Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

"Although easy, I'm going to tell you why this game is so much better than the original version."

Super Mario Brothers Deluxe is the Game Boy Color remake of the popular Super Mario Bros game released by Nintendo for NES in 1985. Fourteen years later, a remake was made of this game. Although the game was severely dumbed down, I prefer this version over the original.

Story
Princess Peach has been abducted by Bowser and taken to his castle. Seven other toads were also taken hostage by Bowser. Mario, an Italian plumber, is called upon to rescue the princess and the seven toads. Playing through eight worlds, Mario must defeat Bowser eight times and rescue the toads and the princess. The story is a typical Mario story, but it's still pretty good. It's one of those classic stories that never get old.

9/10

Controls
Controlling Mario in this game is not always easy. The control pad moves Mario and can also shift your field of view from top to bottom. The A button is the jump, and holding in B and moving is running. This also allows you to throw fireballs when you get the Fire Flower. The controls are really simple, but the mechanism for some of the jumps is frustrating. I've found myself over-jumping my target countless times and dying. Not bad, but it really gets on your nerves at some point.

7/10

Graphics
The graphics obviously improved from the original version since it was made on a newer system than the NES. The graphics are great and present the game in a soothing manner. However, there is one major problem in the Game Boy Color version. Because the screen is smaller, you cannot see the entire environment. You have to shift up to see the whole range of view and genius of the level presented. It just feels like you're missing out on the whole effect. Still, the graphics are great.

8/10

Sounds/Tunes
This game has some great sounds, but there isn't a lot of variety. Overall, there are about five tunes in this game. Most of the levels have you going through the basic Mario theme, but there are some other levels that have different sounds. The underwater, underground, and castle levels have different songs. The songs are very good, but more of a variety wouldn't have killed anything.

8/10

Content
This game has satisfying content. You play through eight worlds split into four platform levels. In order to progress to the next world, you must defeat Bowser in the castle. That's the soul objective of the game. The game is fairly easy and can be beaten in about 2-3 hours if you are really good. There are also warp zones that allow you to skip some worlds. You can even do an eight level game and be done with it. All in all, satisfactory content, but way too easy. There's also some extras on the title screen. I don't bother with them too much really, but feel free to check them out.

8/10

Replay Value
The game can be beaten in 2 hours, and there is another quest that is harder than the first. Not much replay value, but if you feel like playing the game over and over again, go right ahead.

7/10

Rent or Buy?
You should buy this game instead of downloading it on VC because this version is the better of the two. You'll be sorely disappointed with the original because this one is much better. You can actually save during the Game Boy Color version, and you don't have to go back to world 1-1 when you die in 8-4.

Overall
I am giving this game a 7.8 which rounds to an 8. This game is great, but it has its flaws. You still have the cheap dying and faulty controlling. There's also the easy difficulty and short content. All in all, a good game. Don't hesitate to buy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/08

Game Release: Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (US, 04/30/99)