{"id":2705,"date":"2013-04-10T18:42:21","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T18:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2705"},"modified":"2013-04-12T13:40:48","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T13:40:48","slug":"my-top-100-1-super-mario-bros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2705","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #1 – Super Mario Bros."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1985<\/a>

1985 – Nintendo (NES, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console, eShop)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Could it be anything else?<\/p>\n

My previous experiences with games were fleeting, whether they were in the cart corral at Co-Op (with Centipede<\/em> and Millipede<\/em>) or in Baie-Sainte-Anne with our friends’ Vectrex.\u00a0 These were one-screen affairs that had a character moving from side to side, shooting stuff.\u00a0 Berzerk<\/em> for Vectrex was pretty fun, and it kept my attention for a while, but aside from that, I didn’t have much interest\u00a0in that kind of toy.<\/p>\n

I was too busy with my Matchbox cars, Popples and Glo-Worms to care, I guess.<\/p>\n

When I was finally introduced to Super Mario Bros<\/em>. a year or so after the NES was released, I was suprised at how quickly the game’s\u00a0world sucked me in.\u00a0 The colours were so vibrant, and there seemed to be secrets everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0There was an above-ground, an under-ground, day levels, night levels, and World 5 even looked kinda snowy.<\/p>\n

Mario felt like he actually\u00a0weighed something…\u00a0 if you\u00a0compare Mario’s controls\u00a0in SMB<\/em> to those he has in Donkey Kong<\/em>, I’m sure you’ll know what I mean.\u00a0 I didn’t know the concept of “physics” when I was little, but I definitely knew\u00a0the game felt<\/em> different from the rest of the ones\u00a0I had played.<\/p>\n

The idea that the screen was scrolling to the right was quite something, as well.\u00a0 I remember looking at the right side of the TV it was being played on, wondering where the land scrolling onto it was coming from.\u00a0 No longer were games confined to a\u00a0single screen – this was one big world, like an interactive cartoon, waiting to be explored.<\/p>\n

I’ve used the word “explore” a lot in my Top 100 game posts, and I truly think that my love of games comes from being able to immerse myself into the gaming world.\u00a0 Much like a movie or a cartoon, these\u00a0are just images on a screen; once you put that controller in your hand, though, you become<\/em> the character,\u00a0whether it’s a\u00a0first person shooter, role playing game, platformer, whatever.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0got a little too philosophical for my own taste, there.\u00a0 Still, it’s kinda true.\u00a0 If a game doesn’t control all that well, then chances are pretty good you’re not going to like it.\u00a0 Plain and simple.\u00a0 That’s where Super Mario Bros.<\/em> had me right from the get-go.<\/p>\n

Just now,\u00a0while I was looking for a video to post, I\u00a0couldn’t stop watching.\u00a0\u00a0Playing (or evidently just seeing) the game makes me happy.\u00a0 I\u00a0think\u00a0of all the trading cards, lunch boxes, t-shirts, colouring books, stickers, school supplies, and who knows what other Mario<\/em> merchandise I made my mom buy over the years.<\/p>\n

That’s why I can’t help but go back to it, time after time, just to feel like I’m 4-5 years old all over again.<\/p>\n

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