A legend that still holds up today

Most people reading this review have probably played this game at least once. However, in case that statement is false, well it should not be. The fact that I still play Super Mario Bros. at least twenty years after I first tried it speaks volumes to how great the game holds up. In another twenty years, chances are that I will still feel the urge to play this game.  
 
There have been many Mario "clones" over the years trying the duplicate the success this title has enjoyed. But there is

something about Super Mario Bros. that makes the game better. Certainly the graphics are not better. In fact, the graphics are the only downfall after all these years. They do not hold up very well. But the level design remains perfect. There is something about the way each platform is perfectly positioned throughout each level that makes Super Mario Bros. a step above any game not named Mario that tries to copy it. Mario can jump the perfect distance. The enemies are perfectly placed. Every single detail down to the flagstick at the end of each level has much thought put into it. What I am trying to say is...Super Mario Bros. does not have any wasted space. Everything in each level is there for a reason and everything Mario does is there because it is fun. Throwing fireballs at oncoming goombas remains fun. Stomping on goombas, the classic Mario feature, remains fun. Heck, even dying on the first goomba during the first level remains fun. 
 
Many gamers have memorized the tunes from Super Mario Bros. They may not think about the songs on a daily basis, but if you hum a tune from Super Mario Bros. to a gamer, he or she will tell you, "Hey, I remember that..." and go on about their memories from Mario's first platformer title. Search on YouTube and there are countless covers and remakes of the songs from here, which shows the soundtrack stands the test of time if people still want to cover the music today.  
 

I have to admit, the graphics have become almost hard to look at by now. I love the graphics in Super Mario Bros. 3 and think that game holds up well today in terms of visuals. But Super Mario Bros. is a lot more pixelated and rough around the edges. On the one hand, the look Super Mario Bros. entails has become an art form on its own in a way. Just think how many gaming artists tend the draw or recreate the first level of Super Mario Bros. Take a look at New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Those bricks look exactly the same as the bricks in here look like, which shows Nintendo must have done something right the first time around. On the other hand, now that I have played the Super Mario All Stars version of this game on Super NES with updated graphics, looking at the original version makes me wish for the All Stars visuals that looked so clean and smooth.  
 
That does not take away from the game's legendary status though. Make no mistake, this will be one of the greatest platformers, if not the greatest platformer, you will ever play in your life. Everything but the visuals are as good or better than almost any other "modern" platformer out there today. For 500 points, you cannot go wrong here. After all, I still regularly play this twenty years after I first tried it. A game that lasts that long would be a bargain for nearly any price.