Mario Bros

It is part of the Mario franchise, but originally began as a spin-off from the Donkey Kong series. The arcade and Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System versions were received positively by critics. Elements introduced in Mario Bros. such as spinning bonus coins, turtles which can be flipped onto their backs, and Luigi were carried over to Super Mario Bros. and became staples of the series. An updated version of Mario Bros. is included as a mini game in all of the Super Mario Advance series and numerous other games. The objective of the game is to defeat all of the enemies in each phase. Each phase is a series of platforms with pipes at each corner of the screen, along with an object called a "POW" block in the center. The game continues until the player loses all lives. The player gains points by defeating multiple enemies consecutively and can participate in a bonus round to gain more points. Hitting a flipped enemy from underneath causes it to right itself and start moving again, but it does not change speed or color. There are four enemies which emerge from the pipes: the Shellcreeper; the Sidestepper, which requires two hits to flip over; the Fighter Fly, which moves by jumping and can only be flipped when it is touching a platform; and the Slipice which turns platforms into slippery ice. When bumped from below, the Slipice disappears immediately instead of flipping over and does not count toward the total number that must be defeated to complete a phase. Later in the game, icicles form under the platforms and at times on the top of the pipes and fall loose. The "POW" block flips all enemies touching a platform or the floor when a player hits it from below. The "POW" block fills itself at the start of each bonus round. Mario Bros. was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, two of the lead developers for the video game Donkey Kong. For Mario Bros., Yokoi suggested to Miyamoto that Mario should be able to fall from any height, which Miyamoto was not sure of, thinking that it would make it "not much of a game." He eventually agreed, thinking it would be okay for him to have some superhuman abilities.