Super Mario Bros does not seem like a very difficult game now - there's a reason you can watch speed-runs online of people breezing through it with no trouble at all in a matter of minutes - but when it came out, it was a different matter. It offered new and innovative challenges at a time when gamers were still getting used to the idea of playing a game with more than just one screen. And most diehard Mario fans will probably remember how they felt when they first saw that message at the end of their first victorious endeavours. Confusion would have been the initial reaction, most likely followed by anger. There you are, doing your best in order to save your princess, you finally manage to beat the end boss and theres no princess. Just a "helpful" Toad offering one of the most frustrating messages in video game history. You go through all of that effort just to find out shes in another castle. And you have to do this over and over again: every time you think that maybe this will be the one and you are left disappointed after (almost) every one. Nintendo expertly dangles the prize in front of you like a carrot on a stick and then takes it away at the last moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ucO4xe28c
Radu recently left a boring job and now writes stuff on the internet. When he's not here he's probably writing for GeeKiez. He's into wrestling, video games and a ton of TV shows, as well as all things weird or science-y. Feel free to talk to him about this stuff on Twitter.
