Super Mario Bros. single-handedly brought the gaming industry back from the dead 30 years ago, and the influence of its bold, elegant game design can still be felt in the games of today. Like any good game (or any rich celebrity) Super Mario Bros. just doesn't age. It still feels as tight and responsive to control as it did when it originally came out. Surprisingly, Koji Kondo's iconic Overworld somehow manages not to be grating on the ears even on the 1000th listen. Shigeru Miyamoto's level design meanwhile is nothing short of genius. While World 1-1 isn't particularly challenging, it's crammed with secret areas, hidden blocks and power-ups like 1-Up mushroom and power-flower that reward exploration. Its greatest strength though is its versatility - it's just a suited for gamers that like to explore every nook and cranny of a level as it is to speed-runners that want to show off their platforming skills. Super Mario Bros. is the perfect opening to a classic game that propelled a tubby, moustached Italian plumber that had beef with a dinosaur to super-stardom. When the gameplay is this good, the rest of the game doesn't have to make a damn bit of sense. What opening level have you spent a stupid amount of your life replaying? Share your thoughts with the community below!
