Tuesday, June 4, 2013

15 Super Mario Bros. Challenges


I love the original Super Mario Bros. for NES. I don't think there's a Mario game I've played as much as that one. There's something great about its simplicity. Anyway, I was thinking about what it would be like if Super Mario Bros. for NES had something akin to the Achievements/Trophies found in 360/PS3 games. If you'd like, consider this an unofficial list of challenges you can try out in SMB:

  1. It's-a-Me: Clear every level in the first quest.
  2. Deja Vu: Clear every level in the second quest.
  3. Cheater: Perform the “Infinite Lives” Trick
  4. Speed Run: Beat the game by visiting no more than three Worlds.
  5. Wild Gunman: Kill every King Koopa with fireballs.
  6. Lost At Sea: Visit “Minus World.”
  7. Core: Beat the game without continuing.
  8. Hardcore: Beat the game without dying.
  9. The Plumber Without A Gun: Beat the game without picking up any Magic Mushrooms or Fire Flowers.
  10. Pacifist: Beat every level without killing a single enemy.
  11. Serial Killer: Kill every reachable enemy in every level (i.e. excluding unreachable Bullet Bills).
  12. 1-up'd: Get an extra life by knocking Koopa Shell into a line of enemies.
  13. Ascended Glitch: Jump over the flagpole.
  14. Over 5000: Get 5000 points on every flagpole in the game.
  15. Top That: Score a million points.

I'm having a hard time thinking about anything too different you could do in SMB. It is a pretty straightforward game after all, and perhaps that's it's greatest strength. If you can think of something better, mention it below.

Also, I think it's fine to use the continue code on some of these. For example, there's no need to start over from 1-1 if you accidentally hit an enemy on 8-3 while trying to do #10. Although, I'd view the situation differently on #8. But it really doesn't matter, just so long as you're having fun. ;)