On this day, thirty years ago, September 13, 1985, Super Mario Bros. made its fabled launch in Japan and shook the landscape of interactive media forever. It's hard to believe that I have such fond memories attached to a game even older than I am. I first played Super Mario Bros. as a young kid through Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, which also happened to be the very first video game I owned. And I beat it. A lot. We didn't have a lot of games back then--growing up I only owned a Game Boy and about ten shared games, which eventually became a Game Boy Color and eleven games--but with Super Mario Bros., eleven was more than enough. The game never got old for me and I became completely absorbed in its colorful new world.
I remember it took me a very long time to beat Super Mario Bros. the first time through (we're talking weeks), but that only made the final victory at World 8-4 all the more momentous. As I played through it again and again I began finding all the Warp Zones and hidden coin areas, and eventually I had memorized almost every secret invisible 1-Up location in the game. I then tried setting high scores both with points and times. There were so many goals and secrets stored away in that little game.
Looking back on it thirty years later, the age of Super Mario Bros. really doesn't matter became it's a timeless game. Super Mario Bros. sports such an appealing and vibrant aesthetic that it stands virtually unaffected by time. It was a watershed in game design that revived the industry, so much so that practically all modern video games owe something to it. Be it 2035 or 2070, I know I'll still be playing Super Mario Bros. the same as always for as long as I can move my fingers. I'm sure many people can state the same thing, but Super Mario Bros. literally shaped me into the very person I am today. Enjoy your birthday, Super Mario Bros. -- from the hearts of every gamer ever, you've earned it.
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