These patterns are not at all limited to Mario games or platformer games, and can be found in most, if not all, videogames. It should come as no surprise that the original 1985 game can serve as a summation of game design, since it was the practical design template for videogames at large for over a decade.Įven if my students aren't old enough to have had Mario make an impression on them in his 2D glory-days, they are still familiar with his 3D exploits, and the concepts that I'm about to discuss have only been improved and expanded on in Mario's numerous sequels, side-adventures and spin-offs. Few core concepts in game design were overlooked in this seminal work, and for its time and the technology that was available, Super Mario Bros. I find myself often coming back to Nintendo and Miyamoto's early games as points of reference and sources of solutions for seemingly complicated design problems. has been one of the most inspirational games not only to me as a game player and game designer, but also as a game design instructor. is one of the greatest games ever created. But a great deal more is due to the fact that Super Mario Bros.

I was of an impressionable age with copious amounts of free time and an unlimited supply of graph paper. Some of this is due to the time and place that I first encountered Super Mario Bros. No other game has inspired me to spend so many hours playing, watching, reading, writing, and drawing… not to mention the countless thumb blisters.

From the moment I laid eyes on the game until… well… right this minute, I've been obsessed with this fat little plumber and his bottomless-pit-jumping, fireball-tossing adventures. Read online for free or buy a physical copy on. This essay was written for the Well Played project, and is included in the Well Played 1.0 book, which you can Everything I Know About Game Design I Learned from Super Mario Bros.

Mario game play