Kicking Back and Enjoying a Simple ol' game of Super Mario Bros.

vee4473 · April 14, 2003, 19:25

Question:

A friend and I at work were discussing this the other day.

Given how many games now-a-days (NOT ALL!!!) , but many, demand such mental concentration in the name of strategy, we were saying how relaxing and fun it was to just kick back with an old school side-scrolling bushy moustached Mario.

No major brain power to drain after a hard days work, no strategy needed, no headache inducing production/research numbers to crunch, no thinking about which order to build units in an RTS in order to defend against some guys rush...just plain ol' run 'n jump fun.

Now, pleeeeaaaaaassssseeee don't get me wrong, I LOVE TBS strategy games and RTS and all of the strategy and even non-strategy games that stress the brain cells.

But....sometimes (and i'm getting this feeling more these days), it's just nice to shun all the major thinking and cerebral bullshit, especially after a long day at a mentally draining job, and just kick back with Mario and the guys...

or Sonic, Earthworm Jim etc...

anyone else agree?

DrSpike · April 14, 2003, 22:44

Sure games are better these days, and as a hardcore gamer I'm glad about that. But for sheer fun Mario is hard to beat.

[wistful] Good days.

[/wistful]

Mr. President · April 15, 2003, 01:42

I agree one hundred percent. I don't think I've ever played a game with a Pure Fun Rating (P) comparable to that of Super Mario Brothers.

For that category, I also like Donkey Kong Country, Mortal Kombat, and the Final Fantasy series.

Jamski · April 15, 2003, 02:51

Oh, showing my age a bit, but Xenon 2 was (still is) the game for my mindless fun. Just let it scroll up and shoot EVERYTHING ! No stress. A good stress reliever actually

[joiningDrSpikeWhistful]Ahhh, good old days[/joiningDrSpikeWhistful]

-Jam

FrustratedPoet · April 15, 2003, 07:25

How much does it show your age when you can remember the original Xenon?

(It was a great game, btw

)

Elok · April 15, 2003, 09:45

Probably a great deal. I'm almost twenty and have no idea what you are talking about. Some kind of early arcade game like galaxian, I'm guessing?

DrSpike · April 15, 2003, 10:13

I had Xenon on my Spectrum. The only word for it was mindless.

But it was fun.

Kc7mxo · April 15, 2003, 15:16

Super Mario Brothers rules.

Ben Kenobi · April 15, 2003, 17:31

Naah..

If you have a friend:

SuperMariokart for the Battle mode.

/me Kicks off loafers and leans into recliner

Mr. President · April 15, 2003, 18:17

Mario Kart 64 - one of the rare cases where the upgrade equalled the original.

Jamski · April 16, 2003, 06:09

Mario Kart = Not brainless enough.

-Jam

Static Universe · April 16, 2003, 09:03

Super Mario Bros 3 is my personal favorite of the Mario titles. I remember being really excited when I got this game, and I was not disappointed.

vee4473 · April 16, 2003, 19:01

Yes, Super Mario 3 was indeed the highlight of the series, at least for the original nes.

Felch · April 16, 2003, 19:48

It was just an excellent game. I don't know if you can really quantify what made it so cool.

DrSpike · April 16, 2003, 20:13

Sure SM3 was best, but it should have been. I was just reaching minimum gaming age when SM1 was out on the Nintendo.........a high price new-fangled "console" that only the rich **** up the road could afford. SM1 was the closest you could get to an arcade feel without actually being in an arcade.

But our princess is in another castle? What a surprise.

War4ever · April 17, 2003, 01:06

mario bros, super mario bros, donkey kong, dkjr...the pacman series..especially super pacman.....pinball machines...tempest, dragons lair...space ace..

i have played all the old standup arcade games until MK2 came out, it was so cheap the ai.....and i can say that i mastered virutally every one i played...

they are loads of fun......

easy to beat as most of it is memory or pattern/reflex based....

the golden age of video games.....

1980-1986......these games gobbled a few quaters, then eventually gobbled more time than money

video games were so much easier to beat back then lol

Nubclear · April 17, 2003, 03:40

Mario? FUN?!

Mario is one of the most boring games ever! I mean, jump on some mushroom thing......Argh.

I hate it. DEATH TO MARIO!!!!

FrustratedPoet · April 17, 2003, 04:05

Sonic is better than Mario.

Frankychan · April 17, 2003, 04:43

I liked North vs. South for the Nintendo...that was original. Got to rob trains and stuff.

Good games for Genesis were: Mutant League Football and Hockey, and General Chaos.

I'm missing my AC cord for my Nintendo...where can I find a new one?

Lemmy · April 17, 2003, 06:02

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
Sonic is better than Mario.

I agree, even less brains were required for Sonic, you just find stretch to start rolling and just roll through the level...that was so cool to watch.

Mr. President · April 17, 2003, 06:19

Franky, if you go to a store where they sell classic Nintendo games and controllers (there's one at my local mall), they might be able to help you.

Anybody remember the original Legend of Zelda? That was cool.

FrustratedPoet · April 17, 2003, 06:33

Quote:

Originally posted by Frankychan
I'm missing my AC cord for my Nintendo...where can I find a new one?

Try Ebay. You may have to buy a whole new console, but how expensive can those old things be?

Static Universe · April 17, 2003, 08:57

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet

Try Ebay. You may have to buy a whole new console, but how expensive can those old things be?

Check Ebay and search on "NES power adapter". It looks like they generally go for 5-10$US.

DrSpike · April 17, 2003, 10:14

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
Sonic is better than Mario.

Please tell you were joking FP. Sonic was rubbish; anyone that wasn't a complete vegetable could finish it the first day they got it, with a day or too more of replay value.

Compare to SM3 (a 16-bit NES game compared to a 32-bit Megadrive game) and Sonic still loses easily.

Felch · April 17, 2003, 10:53

32 bit Megadrive? WTF?

Sonic was fun. And maybe you're bullshiting trying to show how badass you are because you can beat games the day you get them and all, but man, I never dominated Sonic like that. I usually tried to find all the hidden stuff instead of just racing through the levels. And playing two-player was fun as balls once Tails came into the picture.

Quote:

video games were so much easier to beat back then lol

war4ever man, you are on crack. Games these days let you save practically anywhere, and give unlimited lives and all kinds of nonsense. You had to master old games to beat them. World 8 of SMB3 was ****ing insane.

DrSpike · April 17, 2003, 11:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Felch X
32 bit Megadrive? WTF?

My bad, 8 bit NES against 16 bit Megadrive. It's not a fair comparison, but the NES game (here SM3) still wins on all counts IMO.

Felch · April 17, 2003, 11:29

Oh okay. I always compared Super Mario World to Sonic, you know, just for fairness. I agree that Mario is a better game, but Sonic has that mindless "I'm on a head full of acid and can't handle anything too hard" kind of fun to it.

Felch · April 17, 2003, 12:03

I'm sorry if I came across as a bit harsh, I just take my memories very seriously. Sometimes they do things to me in places that mommy doesn't want me to touch. I love me memories.

Ben Kenobi · April 17, 2003, 16:28

Quote:

Games these days let you save practically anywhere, and give unlimited lives and all kinds of nonsense. You had to master old games to beat them. World 8 of SMB3 was ****ing insane.

There are a few 'tricks' to the game.

For a real challenge, try beating SMB3 in one session without using any powerups, warps or special effects.

No 'secret' areas either to bypass difficult sections of the level.

I always had a hard time beating the puzzle level on world 6.

DrSpike · April 17, 2003, 16:43

Quote:

Originally posted by obiwan18

There are a few 'tricks' to the game.

For a real challenge, try beating SMB3 in one session without using any powerups, warps or special effects.

No 'secret' areas either to bypass difficult sections of the level.

I always had a hard time beating the puzzle level on world 6.

I did the whole thing through one Bank holiday without warping.......took bloody hours.

And world 8 was insane. I did many practice sessions where I warped to world 8 to master it before attempting the marathon.