Super Mario Bros. (1985)
The game that defined a generation. Guide Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser. Jump on Goombas, power up with mushrooms, shoot fireballs, and race through 8 worlds of iconic platforming action in the NES classic that sold over 40 million copies.
Tip: Click inside the game window to capture keyboard input. Press Esc to release.
What Super Mario Bros is
Super Mario Bros arrived on the NES in 1985 and is, by a wide margin, the most influential platformer ever made. Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka built it around a single idea that sounds obvious now and was not then: the first screen should teach you the game without a word of text. A Goomba walks at you, a block sits above you, and by the time you reach the second pipe you have learned to jump, to hit blocks, and that touching enemies is bad.
What holds it together is the physics. Mario has momentum and traction - he accelerates, he skids, and a running jump carries further than a standing one. Every level in the game is built around that feel, which is why the controls still read as precise forty years later while a lot of its contemporaries do not.
How it plays in your browser
This is the original NES release under emulation: eight worlds of four levels each, no save system, and a time limit on every stage. The structure is unforgiving by modern standards. Lose your lives and you start over, though the game does hand you a continue at the beginning of the world you died in.
There are shortcuts. Warp Zones in World 1-2 and World 4-2 skip you forward several worlds at once, and a hidden vine in 4-2 leads to the one that reaches World 8 directly. Finding them is most of the reason people still talk about this game rather than simply remembering it.
Tips worth knowing
- Hold the run button constantly. Almost every jump in the second half of the game is tuned for running speed, not walking speed.
- Fire Mario is not just an attack upgrade - it is an extra hit. Losing the flower drops you to Super Mario rather than killing you.
- The staircase at the end of World 3-1 lets you bounce repeatedly on a Koopa shell for effectively unlimited lives. It is the single most useful trick in the game.
- Jumping on a flagpole while the last digit of the timer is 1, 3 or 6 triggers fireworks and bonus points.
- World 1-2 has a warp zone behind the ceiling near the end. Walk along the top of the level rather than dropping down to the exit pipe.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the original 1985 Super Mario Bros?
Yes, the NES release running under emulation - not a remake or a fan reconstruction.
How many levels does Super Mario Bros have?
Thirty-two, arranged as eight worlds of four levels each. Warp zones let you skip large parts of that.
Can I save my progress?
The original NES cartridge had no save function. The emulator keeps save states in your browser, so you can pick up where you left off on the same device.
Is Super Mario Bros hard?
The first half is gentle and the last two worlds are genuinely difficult. World 8-1 in particular is where most first-time players stop.
More games like this
the full warp zone guide, the power-ups guide, Pac-Man World. You can also browse the full games library or read the guides on the blog.