop back around to pick up a missed coin than to try and reverse your direction.

Arcade Differences

 * A notable difference between the arcade version and the Famicom port is the omission of the demonstration scenes. Before a new enemy was introduced in a level, a brief scene was played in order to instruct the player how to defeat this new pest.
 * Many graphical changes were made to this version of Mario Bros., primarily due to the graphical limitations and the number of sprites that could be drawn per frame in first generation Famicom games. Fireballs are just a quarter of their original size (which makes them a little easier to dodge.) Shellcreepers and Slipice were altered to be ataller and thinner and the Shellcreeper's animation was simplified. They merely flip back over instead of hopping out of their shell, kicking it over and crawling back inside. Sidesteppers and Fighterflies were drawn in parts so that it took two full frames to draw them completely. Hence they have a tendency to flicker. Color palettes were simplified as well.
 * Two features did not make it in to the Famicom version, icicles which would form in later rounds and drop on Mario and Luigi's heads, and the bonus stages that contained invisible ledges.
 * Very late in the Famicom's life time, Nintendo released an updated version of Mario Bros. called Kaettekita Mario Bros., or Return of Mario Bros., for the Famicom Disk System which corrected just about all of the changes made from the arcade to the Famicom.