Year: 1985 Platform: NES Super Mario Bros. is by far the most important platformer ever released. A huge shake-up for the video game industry, Super Mario Bros. pioneered a number of features that are taken for granted in today's gaming world. One of the key things that made Super Mario Bros. such a hit was the incredibly fluid controls. Players had unprecedented control of the titular hero, letting them use inertia to clear large gaps and hold down the jump button in order to get higher. It was also incredibly fun, and the opening stage (which cleverly taught new players everything they needed to know in a few minutes without a single piece of text) has since become the most famous level of all time.
