Mario Bros. (less "Super")

hey fellas
more nintendo nostalgy today: and I ask: how many of you played Mario Bros.?
No, not SUPER Mario Bros. only "Mario Bros.".

don't know what I'm talking about? check it out:

yeah, THIS Mario Bros.

This game have a very special meaning to me, because it was the very first video game I ever played in my life, back when I was like 7 year old! the same afternoon I played some Pac Man too. and then... it was a lifepassion with the two plumbers and everything related to electronic games!

"The Original Mario Bros." cover!

The (very complex) story of this game revolves around two plumbers, Mario and Luigi, who are working in the sewers. The sewers are overrun by waves of enemies and the Mario Bros. have to defeat the enemies and get coins to receive their pay.
The game features a simple stage in which the player plays in an endless game. Enemies come from the pipes on the top and head downwards, where they may enter the pipes again to return to the top. The goal in each Phase is to defeat all enemies. This is done by jumping against the floor when enemies are walking on from below to knock them out, and then the player has to kick them away.

also, as some of you may remember, this same game was featured in Super Mario 3 as a (sort of) competitive minigame, when Mario and Luigi met on the overworld map!

so many memories right now...

Donkey Kong and.... "Jumpman"?

sooo how you guys spent your new year? so much hangover today, I bet!
I can also bet some of you spent it playing some videogame (drunk or sober, doesn't matter)...
all that matters is having fun, right?

well, but to the subject of today... I'm going to talk about a game that gave origin to two of most adored characters of all video game history... it's Donkey Kong!

Go Jumpman, save Pauline from King Donkey Kong

I'm pretty sure all of you played Donkey Kong Country on the SNES sometime in your life! or know the charming gorilla from mario kart, super smash bros or other nintendo game. Donkey Kong is a hero, right? well... not always! In fact, in the old arcade game he was the villain. (and the game was named after him)
Well, if he was the villain, I want you to tell me who was the hero, without looking to the picture above. Guessed already? that's right! It's a me Mario!
This time, Mario didn't have a name, he was called just Jumpman. and he had to save his girlfriend (familiar lady too?) Pauline from the raging kong, that throws barrels at him.
Fun fact: in 1982, Universal Studios of Hollywood sued nintendo, for similarities between Donkey and... King Kong. fair enough?
Well, needless to say, despite of problems with copyright, the game was so much of a success in the 1981 arcades, that gave origin to 2 of the most acclamed franchises of the wolrd of video games. First was Mario, and (a lot later) Donkey Kong Country!
The more you know, children...

Mario & DK today: good friends, but still rivals

and you guys? someone played the original Donkey Kong in the arcades of life? Share your experience!

The Legend of Zelda

well, let's talk about a classic of classics.
I frequently see younger people whose childhood was marked by Ocarina of Time, but lots of people doesn't know the revolutionary origins of this wonderful series, in 1986:

Shigeru Miyamoto's inspiration for Zelda is an interesting story... With The Legend of Zelda, Miyamoto wanted to take the idea of a game "world" even further, giving players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer." He drew his inspiration from his experiences as a boy around Kyoto, where he explored nearby fields, woods, and caves, and through the Zelda titles he always tries to impart to players some of the sense of exploration and limitless wonder he felt. "When I was a child," he said, "I went hiking and found a lake. It was quite a surprise for me to stumble upon it. When I traveled around the country without a map, trying to find my way, stumbling on amazing things as I went, I realized how it felt to go on an adventure like this." The memory of being lost amid the maze of sliding doors in his family's home in Sonobe was recreated in Zelda's labyrinth dungeons.

And so, we have the fantastic ambientation, adventure feeling and open world the Zelda games have today!