CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
Game and Watch: Super Mario Bros

Posted: 16th November 2020 00:49

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Celebrated the CoN 20th Anniversary at the forums. Member of more than ten years. Member of more than five years. 
Misery enjoys company they say and I feel somewhat miserable. This little thing came out just two days ago as a "limited production" item and it looks like it is already sold out of stock.

The Mario Bros. Game and Watch only plays 3 games for $50, but the flip side of that is that it is a portable handheld with a built-in screen and all that jazz. I probably would not even care if it was just Super Mario Bros. because my N.E.S. classic edition is small enough to take around with me, and I doubt even Ball is that great.

However the thing is more pocketable, looks classy and perhaps most importantly it plays The Lost Levels, which is the one Mario game that was not on the N.E.S. Classic Edition. More importantly, it plays the N.E.S. version of The Lost Levels. Normally I would only expect to see the S.N.E.S. version from Super Mario All Stars in a western release, and not only does that version look different, but both Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels play differently in it too. The physics engine is different and feel wrong, which is a shame because Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 seemed rather faithful. insofar as I can tell.

Oh sure, I have Super Mario Bros. Deluxe which is sometimes considered better than the N.E.S. originals of both games. However, despite being pocketable as a gameboy color and having plenty of interesting extra features, that two game compilation has one major flaw: The gameboy color's screen resolution.


Would you believe me if I said that the Gameboy color only has a resolution of 160×144 pixels? Would you believe me if I said the N.E.S. video signal output resolution is 256 by 240 pixels? Would you believe me if I said the reason Mario starts out small in Super Mario Bros. is because Nintendo employees were trying to figure out a way to have the player see farther ahead of the character?

Well, it's all true and that is why Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is such an annoying game to play for me. Playing it is basically like playing Super Mario Bros., except instead of trying to rescue a princess from Bowser, Mario is trying to find his lost glasses like Velma from Scooby Doo. This was also a complaint people had with Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis for the Gameboy Advance, although I believe that game had other problems too.

So this game and watch doohicky probably would have been the best way to actually play The Lost Levels as of yet except maybe for the tiny screen. Oh well. Maybe it will come back in stock? I mean it is limited production, but that does not actually mean much unless a hard number is attached to the figures.

Edit
Heh, I just ordered one at M.S.R.P. from a retailer. At least this is not quite so limited as I first thought. It looks like more of Nintendo's short-stocking tactics. v_v


This post has been edited by Tonepoet on 26th November 2020 14:08

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