Super Mario Bros. Could Use a Re-Remaster

As you may or may not know, I’ve been working on a historical deep dive video series about the Mario Bros. games. It’s a ton of work, and a whole lot of fun. If you haven’t watched it yet, allow me to shamelessly plug it here! Anyway, as I’ve been putting together the script for my next episode, I was reminded of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. 

This game was pretty magical when it first came out because up to that point, a proper, actual, legitimate portable version of Super Mario Bros. simply wasn’t a thing. Yes, there were some massive technical hurdles that needed to be overcome, but Deluxe provided the closest thing to the actual console game on the go that we had ever seen to that point. The camera was all zoomed in and the physics weren’t quite right, but it was still dang close! Most importantly though, was all the extra content. And that is what has got me stewing. 

The extra stuff in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is spectacular, but as I sit in bed, wrapping my hands around my Game Boy Advance SP, I can honestly say that I just don’t want to play it this way. Zoomed in cameras for games designed around not being that way have always bothered me. It’s one of the reasons I don’t love the Super Mario Advance games. Yes, the e-Reader levels in Mario Advance 4 are great, but I hate how cramped everything feels. Well, we live in a post-Nintendo Switch world, and I say it’s way past time for Super Mario Bros. Deluxe DELUXE!

Super Mario Bros. has been revamped a number of times over the years. Super Mario All-Stars, Vs. Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe being prime examples, but there are some really cool fan projects out there too, like Super Mario Bros. Mini and Super Mario Advance 5: Super Mario Bros. But what I think the world needs now is something a bit more ambitious. Something that takes the best of the existing remakes, and combines them into something new. 

EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini (Frosty)

$129.99

This is the Frosty version of the EverDrive-GBA X5 Mini. This cartridge comes assembled in a transparent blue shell with a Frosty style label.… read more

Let’s start with the visuals. Super Mario Maker 2 did some really neat stuff with Super Mario Bros. Not only is it presented in widescreen, but they added a number of new biomes, complete with their own songs. Applying these new themes to existing SMB levels would make the game feel a lot more alive and diverse. They wouldn’t need to incorporate any of the new elements those biomes introduced, as the goal here is to keep the gameplay as authentic to the original as possible, but these new looks and songs would be great. 

There are some exceptions, though. Super Mario Maker has this weird shadow effect going on that makes it all feel a little more like a diorama than an adventure through a world that feels consistent. So I would say getting rid of that effect would be paramount. 

Next, let’s talk about the backgrounds. Super Mario Maker 2 did a lot of cool stuff with the backgrounds, but we can do better! The background elements introduced in Super Mario All-Stars look amazing, like the waterfalls and weird Goomba tower statues. I love all that stuff. However, just adding those would conflict with the existing classic art direction. So I say we take a page out of one of my favorite retro projects Nintendo’s ever embarked on, 3D Classics: Kid Icarus for Nintendo 3DS, and make the backgrounds super impressive. If you’re unfamiliar, that game brilliantly created these gorgeous pixel art landscapes to put in the background that didn’t clash with the existing 8-bit visuals, and added a ton of geographical context to the stages. It’s a stunning effect, and one that would serve to make Super Mario Bros. feel more grand than ever before. 

Naturally, the map screen would remain intact from Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, but maybe altered a bit to reflect the new biomes from Mario Maker. And I think that about covers the visual style. 

So let’s get to the real meat, the content. Obviously, keeping all the challenge mode stuff from Super Mario Bros. Deluxe is a must, as is the unlockable full Lost Levels. I think there needs to be a little cleaning up though. First, Super Mario Bros., even for the masterpiece that it is, has one glaring problem. Repeated levels. There are a handful of stages that you have to play through twice, which I’ve always assumed was just a memory limitation thing. Vs. Super Mario Bros. in the arcade alleviated this by replacing them with stages from The Lost Levels, but if we’re including that game in here too, that wouldn’t work. So to this, I say Nintendo should create some new, original levels in their place. There’s only a few of these, and I think it would make for a fun surprise. 

As for The Lost Levels, those I think should be presented as an extension of the first game. Hear me out. 

There’s no real new story with that game. It’s basically just a super-hard level pack for Super Mario Bros. In Deluxe, it’s called Super Mario Bros. for Super Players. I think it would be cool if it was presented as a literal continuation of the first game instead! So, what I’m envisioning here is a “story mode” for lack of a better term. You could still play the original games in their original forms if you want, but this new mode would incorporate the red coins, hidden Yoshi eggs, etc., from deluxe’s Challenge Mode, as well as replace the warp zones with special screens. It wouldn’t stop there, though. In place of the repeated Bowser battles, you add some new boss fights at the end of the castle stages. Maybe it’s the Koopa kids, maybe Bowser Jr., maybe bosses from Super Mario Land. I don’t know. Just something a bit more diverse. You would then have to play through all of Super Mario Bros. to get to the Lost Levels stages, and the final showdown with Bowser at the end of 8-4 would reflect him basically surviving the lava dunk, re-kidnapping the Princess, and kicking off the second adventure. The 9 world and alphabet stages wouldn’t have to be unlocked either, they’d just be tacked on after 8-4. Sounds like a good time to me! 

But wait, there’s more! Following the Lost Levels stages all cleaned up in this new Deluxe style, we’d get the Special Stages! Yes, let’s get an official Nintendo remake of Super Mario Bros. Special in there too! 

In case you don’t know, way back in the old days, Hudson Soft made an official Super Mario Bros. “sequel” for Japanese PCs called Super Mario Bros. Special. It’s not an easy game to play as it’s a single screen affair, ugly as sin, and relegated to ancient PCs. But taking those stage designs and making them work within this new framework, complete with proper scrolling, would be awesome. Special included enemies from Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, as well as power ups like the hammer and even new stuff like the Wing. Playing through an actually polished version of that madness would be amazing, and an excellent reward for having survived the gauntlet that was The Lost Levels. 

Last, but certainly not least, we have the multiplayer game. Obviously the regular game should be multiplayer in the same way the original was. Alternating, except it’s lives and levels instead of one player plays till they die, which could be never. But it’s Deluxe’s unique competitive multiplayer mode that would be the real spotlight. This Vs. mode is an true blast to play, and having it done up with a proper un-zoomed camera complete with online play would be absolutely killer. And you know what? Let’s throw Super Mario Bros. 35 in there too for good measure. That that game isn’t readily available is a crime against humanity. Curse you, Nintendo! 

And there you have it. My dream Super Mario Bros. project. Will it ever happen? Absolutely not. Not unless I get a job at Nintendo, which seems pretty unlikely. But what do you think? Would you play this game?