Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

"More is less"

I never once thought that a Mario game could ever be so terrible. I mean, I honestly hadn't played a Mario title I didn't like until I came across this mess of a game that totally ruins a lot of what made the original Super Mario Bros. any fun at all while adding some other stuff that might add some replayability, but really isn't that fun to mess around with. A lot of people really like this game, but I don't see how anyone could really enjoy it at all.

Right off the bat, one of the main reasons why Super Mario Bros. was so successful when it was first released was that you could play with a friend and that's where a lot of the fun came from. Unfortunately for Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, you cannot play the main game with a friend, but there is a multiplayer functionality…though it is pretty weak.

This mode is purely competitive and it is aptly called Versus Mode. In Versus Mode, which is only playable if you have a friend who has this game, a Game Boy Color, and if you have a link cable, you basically race through a level and try to get to the flag first. You can activate certain blocks to get in your opponent's way, but this doesn't really add much to the mode at all. Nothing is fun about this and Nintendo really didn't get a competitive multiplayer mode in a traditional Mario game until New Super Mario Bros. for the DS.

I'm getting ahead of myself a little, though. First I need to discuss the little changes Nintendo made to their original masterpiece to downgrade it into a painfully easy and rarely entertaining mess of a game. There are three save files available to you (yes, I said SAVE files) and the game is presented by a completely unnecessary overworld map that does nothing to alter the gameplay at all.

What made Super Mario Bros. so unbelievably fun back in the day was the challenge. The game was plenty challenging, but it also wasn't TOO challenging, meaning that if you put in enough practice, without entirely dedicating your life to it, you could beat the game and feel really damn proud of yourself. Unfortunately, Nintendo has made their masterpiece way too easy for comfort.

One reason why the game is easier is now the screen scrolls, meaning you can go backward if need be and collect some items that you walked passed. What definitely ruins the game though is that you can save. You can save at anytime you freaking want to and if you lose all of your lives, you can simply continue from the world you were on. I can't think of a better word to describe this than pathetic. This game is so easy that it is offensive to me as a gamer.

A new challenge mode is just as pointless as the rest of the game. You play through the same levels as the main game except you get to choose which you level you play in and you have to collect five red coins plus a Yoshi egg. You can unlock some medals and stuff through this, but nothing really special.

By using the Game Boy Printer, you can print off the medals earned from challenge mode. However, this means that you actually have to buy the stupid printer to fully enjoy taking the time to unlock the medals. You can view the medals in the “Toy Box”, a place that can also show you where all the Yoshi eggs are located in the challenge mode, taking a big chunk of the “challenge” out of that mode.

By getting a bunch of points in the main game, you can unlock a “You vs. Boo” mode that is identical to the multiplayer mode except you are racing against a computer-controlled ghost. The multiplayer mode isn't really that fun, so who would think that this would be?

By earning even more points, you unlock a new game, called “The Lost Levels” which is basically Super Mario Bros. except you choose if you want to be Mario or Luigi at the beginning and it's supposed to be more difficult. Incase you aren't aware, these “Lost Levels” were originally very difficult rehashes of the levels found in the first game, with strong winds that hindered your progress as well as a new poison mushroom. Unfortunately, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe eliminates much of the difficulty by taking out the strong winds. Hell, they even take out the extra levels added to the game and they include the ability to save! What's the point anymore?

One thing that made the “Lost Levels” so popular is that the game made Mario and Luigi a little bit different by giving them physical differences. Luigi can jump farther and Mario can stop himself from falling off an edge easier since he doesn't slide as much. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe decides to pervert this feature as well by making Mario and Luigi identical, so to recap, the game has been reduced to exactly the same game as before, except with poison mushrooms.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe isn't entirely easy though and the only real challenge comes from some poor controls. The jump button is sometimes terribly unresponsive and there were instances where you could start running, let go of the buttons, and then Mario or Luigi would still keep running like you were making them. These bad designs are the only thing that adds some challenge to Super Mario Bros. Deluxe as you'll have to learn how to work around them.

Obviously, since the game is an “enhanced” remake of the original Super Mario Bros., the same storyline is used. I'll give you a brief synopsis incase you were born yesterday or have been living under a rock for the last twenty some years. Mario and Luigi are two plumbers who are at the Mushroom Kingdom when the evil “Koopa” named Bowser invades with his army made up of Mushroom Kingdom traitors and his own minions. Bowser kidnaps the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, and imprisons her assistants, the Toads, who are little mushroom men. Mario and Luigi take it upon themselves to race through the Mushroom Kingdom, defeat Bowser, and rescue the princess. Touching?

I was a little impressed that the Game Boy Color was able to fit as much as it does on the screen, but this leads to many graphical problems that weren't there in the original NES version of Super Mario Bros. Going to fast often causes the screen to get a little blurry and it will aggravate your eyes, leading to some pretty cheap deaths. A lot of the game still can't fit on the screen, meaning you'll sometimes try to jump over a gap just to hit your head on a block that wasn't visible and plummet to your death. Other than those problems, the game is surprisingly vibrant and a little more detailed than its NES counterpart, which is definitely a good thing.

The best part of the game is without question the classic Mario tunes that are included. All of the original music and sound effects are included in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, which means that you'll get the chance to experience the most memorable tune in video game history if you decide you want to really play through this broken version of a classic.

Since the game is made ridiculously easy, if you are familiar with the original, it is very possible you'll blow through this game in ten minutes. After that, you can unlock some stuff and if by some extremely rare chance one of your friends was just as dumb as you were and went out and bought this game, then you can mess around with the multiplayer function for some added replayability. In all honesty, you will be completely bored with this game by the end of the day and that's all there is to it.

I love the Super Mario Bros. games and it pains me to give a game in the series such a bad score. Graphical and control problems, the extremely easy difficulty, plus the inferior unlockable modes make Super Mario Bros. Deluxe a collection that can barely call itself a collection. Some people will be able to find some enjoyment in this title, but if you are a gamer who expects quality from their games and you actually want a decent amount of playtime with a given title, then Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is probably the worst possible game you could ever play.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/08

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