In modern times Nintendo has released almost all of their classic hits numerous times on virtually every one of their new systems. It’s tough to get excited about the fifth or sixth release of the original Super Mario Bros. Back in the late nineties, before digital distribution hit home consoles and handhelds, the landscape was very different. It was exceptionally rare for Nintendo of all companies to remake or port their older titles to newer systems. In the late nineties this company had just re-vitalized their handheld gaming line with the Pokemon franchise. Nintendo pushed things a little further by releasing the Game Boy Color. On top of getting rid of the blacks and white graphics the portable was known for a slew of games were also planned for it taking advantage of the additional hardware incorporated within it. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was one of the first GBC only titles, and oddly enough it seemed to just be a port of the original SMB. I’ve only recently gotten my hands on this classic release, but it’s definitely one of the best Nintendo re-releases.
The story here in Super Mario Bros Deluxe hasn’t been expanded in any meaningful way. You still play as Mario (or Luigi) and your goal is to defeat Bowser who awaits you at the end of 32 different stages. It’s standard Mario fare, and so let’s get right to the gameplay. As a remake Super Mario Bros. Deluxe plays in an almost identical fashion to the original game. You guide your character from the left side of the screen to either a flagpole or boss fight at the very right end of the level. Along the way you’ll do battle with goombas, koopa troopas, lakitus, buzzy beetles, piranha plants, and more. Your primary means of defeating foes is by jumping atop their head but some enemies such as spinies are immune and will hurt your character. This is where the power ups come into play. In special item blocks are coins (one hundred of which will grant you an extra life), super mushrooms that increase Mario’s size (allowing him to break bricks), fire flowers that give you the ability to throw fireballs that can destroy enemies, and a super star which grants you temporary invincibility.
What made this game such a classic is the attention to detail in the level designs. Obstacle placement is really well done, and this in conjunction with the smart enemy patterns makes it obvious that a lot of thought went into the design. To further hit this point home Nintendo also included aquatic levels wherein you must swim around and avoid underwater enemies such as cheep cheeps and bloopers. Some areas here feature moving platforms and jet streams which work to push you down off the screen resulting in death. These represent some of the most difficult areas of the game, but I’ve always had a soft sport for the water based stages in the original Super Mario Bros. Additionally Nintendo did a good job of mixing things up in the standard stages as well. Some spots feature bullet bills firing from off-screen every few seconds, the ever difficult to deal with hammer bros., and more. I really like the areas with the flying cheep cheeps personally. In addition Bowser’s stages are also really well done and some even play out like a puzzle.
Rather than simply porting the game over barebones Nintendo added a fair amount of content to Super Mario Bros Deluxe. Unfortunately, there’s one major drawback that rears its head immediately. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is a 1:1 pixel re-creation of the original game. The Game Boy Color’s screen unfortunately is at a significantly lower resolution than a television; therefore Nintendo had to make everything bigger thus reducing the on-screen real estate. The viewing area is only about one third of the original size which makes vertical platforming extremely difficult. Some areas which were once easy are now made difficult by the obstructed view. To compensate for this you can scroll the screen up and down using the directional pad while stationary. This does alleviate the issue slightly, but the limited view is still a constant problem. The additional content in my opinion makes up for this shortcoming. By default you have access to a challenge mode which forces you to find items in the stages. It’s cool, but nothing amazing. Then there’s a versus mode wherein you and a friend compete against each other while completing the stages. You can mess with your opponent by spawning obstacles for them while playing this selection which makes it frantic and a lot of fun. The final, and most major feature in this package is the inclusion of the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2. This was included in Super Mario All-Stars as The Lost Levels, and this version is the first time it was released in its original eight bit glory. It’s a slight bummer that you can only unlock this after completing the main game, but it’s a small price to pay. This cartridge is packed with content.
As I mentioned earlier the graphics are almost perfectly replicated here in Super Mario Bros Deluxe. The game looks almost identical to its original Nintendo release, but there are a few differences here and there. The most noticeable one is that the color palette is more vibrant here. I assume that this is due in part to the differences in capabilities between the two platforms, and I actually really liked it here. Some of the other colors are off a bit though. The fire flower blinks with different colors than it did before, and Luigi’s outfit has been changed to a more current scheme. There are some other changes here; Nintendo enhanced the graphics in numerous ways. For example, all lava and water now features animated waves instead of still sprites. My favorite enhancement however is the world map that you view in between each stage. It’s a small touch, but this is the only version of Super Mario Bros. that has it and it’s a very charming addition. What I’ve found especially surprising is the fact that Nintendo was able to faithfully re-create the soundtrack here in a manner that’s hard to distinguish from the original. They did an amazing job here despite the hardware architecture being so radically different. Of course some of the sound effects sound a little off, but this is hardly a cause of concern. As far as aesthetics are concerned Nintendo did an excellent job with this port.
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is one of the all time greatest NES to Game Boy ports of all time. Aside from the small viewing area Nintendo introduced a plethora of new content to the game all the while staying very faithful to the original vision. The inclusion of the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is awesome, and the fact that Nintendo was able to cram both of these games into one tiny cartridge is impressive.
