Super Mario Bros.

The Good
It's gameplay is fantastic, you can really enjoy it even now, I am playing SMB once per week and I know one thing, it's diamond of games. The simple idea make a real great gameplay experience that is really near to some highest level of purest gaming ever, this game don't have a graphics that will blind you, the mechanics of game are not big and fascinating but playing this game make you feel like playing REAL gaming masterpiece. When you are playing Metal Gear Solid you are enormously excited by it's storyline but Super Mario Bros make you feel that the game itself don't have to have even storyline (cause you can't say that Super Mario Bros have REALLY storyline) or fascinating graphics to be ONE OF THE GREATEST GAMES EVER.

The Bad
Maybe graphics are not 100% of NES, maybe there is not many sound effects (but music is really good) but I can't say that I didn't like it in this game because it's not making any difference, the gameplay is so perfect that all this things are marginal.

The Bottom Line
As I said in the title, the game that's changing my life, every time I play it I feel the same, great amount of pure gameplay.

The Good
It is the father of them all, little younger than I, and the first videogame I played. If I had to explain its appeal, I would put it down to colourful and tangible-looking graphics, catchy music (who can't hum the music of at least the first two levels?), great sound effects, but above all incredibly fast-paced and addictive gameplay. Whether you are climbing stairs, jumping to moving Meccano-like platforms in the underground, or swimming almost unrestricted in the underwater level, you will enjoy yourself. The mushrooms that make you grow and flowers that give you the power to shoot fireballs are nice touches.

The monsters are quite remarkable. Goombas, turtles (some with wings!), carnivorous plants... no wonder this game captivated me.

The castle levels are a treat in themselves. Bowser is pretty terrifying, there is lava, and, well, "Your princess is in another castle" has to be one of the most seminal videogame lines. Of course, everything about "Super Mario Bros." is seminal.

The learning curve is very good: the first level is simple, but in later levels, abysses and similar features increase the danger. Regularly timed platforms and monsters mean that the player needs strategic thinking as well as quick reflexes.

After winning, the player gets the option to play again from the start with slightly improved monsters, which is an excellent idea.

And of course, for me at least, this game has the indescribable glamour of being the first ever.

The Bad
Nothing is perfect, and the "Super Mario Bros." series had quite a few things to improve in subsequent issues. For example, the gameplay is very simple. The times when the player needs to think further than just "when is the right time to jump?" are thin on the ground.

The fact that you can't walk back is rather frustrating. Level design also gets a bit samey towards the end.

The Bottom Line
Chances are, if you started playing videogames in the late 1980s, you've played "Super Mario Bros." In that case, I don't need to convince you how good it is.

If you haven't, then what are you waiting for?

The Good
--> Simple, colorful, but effective graphics

--> Great music and sound effects (yeah, I know it's the NES, but what true gamer doesn't find themselves humming the SMB theme now and again?)

--> Great level design

--> Simple, fun gameplay, entertaining even to the day in the fact that it is simple and challenging simultaneously

--> Was revolutionary when released, nobody had ever witnessed anything like it, helped put Nintendo on the map

The Bad
umm.....hmm....can't say there is anything I don't like, a classic even to this day. If you haven't played this game you must have lived under a rock for your entire life, everybody and their sister has beaten this title at least once it seems.

The Bottom Line
A simple to control platform game that remains entertaining today, and served as the predecessor to a certain high speed hedgehog, tie-wearing ape, and countless others.