The Moustache thickens!

After the fantastic Donkey Kong in 1983, it would be the Jump man’s turn to shine as the spin-off “Mario Bros.” hit the arcades in 1984. This is the first game that features Mario as the title character, and the first time that Mario's brother Luigi was officially introduced. This character was an identical colour palette swap of Mario, creating an identical “brother”. There are several stories on how Luigi got his name, from a play on the Japanese word “analogous” to the owner of a pizza joint called "Mario and Luigi's that was near Nintendo of America headquarters in Seattle.

Another story says that Miyamoto was inspired by Joust (an early co-op game) and decided to make the game a simultaneous two player experience. This enabled players to make the choice to work together or, alternatively, against each other, which sooner than later will result in a lot of funny moments.

Mario's occupation –a carpenter- from the Donkey Kong games didn't sit right for this one. A colleague even told the game’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto that his little sprite looked more like a plumber.  As a result, Miyamoto gave him a new job as a plumber and put him in a sewer infested with dangerous critters.

Turtles, crabs, and flies come pouring out of the waterworks and the twins have to clean the underground pipes of these vermin by punching the floor beneath them to flip them over, and then kick them off-screen into the water, receiving their reward in gold coins. Enemies include Shellcreepers (turtles), Sidesteppers (crabs), which need to be hit twice, and Fighterflies (flies), which can only be taken down while they touch the platform. Later, enter the Slipice that will freeze the platforms and make your traction very difficult. As the game moves forward, the Mario brothers will have to look out for the water drops that hang below the platforms and freeze into deadly icicles, because they will fall soon after.

They also need to keep an eye for the green fireballs and the faster and even more menacing red fireballs as they will make things more difficult. The POW platform can be hit to knock over enemies and destroy fireballs, but remember that you only get three per level.

Follow the link if you want to play a free flash version of Super Mario Bros (and you do, believe me!). You should also look around the site because you’ll also find other great Mario games such as Super Mario Rampage and Mario Starcatcher 2.