Table of contents |
2 Enemy Summary 3 Phase Summary 4 Scoring 5 Strategy 6 Differences in non-arcade versions |
Mario Brothers is a 2-D side-view platform game. There is only one screen; the platforms have the same position for the entire game.
The goal for each phase is to "kick off all the pests".
Mario can run right and left, and jump. Mario's sole attack is that when he jumps and hits a floor from below, any pests standing on that section of floor are hit. After Mario flips over a pest, he can walk into it to kick it off; if Mario does not kick off a flipped pest, it will eventually wake up and move faster than before.
This article describe the arcade version. The console versions tend to not implement all the features present in the arcade version.
There are 3 types of pests: shellcreepers, sidesteppers, and fighterflies.
Usually, you should try to clear the phase as quickly as possible. Risking a life for 800 extra points isn't usually worth it. The danger level increases as the phase progresses, because the red fireball gets faster.
You should try to kick off as many pests as possible at the start of each phase. If you don't kill some of the pests quickly, you can get stuck in a situation where many lives are lost on one phase.
Use the POW only if you expect to lose a life, especially if you may lose control and lose multiple lives, due to too many pests onscreen. Try to save at least one charge left in the POW, because standing on the POW is a useful escape strategy. Remember when a coin phase is approaching, so you can freely use up the POW when you know it is about to recharge.
The enemies behave deterministically. You can anticipate where they will be. The white fireballs spawn at regular intervals based on where Mario is standing. Anticipate where you will need to hit a pest, and stand elsewhere to draw the white fireballs. Only icicles spawn randomly, and the time interval between icicles spawning and dropping is constant.
You can jump over a pest, or walk under a fighterfly. Jumping over a white fireball is possible, but only at certain parts of the screen. Jumping over a fireball should be a last resort.
If a sidestepper is about to wake up, hit it again to wake it up. This way, it won't change color and increase speed. It usually pays to let fighterflies speed up, because their slow speed makes it more likely that a fireball or icicle will kill you before the fighterfly is in position. Notice that the last enemy onscreen speeds up to maximum if it is a sidestepper or shellcreeper. It sometimes pays to flip over a figherfly, knowing you won't be able to kick it off in time, just to speed it up.Game Summary
Enemy Summary
There are other enemies that do not need to be killed to clear the phase.Phase Summary
Scoring
Strategy